President Donald Trump late Wednesday announced he was putting Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy in charge of NASA as its new interim chief.
“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 wrote on a post 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. Congratulations, and thank you, Sean!”
Duffy is temporarily replacing former Kennedy Space Center Director Janet Petro, who has been the interim NASA administrator since Trump took office and Bill Nelson stepped down. It’s unclear if Petro will return to her role at KSC. The Sentinel has reached out to NASA for comment.
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“Honored to accept this mission. Time to take over space. Let’s launch,” Duffy posted to X after the news was announced.
The move comes a little over a month after Trump removed his nomination of billionaire Jared Isaacman as NASA chief, just days before it was expected the Senate would confirm him to the permanent job.
Although at the time Trump cited the fact that Isaacman had made several campaign donations previously to Democrats as the reason why, many considered it a move related to the brewing feud between Trump and Elon Musk. Isaacman has close ties to Musk, having flown to space twice with SpaceX.
Trump has since said he didn’t think it was appropriate for the head of NASA to have had such a familial relationship to SpaceX, because NASA has so many contracts with the company.
For his part, Isaacman commended the choice of Duffy.
“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,” Isaacman posted on X.
He pointed out that whoever the eventual permanent nominee is, it would be at least another four months before a confirmation hearing could be held.
“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,” Isaacman wrote.
