Latest news with #LizHuston
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump pulls NASA nomination of entrepreneur Jared Isaacman just days before vote
The Trump administration is pulling the nomination of commercial astronaut and entrepreneur Jared Isaacman to be the next NASA administrator just days before he was scheduled to get a confirmation vote in the Senate, according to Semafor. Isaacman went through the hearing process with the Senate's Commerce Committee last month, and the Senate Majority Leader, Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, took action to have votes take place on his nomination as the Senate returns next week after the Memorial Day recess. The Commerce Committee voted on April 30 to advance Isaacman's nomination to the full Senate. '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 spokesperson Liz Huston told Semafor. '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 follows...
The Independent
3 days ago
- Business
- The Independent
Trump pulls NASA nomination of entrepreneur Jared Isaacman just days before vote
The Trump administration is pulling the nomination of commercial astronaut and entrepreneur Jared Isaacman to be the next NASA administrator just days before he was scheduled to get a confirmation vote in the Senate, according to Semafor. Isaacman went through the hearing process with the Senate's Commerce Committee last month, and the Senate Majority Leader, Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, took action to have votes take place on his nomination as the Senate returns next week after the Memorial Day recess. The Commerce Committee voted on April 30 to advance Isaacman's nomination to the full Senate. '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 spokesperson Liz Huston told Semafor. '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.'
Bloomberg
3 days ago
- General
- Bloomberg
White House Planning to Replace NASA Administrator Nominee
The White House said it would name a new nominee for NASA administrator, just days before billionaire Jared Isaacman, the current pick, was to face his planned Senate confirmation vote. '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,' White House spokesperson Liz Huston said.
Reuters
3 days ago
- General
- Reuters
White House says Trump will soon announce new nominee for NASA head
WASHINGTON, May 31 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump will soon announce a new candidate to serve as administrator of NASA, the White House said on Saturday, but did not explain why initial nominee Jared Isaacman was no longer in the running. Semafor, citing two people familiar with the matter, had earlier said the White House would pull Isaacman's candidacy. "It is 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," said White House spokeswoman Liz Huston.
Axios
13-04-2025
- Politics
- Axios
Social Security is now an immigration enforcement tool
The agency responsible for managing the country's retirement system is now in the immigration enforcement business. Why it matters: President Trump's aggressive deportation push is fast becoming a whole-of-government campaign. Driving the news: There are hundreds of thousands of immigrants in the U.S. with "temporary parole" status — granted through various Biden-era programs. They received Social Security numbers in order to work. A White House official tells Axios the Department of Homeland Security identified more than 6,300 of these folks who, they say, are on the FBI terrorist watch list, or with FBI criminal records. The Social Security agency moved their names into its "Death Master File," a database of dead people. They have since renamed the file the "Ineligible Master File." Zoom in: Inside the Social Security Administration, officials worry that people will be mistakenly added to the list, upending their lives. "Some agency staff have since checked the names and Social Security numbers of some of the youngest immigrants against data the agency typically uses to search for criminal history and found no evidence of crimes or law enforcement interactions," staffers told WashPost. Between the lines: Getting on this list by mistake can wreak havoc on someone's life — employers, landlords, credit agencies, and insurers all check it. Americans who've been accidentally declared dead have lost health insurance coverage. The idea is to force people out of the country. "President Trump promised mass deportations," says spokeswoman Liz Huston. "And by removing the monetary incentive for illegal aliens to come and stay, we will encourage them to self-deport." Getting off the list isn't easy. "There's a whole 'I'm not dead' routine that goes to the agency's processing centers," Marcela Escobar-Alava, the agency's former chief information officer, told Axios earlier this month. The centers are backlogged, and recent staffing cuts will likely make that worse, she says. Catch up quick: Social Security isn't the only non-immigration agency now involved in the immigration crackdown. The Internal Revenue Service reached an agreement last Monday with the Department of Homeland Security to share the tax information of undocumented immigrants with immigration authorities. Zoom out: The President has vowed not to cut Social Security benefits. Instead, the White House argues its plan is to increase benefits by eliminating income taxes on cash benefits, a boost to retirees checks. The White House official also said the agency is developing "AI-powered tools to handle simple tasks like password changes and benefit notifications." That would free-up more staff to work on more complex cases, they said. Yes, but: In February, the agency announced it would cut 7,000 employees. Many top career officials with decades of experience have left; more took "deferred resignation" offers, while others are being reassigned into new roles.
