The Senate on Wednesday confirmed Jared Isaacman to head the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Isaacman, 42, will become the youngest administrator in the agency’s history. The ally of SpaceX CEO Elon Musk secured the nomination in a 67-30 vote. BREAKING: The U.S. Senate just CONFIRMED President Trump's NASA nominee Jared Isaacman, 67-30 LET'S GO! He is MORE than qualified to take on the job. NASA is about to take off! Congrats, @rookisaacman! pic.twitter.com/eaQeQLtHpe — Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) December 17, 2025 The Guardian shared further: Acting Nasa chief Sean Duffy, who also leads the US transportation department, congratulated Isaacman on Twitter/X, wishing Isaacman “success as he begins his tenure and leads NASA as we go back to the Moon in 2028 and beat China”. Duffy had been lobbying to move the space agency under the permanent purview of his own bureau, a fight he lost with Isaacman’s confirmation. Duffy’s consolidation efforts sparked conflict with Musk around the same time that the transportation secretary had said that SpaceX had fallen behind on its contracts with Nasa and looked to the private company’s competitors, in particular Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin, for alternatives. Isaacman’s nomination for the role was previously pulled back in May during a period when Musk and Trump were in a public feud. Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that Isaacman’s donations to Democratic candidates were the reasons behind the move. Isaacman re-emerged as a candidate in recent months, however, and according to the Wall Street Journal he tapped allies within the administration to promote his cause. Isaacman’s fortune came from founding a payment processing startup called Shift4, which now handles billions of transactions each year. He has flown on two SpaceX missions, both of which he funded himself and contained all-civilian crews. The most recent was in 2024, a mission that involved the first spacewalk conducted by a private company. “For nearly 70 years, the United States has been at the forefront of space exploration. President Trump knows how critical it is to reinvigorate NASA as we aim to reach new heights in the greatest frontier ever known, and that’s why he chose exactly the right man for the job,” Sen. Tim Sheehy (R-MT) said. “I’m proud to see @rookisaacman confirmed as our NASA administrator and confident he will work tirelessly to ensure America wins the 21st century space race,” he added. For nearly 70 years, the United States has been at the forefront of space exploration. President Trump knows how critical it is to reinvigorate NASA as we aim to reach new heights in the greatest frontier ever known, and that’s why he chose exactly the right man for the job.… https://t.co/GLFNtqQHIa — Tim Sheehy (@TimSheehyMT) December 17, 2025 More from the Associated Press: He is also the co-founder of Draken International, a Florida-based aerospace company. He has done business with Musk’s Starlink and other ventures tied to the fellow billionaire. During Isaacman’s second confirmation hearing in December, Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., pressed Isaacman to “explain what happened to make President Trump reconsider the decision to pull your nomination and what assurances you may have provided with Elon Musk and SpaceX would not create a significant conflict of interest in this role.” Isaacman replied that he “wouldn’t even want to begin to speculate why the president nominated and then renominated me.” He said he pledged to be free of conflicts of interest in his role. In a June letter, Isaacman had promised to resign from his private sector posts should he be confirmed as NASA administrator. Republicans have welcomed some of Isaacman’s proposals and some new senators strongly advocated for his confirmation. But many Democrats balked at Isaacman and Trump’s plans, including the proposed costs of some projects and overall priorities for the agency.