President Trump’s pick to lead NASA, billionaire entrepreneur Jared Isaacman, refused on Wednesday to say if Elon Musk was in the room when Trump first offered him the job.
Isaacman — who was renominated last month after Trump pulled the nomination in May — appeared before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation on Wednesday for his second confirmation hearing this year.
In his line of questioning, Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) raised concerns about Isaacman’s personal ties to Musk and said he was not satisfied with the nominee’s responses to a specific question from the first confirmation hearing months ago.
“So I wanted to give you one more chance to set the record straight,” Markey said on Wednesday. “Was Elon Musk in the meeting at Mar-a-Lago when President Trump offered you the job?”
Isaacman did not answer the question directly but noted his initial meeting with the president was not in a private setting.
“My first interview with the president — I think I’ve had several opportunities since to reengage — was in a ballroom-type setting, senator,” Isaacman said. “There were dozens of people moving in and out that I would not say were in the meeting.”
Markey pressed again, noting “it’s a very simple question” as to whether Musk was in the room when Trump offered the job.
“Senator, my interview, my conversations [were] with the president, and there were dozens of people moving in and out of the room, and I don’t think it’s fair to bring any of them into this matter,” Isaacman said.
Markey responded: “Once again, you’re refusing to tell us whether Elon Musk was in the room that day, and that actually makes me think that Elon Musk was in the room that day, but that you understand that it’s a clear conflict of interest that he was there.”
The progressive senator raised concerns about Isaacman’s ties to Musk, who strongly advocated for Isaacman to lead NASA. Isaacman has led two private missions to space with SpaceX, of which Musk is the founder and chief executive.
“They’re asking us to confirm you as the next NASA administrator,” Markey said. “And SpaceX gets $15 billion from American taxpayers for its business with NASA.”
Isaacman noted that he has “no direct or indirect equity exposure to any aerospace company, including SpaceX,” and has disclosed all financial ties to the relevant ethics officials.
Trump tapped Isaacman to lead NASA last December, as Musk was preparing to join the White House as a special government employee. Trump abruptly changed his mind and pulled Isaacman’s nomination in May, just days before the Senate was expected to confirm him to the role. Trump at the time cited a “thorough review of prior associations” as the reason for withdrawing Isaacman as the pick.
The sudden reversal sparked speculation that Isaacman was caught in the crossfire of a feud unfolding between Trump and Musk, who had left the White House a few weeks earlier. Other Trump allies suggested Isaacman’s past campaign contributions to Democrats were a problem.
Trump and Musk have since had a detente in their relationship, having appeared together publicly and spoken on the phone multiple times since Musk left his government job leading the Department of Government Efficiency.
