04/09/2025 at 10:00AM
U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, will convene a nominations hearing for Jared Isaacman, nominee to be Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and Olivia Trusty, nominee to be a Member of the Federal Communications Commission, at 10:00 AM EST on Wednesday, April 9, 2025.
Nominees:
- Jared Isaacman, of Pennsylvania, to be Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- Olivia Trusty, of Maryland, to be a Member of the Federal Communications Commission
Jared Isaacman made his billions as CEO of the Shift4 payment processing firm and has flown to space twice on SpaceX missions he financed himself. He co-founded Draken International, which trains pilots for the U.S. military. Isaacman is a pal and an extreme admirer of Elon Musk.
According to a recent reporting by Ars Technica, the Trump administration is looking to slash the space agency’s science budget by as much as 50 percent, which could prove disastrous for the future of space research.
You’d think that would be top of mind for Isaacman, but his head is instead blissfully empty.
“I’m a humble nominee on the outside, hoping for a chance to contribute,” he tweeted, responding to a post that referenced the news. “I don’t know anything about those supposed cuts, but the President said he’s targeting fraud, waste & abuse w/ a scalpel — not a hatchet.”
Trusty is the policy director on the United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, and is a longtime aide to Sen. Roger Wicker. She was also a Verizon and Qwest lobbyist.