Politics
Trump Withdraws Nomination For Key Agency Chief
President Donald Trump announced Saturday that he will be the nomination of tech billionaire Jared Isaacman, a close associate of Elon Musk, to lead NASA. The president added that he will be announcing a new nominee in the coming days.
In a Truth Social post, Trump explained that he decided to withdraw the nomination after a “thorough review” of Isaacman’s “prior associations.”
It was unclear exactly what the president meant and the White House has not yet provided additional details.
“After a thorough review of prior associations, I am hereby withdrawing the nomination of Jared Isaacman to head NASA,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “I will soon announce a new Nominee who will be Mission aligned, and put America First in Space.”
Then-president-elect Trump’s transition team first announced back in December that Isaacman had been nominated to lead the space agency. Isaacman, 42, has been a close collaborator with Musk ever since buying his first chartered flight on Musk’s SpaceX company in 2021.
He is the founder and CEO of Shift4, a credit card processing firm. Isaacman has purchased a number of spaceflights from SpaceX and conducted the first private spacewalk.
SpaceX works closely with NASA and currently has several lucrative contracts.
The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee approved Isaacman’s nomination in late April and a vote by the full Senate was expected soon.
Musk appeared disheartened by the news in a social media post. “It is rare to find someone so competent and good-hearted,” the SpaceX CEO wrote in an X post.
Musk formally departed the Trump Administration earlier this week after his temporary contract with the federal government concluded. He was tasked with cutting waste, fraud and abuse through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiative.
“As my scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end, I would like to thank President @realDonaldTrump for the opportunity to reduce wasteful spending,” Musk wrote in an X post earlier this week. The tech entrepreneur added that the DOGE mission “will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government.”
