Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy named acting NASA administrator
Trump expected to nominate new NASA administrator
President Trump has pulled the nomination for Jared Issacman to be the next NASA administrator.
President Donald Trump has named Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy as acting NASA administrator, he announced on Truth Social Wednesday.
The announcement comes more than a month after he pulled the nomination of tech billionaire Jared Isaacson to run the space agency, citing Isaacson’s past donations to Democrats. Trump accused Isaacson of being a "blue-blooded Democrat who had never contributed to a Republican before."
Sean Duffy named interim NASA administrator
What we know:
Duffy is a 53-year-old former congressman and reality TV star who oversees a transportation department of 55,000 employees that spends tens of billions of dollars annually, oversees the nation’s highways, railroads and airspace and sets safety standards for trains, cars and trucks.
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Duffy was swiftly confirmed as transportation secretary after Trump took office for a second term in January. He was approved with bipartisan support on a 77-22 vote in the Senate.
Sean Duffy, US secretary of transportation, during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Tuesday, July 8, 2025. Photographer: Aaron Schwartz/CNP/Bloomberg via Getty Images
At his confirmation hearing in January, Duffy vowed to "restore global confidence" in Boeing, hire more air traffic controllers, cut DEI programs at DOT and create federal rules for self-driving cars instead of leaving that to patchwork of state regulations that critics said holds back U.S. development.
What we don't know:
He doesn’t appear to have any experience in the space industry, and he has "little to no formal aviation experience," according to The Air Current.
What they're saying:
"I am pleased to announce that I am directing our GREAT Secretary of Transportation, Sean Duffy, to be Interim Administrator of NASA," Trump posted on Truth Social. "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. 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!"
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Duffy, meanwhile, responded that he’s "honored to accept this mission."
"Time to take over space," he wrote on X. "Let’s launch."
Dig deeper:
Duffy isn’t the only Cabinet member on double duty. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is also serving as interim national security adviser.
Trump wants to cut NASA’s science budget in half
By the numbers:
According to The Washington Post, Trump’s fiscal year 2026 budget request to Congress includes a 47% funding cut for NASA’s science budget. NASA’s current science budget is $7.33 billion.
Trump pulls Jared Isaacman’s NASA nomination
The backstory:
Trump announced in December during the presidential transition that he had chosen Isaacman to be the space agency’s next administrator. Isaacman, 42, has been a close collaborator with Elon Musk ever since buying his first chartered flight on Musk’s SpaceX company in 2021.
In June, not long before his confirmation hearing was expected to take place, Trump announced Isaacson was no longer the nominee.
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"After a thorough review of prior associations, I am hereby withdrawing the nomination of Jared Isaacman to head NASA," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "I will soon announce a new Nominee who will be Mission aligned, and put America First in Space."
Trump said Isaacman’s relationship with Musk is another reason he decided to pull the nomination. Trump and Musk, who served as a top adviser to the president, had a falling out in June.
Trump said he thought it was "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."
The other side:
Musk lamented Trump’s decision about Isaacman, saying that "it is rare to find someone so competent and good-hearted."
The Source: This report includes information from President Trump's Truth Social account, Sean Duffy's X page, The Associated Press, The Washington Post, The Air Current and previous LiveNow from FOX reporting.