Trump Nominates Musk Ally for NASA Again

President Trump announced Tuesday he has decided to nominate Jared Isaacman to serve as his NASA administrator, months after withdrawing the tech billionaire's nomination because of concerns about his political leanings. Trump announced in late May that he had decided to withdraw Isaacman after a "thorough review" of his "prior associations," the AP reports. Weeks after the withdrawal, Trump went further in expressing his concerns about Isaacman's Republican credentials. He acknowledged that he thought Isaacman "was very good," but had become "surprised to learn" that Isaacman was a "blue blooded Democrat, who had never contributed to a Republican before."

• Isaacman had the endorsement of Trump's former DOGE adviser and tech entrepreneur Elon Musk. The president and Musk had a very public falling out earlier this year but are now apparently on better terms. Last week, Trump told reporters he and Musk have spoken "on and off" since sitting together at Charlie Kirk's funeral last month in Arizona and that their relationship is "good."
• Trump made no mention of his previous decision to nominate and then withdraw Isaacman in his Tuesday evening announcement of the re-nomination in a Truth Social post.
• "This evening, I am pleased to nominate Jared Isaacman, an accomplished business leader, philanthropist, pilot, and astronaut, as Administrator of NASA," Trump wrote. "Jared's passion for Space, astronaut experience, and dedication to pushing the boundaries of exploration, unlocking the mysteries of the universe, and advancing the new Space economy, make him ideally suited to lead NASA into a bold new Era."

• Isaacman, CEO and founder of credit card-processing company Shift4, has been a close collaborator with Musk ever since buying his first chartered flight with SpaceX. He also bought a series of spaceflights from SpaceX and conducted the first private spacewalk. SpaceX has extensive contracts with NASA.
• The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee approved Isaacman's nomination in late April and a vote by the full Senate had been expected when Trump announced he was yanking the nomination.
• Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has been serving as interim NASA administrator. The president on Tuesday praised Duffy for doing an "incredible job."
• Duffy had been rumored to be seeking a permanent appointment as NASA administrator. After he said last month that SpaceX could lose its NASA moon contract, Musk called him "Sean Dummy" and accused him of wanting to "kill NASA."