The Brief

Billionaire entrepreneur Jared Isaacman's confirmation as the new head of NASA closes a turbulent chapter that began over a year ago.

The Senate voted 67-30 on Wednesday to confirm Isaacman along bipartisan lines. All 30 senators who voted against him were Democrats.

The 42-year-old e-commerce mogul has flown to space twice on private missions — both in partnership with Elon Musk's SpaceX — and in 2024 became the first civilian to walk in space. Isaacman has no federal government experience.

Isaacman was among President Donald Trump's first picks for his second administration: Trump announced his nomination in December 2024, well before his inauguration, and formalized it after taking office in January.

"Jared's passion for Space, astronaut experience, unlocking the mysteries of the universe, and advancing the new Space economy, make him ideally suited to lead NASA into a bold new Era," Trump wrote on Truth Social at the time.

Isaacman made it as far as a three-hour Senate subcommittee hearing in April, where he downplayed his connections to Musk but declined to answer when asked whether Musk was in the room when Trump offered him the role. Isaacman also expressed support for lunar and Mars missions, saying he believed NASA had the budget to do both.

While NASA is focused on its Artemis mission to return Americans to the moon for the first time since the early 1970s, the second Trump administration has concerned some with its seeming preoccupation with Mars exploration — a riskier and more divisive concept that just so happens to be a longtime dream of Trump's onetime ally, Musk.

But Isaacman didn't get the chance to answer questions about any of that in front of the full Senate, because Trump withdrew his nomination in late May — the same week Musk left his role in the administration.

Trump said the decision followed a "thorough review" of Isaacman's "prior associations," and later explicitly blamed his donations to Democratic causes. Public filings show that Isaacman has contributed to candidates and political action committees of both parties over the years, but since 2016 has supported more Democrats.

Isaacman has described himself as "relatively apolitical" and a "right-leaning moderate," and noted that his campaign donations were public long before Trump nominated him — suggesting that wasn't the only reason for the reversal. In June, Isaacman said being considered to lead NASA was "truly the honor of a lifetime."

"Even knowing the outcome, I would do it all over again," Isaacman wrote in a letter to investors.

And that's what ended up happening — only the second time, it worked.

Isaacman takes the helm at a turbulent time for NASA

In early November, Trump nominated Isaacman again, without acknowledging the turmoil that had unfolded along the way.

At his confirmation hearing in early December, Isaacman once again denied that his connections to Musk posed a conflict of interest. The nominee explained that his spaceflights were operated by SpaceX because the company is the only option for sending Americans to space since NASA retired its space shuttle program in 2011.

"In that respect, my relationship [to Musk] is no different than that of NASA," he said, adding that "there are no pictures of us at dinner, at a bar, on an airplane, or on a yacht because they don't exist."

Isaacman takes the helm of an agency that has been grappling with a lack of permanent leadership, downsizing, competitive pressure (particularly from China) and significant funding cuts — with threats of more to come.

The administration's 2026 budget proposes a historic 24% cut to overall NASA funding, which would slash its workforce by about a third and spell the end of 41 science projects.

In recent months, protesters have descended on Capitol Hill to lobby against the proposed budget cuts. Among them was beloved "Science Guy" Bill Nye, the CEO of the nonprofit Planetary Society, who also attended Isaacman's December hearing in a show of support for the nominee. The House and Senate both reject the deepest proposed cuts, but differ in how much funding they think its science budget should get.

A 62-page draft agenda named "Project Athena," which Isaacman defended after it leaked in May, offers clues as to how Isaacman seeks to run NASA: primarily, more like a business.

Its priorities include reorganization "aimed at reducing layers of bureaucracy," putting more astronauts in space more often, playing a larger role in certifying commercial space missions and partnering with industries like biotech and pharma to "figure out how to extract more value from space than we put in."

Jared Isaacman — pictured before he led the first all-civilian spaceflight in 2021 — has worked closely with Elon Musk's company SpaceX.

(

Patrick T. Fallon

/

AFP via Getty Images

)

Isaacman's background is in e-commerce and private spaceflight

Isaacman traces his interest in space back to his childhood, when he was inspired by a picture book in his school library.

"I told my kindergarten teacher I was going to go to space someday," he recalled in 2021.

But first, he made it as an entrepreneur. He founded the payment processing firm now known as Shift4 Payments as a teenager out of his parents' New Jersey basement in 1991. The company, which went public in 2020, says it processes payments for 1 in 3 restaurants and 40% of hotels across the U.S.

