Steinau Pledges aggressive oversight of NASA programs

Robert Steinau, appearing as the nominee for NASA inspector general, told a Senate Commerce Committee nomination hearing on Nov. 10 that he would pursue aggressive oversight and independent reviews of NASA programs while the agency works toward returning to the Moon.

He joined NASA’s Office of Inspector General in 2009 and has been its acting senior official since December 2024 while the Senate-confirmed post remained vacant. He had spent more than a decade at the office before stepping into the acting role after the prior inspector general left. That vacancy has left NASA without a Senate-confirmed inspector general since late 2023, when Paul Martin departed. Before coming to NASA, Steinau worked at the Energy Department’s inspector general office and with the U.S. Secret Service, earlier roles that SpaceNews listed as part of his professional background.

At the hearing, Steinau said the inspector general’s work would center on three critical challenges: returning humans to the moon, the International Space Station’s shift to commercial stations, and cybersecurity. He laid out these priorities during his opening remarks at the nomination hearing as the central focus of the inspector general’s work. He said NASA is moving quickly and accountability must keep up with its ambition while explaining why oversight matters as the agency advances its programs, and Steinau said, “extraordinary ambition demands aggressive oversight.” He added that “NASA is moving with urgency, and it is imperative that accountability keep pace with ambition,” in his opening statement.

Joshua Shoemaker, nominated as NASA’s chief financial officer, is an accountant with more than 20 years of experience in private business and Mississippi state government. He appeared alongside Steinau at the November 10 Senate Commerce Committee hearing. Since August, Shoemaker has been a senior adviser at NASA’s Mission Support Directorate, and he was controller for the Republican National Committee. His background includes both private-sector and state government financial work.

His priorities would include financial accountability, clearer insight into NASA program finances, transparency with Congress, and updated agency financial systems, Shoemaker said. He said the chief financial officer must provide the administrator, NASA leadership and Congress with an honest and timely view of NASA’s financial condition. He added that this means showing how programs perform against planned budgets and schedules and ensuring effective management of resources. He described these goals in his opening statement at the nomination hearing.

He declined to answer questions about specific programs and about the NASA-led presidential commission’s study of a proposed U.S. Space Academy, adding that the president will decide its location. He made these remarks during the nomination hearing.

Shoemaker and Steinau are nominees for two of four Senate-confirmed NASA posts; the other two are administrator and deputy administrator. The four confirmation-required positions frame the scope of the nominations considered at the hearing.

The chief financial officer position has had no Senate-confirmed holder since January 2025, when the Trump administration began. The White House nominated Greg Autry for the job in spring 2025, but the Senate sent the nomination back without acting on it by year’s end. This followed the CFO vacancy that began at the start of the Trump administration.

On Nov. 11, the Senate Commerce Committee scheduled a Nov. 18 vote on the hearing’s nominees, which would send them to the full Senate if approved. The vote follows the November 10 hearing and would advance both the chief financial officer and inspector general nominations.

The hearing ran for just over an hour on Nov. 10, with senators paying most attention to Danielle Thumann’s nomination to the Federal Communications Commission. The hearing considered several posts, including NASA’s chief financial officer and inspector general nominees.