The Senate Commerce Committee advanced Monday a slate of transportation nominees, including Jared Isaacman, the on-off-on-again nominee to head NASA.

Isaacman, who was nominated to lead NASA earlier this year only to be withdrawn and renominated again in November, advanced on an 18-10 vote.

Isaacman said in a confirmation hearing last week that he doesn’t know why President Donald Trump withdrew his nomination in May and also denied that his ties to billionaire Elon Musk and Musk’s company SpaceX create a conflict of interest. 

Trump withdrew Isaacman’s initial nomination during the president’s feud with Musk and after reports that Isaacman has previously donated to Democratic campaigns. In a May post on Truth Social, Trump cited a “thorough review” of Isaacman’s “prior associations.”

Only three Democrats — ranking member Maria Cantwell of Washington, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and John Fetterman of Pennsylvania — voted in favor of Isaacman.

The panel also advanced the nominations of:

• Michael Graham to be a member of the National Transportation Safety Board in a 19-9 vote.
• Adm. Kevin E. Lunday to be U.S. Coast Guard commandant, in a 23-5 vote.
• Ryan McCormack to be Transportation undersecretary for policy, in a 18-10 vote.

The committee deferred votes on a handful of nominations due to scheduling issues, including on John DeLeeuw’s nomination to replace a transportation safety board member ousted by the Trump administration earlier this year. The administration removed NTSB Vice Chair Alvin Brown in May among a flurry of dismissals in the executive branch.

Democrats have been calling on Republicans to hold off on moving forward with the replacement of Brown until Brown’s lawsuit against the administration for wrongful termination is decided. But the deferral of the vote is unrelated to Democratic opposition, according to a Republican committee aide.

Brown was nominated to the board by President Joe Biden for a term set to end December 2026. The Senate confirmed his nomination in 2024.

Brown’s case in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia hasn’t been heard yet. Brown has asked for a summary judgment.

Cantwell said in a statement that rushing to confirm DeLeeuw is setting a “dangerous precedent” and is “enabling the White House’s power grab.”

“The NTSB’s critical work to advance public safety hinges on its independence and credibility, neither of which is advanced by confirming a nominee for a vacancy that does not clearly exist under the law,” Cantwell said. “I once again call on my Republican colleagues to preserve this Committee’s bipartisan tradition and postpone the vote on Vice Chair Brown’s replacement while the legal process plays out. It’s not too late to do the right thing.”

The panel also deferred votes on the nominations of:

• Steven Haines to be Commerce Department assistant secretary for industry and analysis.
• Robert Harvey to be a Federal Maritime Commission member.
• Richard Kloster to be a member of the Surface Transportation Board.

Lia Chien contributed to this report.