Isaacman dropped out of high school to pursue his business, but later earned his GED and a bachelor's degree in aeronautics from Embry‑Riddle Aeronautical University. He is a licensed pilot with over 7,000 flight hours, according to his Polaris bio.

He also co-founded a civilian aerobatic display team called the Black Diamond Jet Team, as well as Draken International, which provides tactical fighter aircraft to customers including the military and defense industries. He sold a majority share of it to the investment firm Blackstone Group in 2019 for a reported nine-figure sum.

Forbes values Isaacman's current net worth at $1.2 billion. That fortune has allowed him to pursue his astronaut ambitions, as well as support STEM-related causes (he and his wife have pledged to donate the majority of their wealth to charity).

Isaacman funded and commanded the first all-civilian orbital flight in 2021 — which raised over $240 million for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital — as well as the 2024 Polaris Dawn mission, in which he and crewmate Sarah Gillis became the first civilians to conduct a spacewalk.

Upon his return, Isaacman told NPR's All Things Considered that while Earth looked beautiful from afar, "looking out into the darkness of space, it was a very unwelcoming feeling that this is a threatening environment for humans."

"We certainly didn't evolve to be here, and if we want to be here, we're going to have to work really hard in order to kind of open up this last frontier," he added. "That was kind of one of the big takeaways I had."
Copyright 2025 NPR

The city of Anaheim spent around $17 million on credit card purchases from places like Target, Walmart and Amazon over the past two years, recently obtained records show, but the system hasn't been audited since 2018.

Anaheim spokesperson Mike Lyster, who along with city leadership did not answer detailed questions about the purchases, confirmed the lack of audit.

The absence of audits was a central issue former purchasing agent Kari Bouffard included in a tort claim in June alleging she was fired for raising concerns that the city’s top finance official, Debbie Moreno, was enabling fraud, wasting millions of taxpayer dollars and lying to the City Council.

In the legal claim, Bouffard says when she raised concerns over the lack of an audit with the city’s audit team, which then wanted to audit the credit card program, she alleges Moreno told her: “Do not let them in the door.”

“I found her response unprofessional, dismissive, and deeply concerning, particularly given her role as Finance Director and her responsibility to support accountability and internal controls,” Bouffard wrote.

In October, Lyster confirmed an external legal team is conducting “an independent outside review” of the allegations in the tort claim. But he did not answer questions about who the firm is or how much that contract has cost the city.

LAist requested and reviewed credit card monthly billing statements for all city-issued credit cards for the past two years. The statements show city employees spent tens of thousands of public money at places like Target, Walmart and Amazon on “food, office and other operational supplies for city business purposes,” according to Lyster. The statements do not show details about specific purchases.

The Amazon purchases totaled around $1.7 million of public money over the two years, according to the data. Anaheim provided a breakdown of the Amazon purchases that did not include details about what was bought at the online marketplace.

Lyster said Anaheim monitors credit card purchases appropriately.

He confirmed credit card purchases were last audited in 2018 by the city’s Internal Audit team.

“There was no larger concern with any of the findings, and we reject any mischaracterization and misinformation about oversight of the city’s purchasing cards,” Lyster said in a statement.

Lyster told LAist the city’s purchasing agent, who until recently was Bouffard, can “pursue audits at any time,” but one has not been done recently. In the tort claim, Bouffard said she raised concerns with Moreno over “lack of time and staffing within the Purchasing Division to adequately manage and audit the program.” Moreno’s solution, she said, was a temporary staffer — “an insufficient solution given the scope of responsibilities,” Bouffard wrote.

Lyster also said the financial firm KPMG conducts an annual audit of a sample of credit card transactions. LAist asked Lyster for a copy of the KPMG sample audit, but he did not share it.

Anaheim’s credit card spending amounts to about $800,000 a month.

The city of Irvine, also one of OC’s most populous cities, spends around $500,000 on credit cards every month, according to city spokesperson Kristina Perrigoue. Those purchases are audited monthly, Perrigoue said. Irvine’s purchasing staff randomly selects one department per month to audit and they audit a sample of purchases.

“We take the five users with the highest number of transactions and audit all their transactions for the prior month,” Perrigoue said.

Why it matters

Earlier this year, Anaheim grappled with how to close a $60 million budget shortfall after spending more than they were generating in revenue. City leaders closed the deficit with proceeds from capital bonds and by pulling money previously set aside to repay debt. The City Council recently declined to put a gate tax at its entertainment venues, including Disneyland, to voters. Instead, the majority of the council decided to meet at a future date to discuss revenue generating ideas. At that meeting, Mayor Ashleigh Aitken called for “tightening our belts” to boost revenue.

