US lawmakers on Wednesday confirmed fintech billionaire and SpaceX astronaut Jared Isaacman to lead NASA, ending a prolonged and turbulent nomination process that left the space agency without a permanent administrator for most of the year.
Isaacman now heads to the inauguration ceremony after the favorable vote of 67 to 30 in the Senate plenary.
Founder of Shift4 Payments, Isaacman takes over running NASA at a time when the agency faces staff cuts and proposed budget reductions as it races to send astronauts back to the Moon before China. Beijing plans to take Chinese astronauts to the lunar surface for the first time by 2030.
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President Donald Trump first nominated Isaacman in December last year, but withdrew the nomination days before the expected vote, citing the billionaire’s political donations to Democrats and his closeness to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.
In November, Trump announced he would nominate Isaacman for the position after interviewing other candidates.
During his second confirmation hearing on December 3, Isaacman expressed concerns similar to those of lawmakers about the loss of US space supremacy to China. He also tried to head off concerns about conflicts of interest by distancing himself from Musk.
In the months after his initial withdrawal of the nomination, Isaacman made an effort to win back the position and donated more than $1 million to pro-Trump organizations, according to official documents.
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