President Trump withdraws nominee to lead NASA Jared Isaacman
The withdrawal, first reported by the news website Semafor, comes after the 42-year-old Isaacman already cleared the Senate Commerce Committee in April and appeared on track for a full Senate vote.
"The Administrator of NASA will help lead humanity into space and execute President Trump's bold mission of planting the American flag on the planet Mars," White House Assistant Press Secretary Liz Huston said in a statement. "It's essential that the next leader of NASA is in complete alignment with President Trump's America First agenda, and a replacement will be announced directly by President Trump soon."
More: Elon Musk's rise and fall: From Trump's chainsaw-wielding sidekick to a swift exit
The move comes a day after Musk, a business partner and friend of Isaacman, left the White House after spending four months as a senior White House adviser overseeing the Department of Government Efficiency. Musk joined Trump for an Oval Office news conference to mark the end of the billionaire Tesla and SpaceX CEO's tenure in the White House.
Conservative activist Laura Loomer, who has proven influential in many Trump decisions, raised alarm about the status of Isaacman's nomination in an X post, hours before the White House confirmed it was being withdrawn, writing, "There is reason to believe that Isaacman may be facing retaliation because of his friendship with Musk."
More: Trump's pick to head NASA has been to space twice: Recapping billionaire's missions
Isaacman, founder and CEO of the payment processing company Shift4 Payments, undertook his first private space venture in 2021, when he was commander and financier of the world's first all-civilian extended mission to space. In 2024, he returned to space with an all-civilian crew of amateur spacefarers with the Polaris Dawn missions, which he jointly funded with SpaceX.
The Polaris Dawn mission got off the ground on Sept. 10 with the help of a Falcon 9 rocket, which propelled the crew to orbit on a SpaceX Dragon capsule from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The crew also included pilot Scott "Kidd" Poteet and mission specialists Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon.
NASA has lacked a full-time administrator since Bill Nelson, NASA administrator in the Biden administration, stepped down on Jan. 20 when Trump was inaugurated.
Contributing: Eric Lagatta of USA TODAY
Reach Joey Garrison @joeygarrison.
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