LAist review of the credit card purchases showed significant spending at vendors — some with which Anaheim has cooperative agreements with.

Cooperative agreements allow agencies like the city of Anaheim to pre-negotiate pricing so they get the best deals.

Anaheim’s credit card policy states that the credit card can only be used for the small dollar purchase of supplies or off-site services. Typically, for bigger purchases, cities turn to cooperative agreements.

“The vast majority of city purchasing — most purchases more than $10,000 — is done by purchase order or contract,” Lyster told LAist.

Credit cards, Lyster said, “provide an efficient, cost-effective way of making smaller purchases, rather than use of petty cash, direct payments, cash advances and check requests, which can be more cumbersome, administratively costly and bring their own risks of misuse.”

“There are cases where a purchase order or contract would be unnecessary and excessive, adding time and cost and impacting timely service to our community,” he continued.

LAist has shared our findings with Aitken, City Manager Jim Vanderpool and all council members. We have also reached out to Moreno for an interview. We will update this story if we hear back.

Here are some of our key findings from Anaheim’s credit card purchases:

• Over $800,000 spent on restaurants

City employees spent more than $800,000 on restaurants in Southern California and elsewhere over two years including around $60,000 at K&A Restaurant and over $20,000 on In-N-Out. Some restaurants from the credit card statement include Aloha Steakhouse in Ventura County, Tacos 1986 in Pasadena and BaBaLoo Lounge in Palm Desert.

Lyster told LAist the restaurant spends “are catering expenses for events or meals for special work operations.”

He said the city also provides meals when they “bring together a large contingent of our own police officers and those of other agencies to work demonstrations, high-profile dignitary visits or other occasions,” especially for work in the evening or on weekends.

Lyster added that the council meetings are also catered and the city hosts community events where they cater food for the public.

• Around $650,000 spent on hotels

LAist’s review of the credit card purchases showed thousands of dollars spent at hotels, including the Grand Hyatt in Nashville, Caesars Palace in Las Vegas and a pet hotel in Oxnard.

“The vast majority of this spending is for employee development to ensure our people are continually learning and aware of best professional standards,” Lyster said about the hotel charges. “This is an investment in our workforce that brings better service to our community.”

• Around $40,000 spent at Costco, close to $120,000 at Sam’s Club, around $120,000 at Target and around $57,000 on Walmart purchases in two years

Lyster attributed this spend to “food and supplies.”

The Community Services Department, he said, buys “food and crafts and other supplies” for the city’s Fun on Wheels program, the Mobile Library and family resource centers.

He declined to answer questions on whether employees submit a request for the purchase of goods and services and how the city tracks if these purchases are used for public benefit. The requests, called requisitions, are typical first steps in the purchasing process detailing quantity, description and use, Bouffard told LAist. When she worked at the county, all purchases went through this “checks and balances process,” she said.

• Over $600,000 spent at Home Depot, more than $550,000 at Office Depot and over $340,000 at Grainger

Lyster didn’t confirm if the purchases at these vendors were made using a purchase order.

He confirmed Anaheim has accounts with Grainger, Office Depot and others, but not if the city’s credit card purchases at the vendors are made through the dedicated account.

LAist correspondent Jordan Rynning contributed to this report.

An affordable housing complex in Altadena will get $2 million in state dollars to help with remediation and repairs for wildfire damage, state and L.A. County officials announced this week.

Before the Eaton Fire damaged the facility, the Altadena Vista Senior Apartments provided 21 housing units for people aged 55 and over with incomes at or below 60% of the area median income.

The Eaton Fire did an estimated $7 million in damage to the complex, according to the Los Angeles County Development Authority, which has owned and operated the complex for more than three decades.

Insurance will cover about half of the complex’s nearly $2 million claim, according to the authority.

The influx of state dollars will allow it to bring these much-needed affordable housing units back online within about a year, officials said.

State Sen. Sasha Renée Peréz advocated for the state general fund dollars to be used for the Altadena complex’s recovery.

"We want to get people back inside fast,” Peréz said Wednesday at a press event. "This location was identified as a space that needed some additional financial assistance, and we could get 21 people back into housing very quickly."

Most displaced residents are planning to return, but about six have decided to permanently relocate to other areas, according to the development authority.

Before the fire, Wayne Clarvoe had lived at the apartment complex since 2014. The 64-year-old said he’s been struggling to find affordable rent elsewhere.

