Senator Markey Slams SpaceX for Covering Up Financial Ties to NASA Administrator Nominee Isaacman

Isaacman requests SpaceX release him from NDA (PDF)

SpaceX to Isaacman: Sen. Markey's request has a "baseless premise" (PDF)

Washington (December 15, 2025) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), member of the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, today slammed Elon Musk's SpaceX for attempting to cover up its financial ties with Jared Isaacman, President Trump's nominee to be Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and Executive Chairman of Shift4.

"In only 24 hours, SpaceX received, reviewed, and denied an opportunity for the American people to know how many millions of dollars Trump's nominee to be NASA administrator paid to SpaceX for spaceflights," said Senator Markey. "This is extremely suspicious. SpaceX has billions to gain from having a friendly NASA administrator, and it seems only fair that the American people understand the extent to which Isaacman and SpaceX are financially intertwined. If SpaceX and Isaacman have nothing to hide, then they should disclose the amounts immediately. SpaceX's swift dismissal makes clear the company didn't even entertain the idea of answering my legitimate request for transparency. Sometimes if it looks like corruption, sounds like corruption, and smells like corruption, it's just plain corruption."

On December 11, Senator Markey wrote to Isaacman, urging him to release the amounts he paid to SpaceX for spaceflights. At a recent Senate Commerce Committee hearing, Isaacman committed to ask SpaceX to release him from any non-disclosure agreement that would prevent him from publicly sharing these amounts. Isaacman's financial disclosures suggest he paid over $50 million for spaceflights, but the exact number is unknown.

When Jared Isaacman first appeared in front of the Senate Commerce Committee in April, Senator Markey questioned Isaacman on whether Elon Musk was in the room when Donald Trump offered him the nomination to be NASA Administrator. Isaacman refused to answer. At his second nomination hearing in December, Senator Markey pressed Isaacman to reveal how much Isaacman paid for spaceflights with SpaceX. Once again, Isaacman refused to answer.

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