Trump names Transportation Secretary Duffy as interim NASA administrator

U.S. President Donald Trump Wednesday tapped Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to service arsenic the interim head of NASA, a relation that has remained vacant since Trump withdrew his archetypal nominee.

Duffy will temporarily instrumentality implicit the station that has been successful the spotlight owed to Trump's feud with billionaire Elon Musk, who wanted his adjacent state Jared Isaacman to pb the abstraction agency.

"Sean is doing a TREMENDOUS occupation successful handling our Country's Transportation Affairs ... He volition beryllium a fantastic person of the ever much important Space Agency, adjacent if lone for a abbreviated play of time," Trump wrote connected Truth Social.

Trump named Isaacman, a billionaire backstage astronaut, to beryllium the NASA head successful December, before abruptly withdrawing his nomination in May, successful a determination that angered SpaceX-owner Musk.

While astatine the clip the White House did not supply an mentation for pulling Isaacman's nomination, Trump has since said it was "inappropriate" to person named Isaacman arsenic NASA administrator, considering Musk's concern with the abstraction agency.

After Trump's announcement connected Wednesday, Isaacman called it "a large move" and wished Duffy well.

"NASA needs governmental enactment from idiosyncratic the President trusts and has assurance in," Isaacman said connected X.

Trump's announcement came arsenic Politico reported that much than 2,100 senior-ranking NASA employees are acceptable to permission their jobs nether a propulsion by the medication to shed unit done aboriginal retirement, buyouts and deferred resignations.

Under Trump's administration, the U.S. abstraction manufacture and NASA's workforce of 18,000 person been whipsawed by looming layoffs and projected fund cuts that would cancel dozens of subject programs.