Trump Taps Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy As Interim NASA Chief; Musk Ally Isaacman Praises ‘Smart’ Move

U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday named Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy as the interim administrator of NASA, weeks after withdrawing the nomination of a Musk ally for the role.

“He will be a fantastic leader of the ever more important Space Agency, even if only for a short period of time,” Trump wrote on Truth Special after praising Duffy for doing “a TREMENDOUS job in handling our Country’s Transportation Affairs, including creating a state-of-the-art Air Traffic Control system.”

The space agency has been without a permanent administrator since January, following the resignation of Bill Nelson, a Biden appointee. NASA executive Janet Petro has been serving as the acting administrator since then.

“Honored to accept this mission. Time to take over space. Let’s launch,” Duffy wrote on X after Trump’s post.

Last month, Trump abruptly withdrew the nomination of Jared Isaacman, a fintech executive and private astronaut, as the nominee to lead the space agency, despite the Senate having begun the confirmation hearing.

“Elon asked that one of his close friends run NASA and, while I thought his friend was very good, I was surprised to learn that he was a blue-blooded Democrat, who had never contributed to a Republican before,” Trump posted on Truth Social last week. Public records have shown that Isaacman had donated to both parties, a fact the fintech executive pointed out in a post on X on Monday.

On Monday, Isaacman responded to Trump’s earlier jabs, calling the NASA leadership gap “not ideal for America.”

By late Wednesday, after news broke of Duffy’s nomination as interim administrator, Isaacman voiced support for the move.

“Short of a new nominee, this was a great move. @NASA needs political leadership from someone the President trusts and has confidence in. Wishing @SecDuffy well in this important endeavor—NASA deserves the best,” he posted on X.

“It will take 4+ months for the eventual nominee to get through confirmation,” Isaacman added. “If you love NASA, then trust me—you want the interim administrator to be someone who can text the President. A trusted cabinet member like Sec. Duffy is a good move.”

The withdrawal of Isaacman’s nomination was one of the first signs of a rift between Trump and Musk, which has since escalated over disagreements related to the ‘Big Beautiful Bill.’ Trump has already threatened to cancel federal contracts for Musk’s companies, which include SpaceX, one of NASA’s top partners.

Retail sentiment on Stocktwits about another launch vehicle provider, Rocket Lab (RKLB), was in the ‘bullish’ territory at the time of writing.  

Duffy takes charge of the space agency at a time when it is undergoing a significant organizational overhaul. Over 2,000 senior staff members at NASA are expected to leave the space agency, as per a Politico report, amid a push by the Trump administration to cut the federal workforce. NASA could also see its budget trimmed by 25% as per a proposal by the White House.

According to several media reports, Duffy and Musk clashed in a cabinet meeting over the firing of air traffic controllers earlier this year, which Trump denied.

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