The recent confirmation hearing for President Donald Trump’s pick to head NASA was about what you would expect.
Senators asked questions about space agency plans, and nominee Jared Isaacman — a billionaire tech entrepreneur — indicated that he wants NASA to focus both on missions to the moon and Mars.
A trek to Mars is something favored by another billionaire, Elon Musk, who clearly has Trump’s ear, raising obvious questions for senators about Musk’s involvement in the NASA choice.
That’s when Isaacman started channeling baseball great Mark McGwire who, during a famous U.S. House hearing back in 2005, refused repeatedly to say whether he had used steroids during his record-setting home run chase.
“I’m not here to talk about the past,” McGwire said, giving an answer that everyone knew meant the slugger had used steroids.
“Are you taking the Fifth?” McGwire was asked.
“I’m not here to discuss the past,” McGwire answered.
Isaacman used the same strategy testifying before the Senate Commerce Committee. He wasn’t going to talk about what happened in the past.
U.S. Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., had a simple question: Was Elon Musk — a top adviser to Trump who is leading efforts to shrink the federal government — in the meeting where Trump offered Isaacman the job as NASA Administrator?
This is a simple yes or no answer. But it wasn’t for Isaacman.
“Was Elon Musk in your meeting when Trump offered you the NASA position at Mar-a-Lago?” asked Markey.
“Senator, I was interviewed by the president of the United States,” Isaacman said, seemingly answering a different question.
“Was Elon Musk in the meeting when he offered you the job?” Markey pressed.
“Senator, my meeting was with the president of the United States,” said Isaacman.
“It’s not a difficult question,” said Markey. “Was Elon Musk in the room when the president offered you the job?”
“My meeting was with the president of the United States,” Isaacman repeated.
Frankly, since Musk is fully involved in space exploration, it wouldn’t surprise anyone for him to be at such a meeting.
Would there be questions about conflicts of interest? Of course. Musk’s company, SpaceX has billions of dollars in contracts with the federal government. But those questions are going to be asked no matter what.
As for Isaacman, if he really wants to lead NASA, he doesn’t deserve a pass on the question. Either Musk was in the meeting, or he wasn’t.
Why Isaacman decided this was a subject that he couldn’t talk about only makes you wonder, and not in a good way.
Was Elon Musk in that meeting between Isaacman and Trump?
“Senator, I’m trying to be as transparent as I can,” Isaacman said at one point.
It sure didn’t seem like it.
Jamie Dupree has covered national politics and Congress from Washington, D.C. since the Reagan administration. His column appears weekly in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. For more, check out his Capitol Hill newsletter at http://jamiedupree.substack.com
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