Trump taps Sean Duffy as interim NASA administrator

President Trump said late Wednesday that he was tapping Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to lead NASA on an interim basis after Trump yanked his original nominee for the post.

“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 posted on Truth Social. “He will be a fantastic leader of the ever more important Space Agency, even if only for a short period of time.”

Trump in June abruptly withdrew the nomination of tech entrepreneur Jared Isaacman to lead NASA. The move came days before the Senate was expected to confirm Isaacman to the post.

In announcing the withdrawal, Trump cited Isaacman’s “past associations,” an apparent nod to his previous donations to Democrats.

But Isaacman was also a close ally of Tesla CEO and former special government employee Elon Musk, who has since had a falling out with the president. Trump has since 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.”

Duffy becomes the latest Cabinet official to be given multiple job titles. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is also serving as interim national security adviser.

Duffy responded to the president’s post on X, writing, “Honored to accept this mission. Time to take over space. Let’s launch.”