End Citizens United President Tiffany Muller released the following statement slamming President-elect Donald Trump for nominating Jared Issacman, a billionaire and close ally of Elon Musk, to be administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA):
“With another billionaire close to Elon Musk selected to oversee a department that has direct influence over Musk’s businesses and fortunes, it begs the question: who’s calling the shots, Trump or Musk? Musk spent hundreds of millions of dollars to elect Trump and is now cashing in to ensure a significant return on his investment. In this case, selecting Jared Isaacman is a clear sign that NASA will become just another corrupt piggybank for Musk.”
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Reuters: Trump picks Musk ally Jared Isaacman to head NASA
Joey Roulette
12/4/24
Key Sections:
- U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday tapped Jared Isaacman to lead NASA, selecting a billionaire private astronaut and close associate of Elon Musk to oversee an agency closely linked to the SpaceX founder’s business.
- Isaacman, CEO of payment processing company Shift4 Payments (FOUR.N), has flown to space twice in missions arranged by his Polaris program, an effort using SpaceX vehicles and the company’s spacesuits to conduct fully private flights in Earth orbit.
- If confirmed, he would oversee the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s roughly $25 billion budget heavily focused on returning humans to the moon under its Artemis program, a multibillion-dollar effort promoted by Trump during his first four-year term that will rely heavily on SpaceX’s Starship.
- Trump’s pick for NASA came months earlier than past presidential transitions as Musk, SpaceX’s CEO and founder, has used his close proximity to the president-elect to discuss missions to Mars and other space exploration matters that could boost SpaceX. Trump attended SpaceX’s sixth Starship test launch in Texas last month.
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