EXCLUSIVE — Conservatives are sounding the alarm over how President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead NASA donated over $300,000 to Democrats while his companies promoted diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.
Jared Isaacman, a billionaire astronaut and businessman, was tapped in late December of last year to be NASA’s next administrator. However, to some conservatives and GOP Senate staffers, Isaacman’s reliable backing of Democrats and DEI ties should be investigated by Republican lawmakers set to review his appointment.
“All of the incoming administration’s appointees should get the benefit of the doubt, as President Trump is the preeminent constitutionally elected officer exercising judgment about staffing,” said Ryan Williams, the president of the conservative Claremont Institute think tank. “But Mr. Isaacman’s contributions to Democratic candidates and his endorsement of DEI initiatives at his companies should rightly be front-and-center at his Senate confirmation hearing. GOP senators should get him to commit, on the record, to dismantling all of NASA’s DEI initiatives of recent years.”
Isaacman donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to Democrats between 2010 and 2024, according to Federal Election Commission filings. The NASA appointee made under $10,000 in federal donations to Republicans from 2012 to 2016. Meanwhile, the payment processing company Shift4 that Isaacman founded has touted its DEI efforts in a publicly available fact sheet obtained by the Washington Examiner.
Draken, a defense company Isaacman founded, has helped sponsor DEI-related events and recently deleted a page from its website called “Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI).” Another since-deleted page on Draken’s website referenced a “gender pay gap report” that appeared to be related to Draken’s workforce.
Isaacman’s donation history is sure to give pause to GOP senators, according to Tom Jones, president of the conservative American Accountability Foundation nonprofit group and a former senior Republican Senate staffer.
“This isn’t one slip-up donation to a random Democrat,” Jones said. “This is a large donation history that is nearly exclusively to Democrats. Two weeks before the election, he donated $41,300 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee to defeat the senators he is now asking to shepherd him through the confirmation process.”
News of conservative-led scrutiny into Isaacman’s Democratic ties comes as Republicans aim to target “wokeness” in the federal government and cut left-leaning spending programs enacted under President Joe Biden. Isaacman, 41, came under the spotlight for commanding private space flights in 2021 and 2024 operated by Elon Musk’s SpaceX. He has a net worth of $1.8 billion, according to Forbes.
Isaacman’s single largest donation was $100,000 in 2021 to Senate Majority PAC, a group affiliated with Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY). Between 2023 and 2024, Isaacman made large donations to Democrats in key swing states, including those boosting then-Sens. Jon Tester (D-MT) and Bob Casey (D-PA). He cut a $5,000 check in October of last year to the California Democratic Party.
Conservatives are concerned Isaacman may perpetuate NASA’s DEI programs if he gets confirmed. NASA employees spoke out late last year on the agency’s alleged “DEI takeover,” telling the Daily Mail they think the agency has veered from its scientific mandate to focus on race-based initiatives.
Biden’s NASA, which reportedly spent millions of dollars on “environmental justice” programs, laid off more than 800 employees in 2024 over budgetary concerns.
“Jared Isaacman has a lot of explaining to do on why he is the best person to advance President Trump’s agenda on space issues after he spent so much money trying to defeat President Trump and his allies at the ballot box,” said a senior GOP Senate staffer.
Will Hild, the executive director of the conservative Consumers’ Research nonprofit group, said DEI has been a problem at NASA for over a decade.
“We hope that the new director will reject this nefarious ideology and focus on turning the agency away into something that can return to expanding the boundaries of human knowledge and exploration,” Hild said.
The Trump-Vance Transition declined to comment, pointing the Washington Examiner to Trump’s post on his Truth Social platform announcing Isaacman’s appointment. Isaacman did not respond to a request for comment.
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“NASA remains committed to diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility because it enables the agency to accomplish deeper discoveries, greater innovation in space technology, and better research for the benefit of all humanity,” a NASA spokesperson said.
“Fostering an inclusive culture that values diverse thoughts and ideas enables us to see beyond the immediate and safely achieve mission success,” a NASA spokesperson added. “We will work in the coming days to ensure a smooth handover to the Trump Administration on Jan. 20, and wouldn’t speculate on any potential changes to the agency’s missions or priorities as we wait to have official direction from the new administration.”
