NASA Nominee Plans to Prioritize America First Agenda in Space, Not DEI

The next mission to the moon will advance the “America First” agenda through space exploration, rather than the Biden administration’s diversity, equity, and inclusion goals, a NASA spokeswoman told The Daily Signal.

While the Biden administration infused DEI into NASA’s operations, President Donald Trump’s nominee for NASA director, Jared Isaacman, will use his background as an entrepreneur, commercial astronaut, and business owner to refocus the agency on its founding mission statement, which was “to explore the unknown in air and space, innovate for the benefit of humanity, and inspire the world through discovery.”

Isaacman’s confirmation hearing before the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee is scheduled for Wednesday. 

Under the Biden administration, the public emphasis of the 2026 mission to the moon, Artemis III, was taking the first woman and first person of color there.

But astronaut selection is about merit, expertise, and experience, NASA press secretary Bethany Stevens said. Under the Trump administration, NASA has refined its public messaging to reinforce that Artemis is primarily about advancing space exploration.

Artemis III will be the first crewed lunar landing since Apollo 17 in December 1972. The crew has not yet been announced. 

“NASA is committed to engaging the best talent to drive innovation and achieve our mission for the benefit of all. We’re working to adhere to guidance on DEI in a timely manner,” Stevens said. “This includes ensuring hiring and promotion opportunities are based on merit alone, aligning our agency’s workforce practices with President Trump’s directive to remove DEI considerations.”

On Day One of his presidency, Trump signed an executive order to terminate “diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) discrimination in the federal workforce and in federal contracting and spending.” 

In 2023, however, NASA proclaimed that it would “land the first woman, first person of color, and first international partner astronaut on the moon using innovative technologies to explore more of the lunar surface than ever before.” That language was removed from the website on March 16, the Orlando (Florida) Sentinel first reported.

“We look forward to expanding exploration at the moon and Mars for the benefit of all,” Stevens said. 

NASA spent more than $20 million in DEI grants and contracts during the Biden administration, according to conservative watchdog OpenTheBooks. NASA invited left-wing author and professor Ibram X. Kendi to give a speech to NASA employees in August 2020 titled “Mission to Inclusion: Cultivating an Antiracist Workplace,” email records obtained by the Open the Books reveal.

The Biden-era NASA instituted “workplace gender” plans that placed “transitioning” NASA workers in “the restroom, locker room, or other facility that they feel most comfortable using.”

The government agency also spent hefty sums on DEI-related contracts between 2021 and 2024, such as shelling out $2,366,122 to LMI Consulting to “incorporate and deeply [ingrain]” DEI and accessibility “in the culture and business” of NASA, alongside an additional $182,281 for “diversity training.” Another contract to the Neuroleadership Institute provided $90,000 for “diversity training,” the report found.

NASA awarded a $74,000 grant to Cook Ross Inc. for “Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation Training,” OpenTheBooks found.

Trump nominated Isaacman on Dec. 4 to lead NASA in a different direction.

“I am delighted to nominate Jared Isaacman, an accomplished business leader, philanthropist, pilot, and astronaut, as administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA),” the then-president-elect wrote on TruthSocial. “Jared will drive NASA’s mission of discovery and inspiration, paving the way for groundbreaking achievements in space science, technology, and exploration.” 

If confirmed by the Senate, Isaacman will bring years of experience as a billionaire businessman, aviator, and astronaut to the agency. 

The father of two started the payment-processing company Shift4 Payments at the age of just 16. In 2011, he co-founded Draken International, which specializes in providing military-grade aircraft for training purposes.

Isaacman became the first commercial astronaut to walk in space during the private Polaris Dawn mission. He launched the Polaris Program, a series of private space missions, in 2024. The now 42-year-old also led and funded Inspiration4 in 2021, the first all-civilian space mission aboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon.

Isaacman is a jet pilot with multiple aviation world records, including for fastest flight around the world in a light jet.

The NASA nominee’s extensive experience in commercial space exploration and innovation uniquely prepare him to accomplish Trump’s ambitious America First agenda in space, according to Stevens. 

Trump said in his inaugural address: “We will pursue our manifest destiny into the stars, launching American astronauts to plant the Stars and Stripes on the planet Mars.”

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