Jacob Ogles
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy will also lead NASA for now, President Donald Trump announced.
In a Truth Social post, the President said he was naming Duffy as NASA’s interim Administrator.
“I am pleased to announce that I am directing our GREAT Secretary of Transportation, Sean Duffy, to be Interim Administrator of NASA,” Trump posted.
“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!”
Trump previously announced that he wanted Jared Isaacman, a private SpaceX astronaut, as NASA Administrator. But Trump abruptly withdrew that nomination amid a fallout with former adviser Elon Musk, SpaceX’s founder.
The Wednesday evening announcement regarding Duffy follows the naming of former Florida political consultant Brian Hughes as NASA’s Chief of Staff.
Hughes isn’t the only high-profile hire at NASA to claim strong ties to Florida. The administration just tapped University of Central Florida space czar Greg Autry to serve as NASA’s Chief Financial Officer.
As it happens, the administration takes over a Florida heavy leadership team for NASA under former President Joe Biden. Isaacman will succeed former NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, a former U.S. Senator for Florida. After Nelson stepped down following Trump’s election, Kennedy Space Center Director Janet Petro took over as acting NASA Administrator.
Trump’s announcement of Duffy in the interim role moves on from that, but it remains unclear how long Trump will leave Duffy in the position before naming a full-time NASA Administrator. Secretary of State Marco Rubio for months has served as acting head of the National Archives and more recently pulled double-duty as Trump’s acting National Security Adviser.
The continued shuffles at NASA come amid conversation about relocating the headquarters for the space agency away from Washington, with Florida and Texas arguing they would be better locations.
