WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump is retracting the nomination of tech mogul Jared Isaacman, an ally of Elon Musk, to head NASA, according to someone familiar with the matter who disclosed the information on Saturday.
This individual spoke anonymously as they were not authorized to discuss the administration’s personnel matters publicly. Both the White House and NASA have not quickly responded to emailed inquiries for comments.
Trump declared last December during the transition of his presidency that he had selected Isaacman as the upcoming administrator for the space agency. Isaacman has maintained a close partnership with Musk since purchasing his initial charter flight with Musk’s SpaceX in 2021.
He is the CEO and founder of Shift4, a credit card processing company. 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 was expected soon.
Musk appeared to lament Trump’s decision in a post Saturday on X that said, “It is rare to find someone so competent and good-hearted.”
SpaceX is owned by Musk, a Trump supporter and adviser who announced this week that he is leaving the government after several months at the helm of the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. Trump created the agency to slash the size of government and put Musk in charge.
Semafor was first to report that the White House had decided to pull Isaacman’s nomination.
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