Jared Isaacman Holds Second Senate Hearing; Committee Vote Set for Monday

Jared Isaacman, the billionaire entrepreneur nominated to lead NASA, appeared Wednesday for a second confirmation hearing before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, and committee chair Senator Ted Cruz has scheduled a committee vote for Monday. Mr. Cruz said he hoped the full Senate would confirm Mr.

Isaacman before the end of the year; Senator Maria Cantwell also urged a fast-track confirmation. Mr. Isaacman was first nominated by President Trump last December, and the Senate had been poised to confirm him in May before Mr. Trump withdrew the nomination in June; the president renominated him last month.

Mr. Isaacman, 42, who has led two private space missions to orbit on SpaceX rockets, shifted his focus in the second hearing from Mars toward the moon and a strategic rival he declined to name, saying the U.S. must act to return astronauts to the moon as part of the Artemis program "before our great rival." Lawmakers revisited questions from his earlier hearing about priorities and his written strategic plan.

In April Mr. Isaacman spoke of Mars; on Wednesday he more readily endorsed a near-term priority of returning Americans to the moon and establishing an enduring presence. Democratic senators pressed him on aspects of his plan that call for streamlining NASA and potentially moving some earth science missions to private industry; Mr.

Key Topics

Politics, Jared Isaacman, Nasa, Confirmation Hearing, Senate Commerce Committee, Artemis Program