"The cost of living here was fair,” Clarvoe said of his former home. "I was able to afford the rent, compared to what's going on now.

"This is a very special day for me. This is the beginning of all of the residents coming back to Altadena, and especially this building here."

Fire damage

The area where the apartments are located didn’t receive an official evacuation order until 5:42 a.m. Jan. 8, according to county officials.

But Clarvoe said he and about 20 other residents decided to leave the buildings the previous night.

Sometime the next morning, Clarvoe said, he noticed one of the apartment buildings had caught on fire. He flagged down firefighters for help.

"The fire was in the walls and traveling up into the attic," Clarvoe said. "If we'd have waited any longer, this building would not have been standing here."

Two units at the Altadena Vista Apartments were badly damaged by the Eaton Fire.

(

Aaron Schrank

/

LAist

)

Two units were damaged by the flames. The complex’s carports and roof were damaged by embers. And water from fire sprinklers warped walls and carpets in several units.

During the repairs, the development authority said it will update the facility. For example, it hopes to make all units accessible for residents with disabilities, instead of just a few.

The authority’s director of construction and asset management, Carolina Romo, said the complex settled its insurance claim Dec. 16, nearly a year after filing it.

A community need 

Peréz said she worked with the nonprofit Department of Angels to identify community priorities for wildfire recovery. Affordable housing, particularly for older adults, quickly rose to the top, she said.

At Wednesday's press event, officials highlighted a survey by the Eaton Fire Collaborative that found 78% of renters can’t afford the asking price for a one-bedroom unit in Altadena.

There were fewer than 200 federally subsidized units in Altadena before the Eaton Fire, according to a UCLA report. More than a quarter of renters there were spending half of their income on housing.

Officials say the state funding will accelerate the rebuilding process.

"This investment is a major step to protect needed housing for seniors who deserve to age in place," said L.A. County Supervisor Kathryn Barger, who represents Altadena.

However, the funds won’t cover the full cost of Altadena Vista’s remediation and repairs.

Barger has authored a separate L.A. County motion requesting more than $4 million from a federal grant program to cover the rest.

The funding for the Altadena Vista Apartments is part of a larger $8 million in state general fund dollars Peréz secured for rapid rehousing efforts in Altadena, she said.

That includes $1 million for San Gabriel Valley Habitat for Humanity and $1 million for Greenline Housing Foundation.

The Los Angeles City Ethics Commission on Wednesday found City Councilmember John Lee violated a series of governmental ethics laws and unanimously imposed a fine of more than $138,000.

The fine was in connection to a 2017 trip he took to Las Vegas when he was chief of staff to his predecessor, former Councilmember Mitch Englander. Englander also went on the trip.

Three men who sought business with the city provided pricey meals and expensive bottle service, as well as gambling chips to Lee, according to the commission.

The panel found Lee committed two counts of violating the city’s law prohibiting council members from accepting certain gifts and three counts of violating a disclosure law. It also found Lee misused his city position or helped Englander misuse his position.

City ethics investigators recommended the penalty and $138,124 fine — the maximum possible.

The decision “underscores the importance of ethical and transparent conduct on the part of elected officials and other public servants,” Manjusha Kulkarni, president of the Ethics Commission, said in a statement.

“It is essential to a properly functioning democracy that those who serve in positions of leadership and influence act in the best interests of the public, with the highest level of integrity, and not in ways that are designed to deceive and promote self-interests,” he added.

In the past, Lee has denied he improperly accepted gifts, saying he made a good faith effort to pay his own way and, in some instances, declined to eat during meals with the men seeking business with the city..

In a statement issued Wednesday, Lee, who represents the western San Fernando Valley on the City Council, blasted the commission’s decision, saying it was unfair.

“The Commission rubber-stamped a biased investigation and blatantly ignored all relevant facts, including that the FBI never charged me for backdating any checks or aiding Mitchell Englander's 2017 illegal activities,” he said.

In 2020, federal prosecutors charged Englander with accepting $15,000 from one of the businessmen and obstructing the FBI’s investigation into corruption at L.A. City Hall. Englander eventually pleaded guilty to providing false information to the FBI. He was sentenced to 14 months in prison.

Lee called the investigation into him “wasteful and political.”

He said the commission’s action was “but one step in the process of fighting these baseless charges.”

“I look forward to finally having an opportunity to have this matter adjudicated in a fair and impartial setting,” he said.

Any appeal would need to be filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court.