Donald Trump Withdraws Musk Ally Jared Isaacman's Nomination To Head NASA

(MENAFN- Live Mint) US President Donald Trump said on Saturday he was withdrawing his nomination of tech billionaire Jared Isaacman, a close ally of Elon Musk, to lead space agency National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Trump said he would announce a new candidate soon.

"After a thorough review of prior associations, I am hereby withdrawing the nomination of Jared Isaacman to head NASA," Trump wrote on his Truth Social site.“I will soon announce a new Nominee who will be Mission aligned, and put America First in Space.”

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Isaacman, a billionaire private astronaut who had been Musk's pick to lead NASA, was due next week for a much-delayed confirmation vote before the US Senate. His removal from consideration caught many in the space industry by surprise.

Trump and the White House did not explain what led to the decision. Isaacman, whose removal was earlier reported by Semafor, did not respond to a request for comment, Reuters reported.

Trump said last December, before returning to office, that he wanted the online payments entrepreneur and the first private astronaut to conduct a spacewalk to serve as the next head of NASA.

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SpaceX CEO Elon Musk had reportedly lobbied directly with the president for Isaacman, who has had significant business dealings with Musk's SpaceX, to get the top NASA job, raising questions of possible conflicts of interest.

The nomination shakeup appears to be a snub of billionaire Elon Musk, who stepped back from his role leading the US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

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Musk, according to a person familiar with his reaction, was disappointed by Isaacman's removal.

"It is rare to find someone so competent and good-hearted," Musk wrote of Isaacman on X, responding to the news of the White House's decision.

Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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It was unclear whom the administration might tap to replace Isaacman.

One name being floated is retired US Air Force Lieutenant General Steven Kwast, an early advocate for the creation of the US Space Force and Trump supporter, according to three people familiar with the discussions.

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Isaacman, the former CEO of payment processor company Shift4, had broad space industry support but drew concerns from lawmakers over his ties to Musk and SpaceX , where he spent hundreds of millions of dollars as an early private spaceflight customer, Reuters reported.

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In his confirmation hearing in April, the former nominee sought to balance NASA's existing moon-aligned space exploration strategy with pressure to shift the agency's focus on Mars. He said the US can plan for travel to both destinations.

As a potential leader of NASA's some 18,000 employees, Isaacman faced a daunting task of implementing that decision to prioritise Mars, given that NASA has spent years and billions of dollars trying to return its astronauts to the moon.

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On Friday, the space agency released new details of the Trump administration's 2026 budget plan that proposed killing dozens of space science programs and laying off thousands of employees - a controversial overhaul that space advocates and lawmakers described as devastating for the agency.

Montana Republican Tim Sheehy, a member of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation committee, wrote on X that Isaacman "was a strong choice by President Trump to lead NASA" in response to reports of his departure.

"I was proud to introduce Jared at his hearing and strongly oppose efforts to derail his nomination," Sheehy said.

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Some scientists saw the nominee change as further destabilising to NASA as it faces dramatic budget cuts without a confirmed leader in place to navigate political turbulence between Congress, the White House and the space agency's workforce.

"So not having (Isaacman) as boss of NASA is bad news for the agency," Harvard-Smithsonian astronomer Jonathan McDowell said on X.

"Maybe a good thing for Jared himself though, since being NASA head right now is a bit of a Kobayashi Maru scenario," McDowell added, referring to an exercise in the science fiction franchise Star Trek where cadets are placed in a no-win scenario.

(With inputs from Reuters)

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