This doesn't make much sense. NASA famously has killed two shuttle crews through bean-counter/suits mis-management. Why would having someone who has flown to space (twice) and both flies and manages the maintenance and restoration of fast jets be worse?

Kash Patel might have experience hiding his alcohol abuse and taxpayer-funded vacationing, but that doesn't qualify him as an espionage expert fit to lead the FBI. NASA's problems are funding-related, nobody ever looked at JPL and said that they needed a airshow pilot or astronaut in order to stop the layoffs.

Issacman is another in a long line of blatantly political appointments that were installed to prevent actual national progress. He doesn't hide his conflict of interests, regardless of how seriously he might take the position.