WASHINGTON —Former NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine called on the Senate to quickly confirm Jared Isaacman for the post, saying he has “all the tools” to lead the space agency.
During a talk at the Satellite 2025 conference March 11, Bridenstine, who served as NASA administrator in the first Trump administration from April 2018 to January 2021, was asked what advice he would offer Isaacman, nominated to run the agency in the second Trump administration.
Bridenstine responded by heaping praise on Isaacman. “I think Jared Isaacman is going to be an amazing NASA administrator,” he said. “I think he’s got all the tools to be what could be the most consequential NASA administrator given the era in which we live in now.”
That era, he said, involves greater reliance on commercial space capabilities. “He’s going to be able to take that and do things that have never been able to be done before.”
Donald Trump announced in December his intent to nominate Isaacman, the billionaire founder of payment processing company Shift4 and a private astronaut who commanded two Crew Dragon missions. That nomination became official Jan. 20 hours after Trump was inaugurated.
The Senate, though, has yet to schedule a confirmation hearing for the nomination. After a speech at the Commercial Space Conference Feb. 12, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, which would hold that confirmation hearing, said his committee had yet to receive the formal paperwork for the nomination.
Bridenstine urged the Senate to advance the nomination as soon as possible. “Confirm him quickly,” he said. “The sooner he gets confirmed, the better NASA is going to be. So, let’s not leave it linger. The worst thing for the agency is to leave it linger.”
He said he’s talked with Isaacman “a lot” about what he considers the central challenge for NASA: “in the era of commercial space, what is NASA’s role?” He suggested that could involve developing infrastructure to support exploration and enable commercial activities.
Among that infrastructure is the lunar Gateway, one aspect of the overall Artemis lunar exploration architecture that many have singled out as being unnecessary for lunar landings. “The Gateway is an enabler of more commercial activities, not less,” he argued, particularly after initial lunar landing missions. “It’s going to open up a lot of opportunities to get to more parts of the moon than ever before and do it regularly with humans.”
“Jared is already thinking about that,” Bridenstine said of such infrastructure. “If he solves that as an issue, that’s going to be very important for the future of NASA.”
