President Trump has named Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to be the new boss of NASA, at least temporarily.
In a post announcing the pick, Trump lauded Duffy for a "tremendous" job in his current role and acknowledged his new role would be short-lived.
“Sean is doing a TREMENDOUS job in handling our Country’s Transportation Affairs, including creating a state-of-the-art Air Traffic Control systems, while at the same time rebuilding our roads and bridges, making them efficient, and beautiful, again,” Trump wrote.
“He will be a fantastic leader of the ever more important Space Agency, even if only for a short period of time. Congratulations, and thank you, Sean!”
The shuffle still leaves NASA without a permanent leader. Trump had picked billionaire and private astronaut Jared Isaacman but withdrew the nomination in late May, citing a "thorough review" of his "prior associations."
Isaacman is a close associate of Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX and a former Trump ally who has since turned against the president. Trump has said it would have been inappropriate for Isaacman to lead NASA, given his ties to Musk, the biggest player in the private space industry.
“I also thought it inappropriate that a very close friend of Elon, who was in the Space Business, run NASA, when NASA is such a big part of Elon’s corporate life," Trump explained in another post.
Duffy can be expected to faithfully execute Trump's agenda of government reform, which has prioritized cost-cutting and ending left-wing initiatives such as DEI.
Duffy is taking over from acting administrator Janet Petro, who is also the director of the Kennedy Space Center, NASA's primary launch center.
"Honored to accept this mission. Time to take over space. Let’s launch," Duffy wrote.
The change in leadership comes after the White House issued a controversial budget request that would trim NASA down to its smallest size since the early 1960s.
The plan cuts research programs like Mars Sample Return, while prioritizing ambitious feats like putting humans on Mars and returning to the Moon for the first time in more than 50 years.
The administration envisions a leaner NASA that is more reliant on support from private industry, but the budget has faced pushback in Congress, with lawmakers on the Senate Appropriations Committee voting to reject it last week.
Isaacman praised Trump's nomination of Duffy, writing, "Short of a new nominee, this was a great move. NASA needs political leadership from someone the President trusts and has confidence in.”
