President Trump Appoints Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to Lead In BIG New Role

President Trump just announced that he is appointing Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy to a big new role…as interim NASA administrator!

He made the announcement on Truth Social:

I am pleased to announce that I am directing our GREAT Secretary of Transportation, Sean Duffy, to be Interim Administrator of NASA. Sean is doing a TREMENDOUS job in handling our Country’s Transportation Affairs, including creating a state-of-the-art Air Traffic Control systems, while at the same time rebuilding our roads and bridges, making them efficient, and beautiful, again. He will be a fantastic leader of the ever more important Space Agency, even if only for a short period of time. Congratulations, and thank you, Sean!

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Secretary Duffy responded on X:

🚀 Honored to accept this mission. Time to take over space. Let’s launch. 🇺🇸🛰️ pic.twitter.com/ZBoEgPnwz4

— Secretary Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy) July 10, 2025

This news follows President Trump pulling the nomination of his first pick for chief of NASA, Jared Issacman, who is a close associate of Elon Musk and a staunch Democrat supporter.

CNBC provided some background:

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.

Jared Isaacman isn’t holding a grudge, though.

He called President Trump’s decision a “great move” and wished Secretary Duffy well in his new role on X:

Short of a new nominee, this was a great move. @NASA needs political leadership from someone the President trusts and has confidence in. Wishing @SecDuffy well in this important endeavor–NASA deserves the best🇺🇸

— Jared Isaacman (@rookisaacman) July 10, 2025

President Trump’s appointment also comes amid a mass purge of senior employees at NASA.

🚨 BREAKING: At President Trump's direction, 2,145 senior-ranking employees at NASA are set to leave under a push to REDUCE the Federal Workforce.

The agency will soon offer early retirement, buyouts and deferred resignations. pic.twitter.com/XmtjHZ2mer

— The Patriot Oasis™ (@ThePatriotOasis) July 9, 2025

Politico has more on that:

At least 2,145 senior-ranking NASA employees are set to leave under a push to shed staff, according to documents obtained by POLITICO — potentially spelling trouble for White House space policy and depriving the agency of decades of experience.

The 2,145 employees are those in GS-13 to GS-15 positions — senior-level government ranks that are typically reserved for those with specialized skills or management responsibilities. The losses are particularly concentrated at higher levels, with 875 GS-15 employees set to leave, according to the documents.

Those 2,145 employees, in turn, make up the bulk of the 2,694 civil staff who have agreed to leave NASA under a slate of offers that fall within broader administration efforts to trim the federal workforce, according to the documents. NASA has offered staff early retirement, buyouts and deferred resignations.

Many of those leaving also serve in NASA’s core mission sets, according to the documents. Those leaving include 1,818 staff serving in mission areas like science or human space flight, with the rest performing mission support roles like IT, facilities management or finance.

“You’re losing the managerial and core technical expertise of the agency,” said Casey Dreier, chief of space policy at The Planetary Society. “What’s the strategy and what do we hope to achieve here?”

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The departures follow a proposed White House budget for 2026 that would slash NASA’s funding by 25 percent and cut over 5,000 staff. The cuts, if enacted by Congress, would force the agency to operate with the smallest budget and staff since the early 1960s.