Trump names Transportation Secretary Duffy as interim NASA administrator

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(Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday tapped Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to serve as the interim administrator of NASA, a role that has remained vacant since Trump withdrew his initial nominee.

Duffy will temporarily take over the post that has been in the spotlight due to Trump’s feud with billionaire Elon Musk, who wanted his close ally Jared Isaacman to lead the space agency.

“Sean is doing a TREMENDOUS job in handling our Country’s Transportation Affairs … He will be a fantastic leader of the ever more important Space Agency, even if only for a short period of time,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Trump named Isaacman, a billionaire private astronaut, to be the NASA administrator in December, before abruptly withdrawing his nomination in May, in a decision that angered SpaceX-owner Musk.

While at the time the White House did not provide an explanation for pulling Isaacman’s nomination, Trump has since said it was “inappropriate” to have named Isaacman as NASA administrator, considering Musk’s business with the space agency.

After Trump’s announcement on Wednesday, Isaacman called it “a great move” and wished Duffy well.

“NASA needs political leadership from someone the President trusts and has confidence in,” Isaacman said on X.

Trump’s announcement came as Politico reported that more than 2,100 senior-ranking NASA employees are set to leave their jobs under a push by the administration to shed staff through early retirement, buyouts and deferred resignations.

Under Trump’s administration, the U.S. space industry and NASA’s workforce of 18,000 have been whipsawed by looming layoffs and proposed budget cuts that would cancel dozens of science programs.

(Reporting by Ismail Shakil and Steve Gorman, Editing by Colleen Jenkins, Sandra Maler and Michael Perry)