NASA reconsiders Jared Isaacman for administrator role after pullback

NASA is thinking again Elon Musk We’re allied with Jared Isaacman for the top management role.

The private astronaut was nominated for the post earlier this year, but the White House withdrew the nomination due to cracks in President Donald Trump’s relationship with Musk.

“Secretary Duffy and Jared Isaacman had an excellent meeting,” NASA press secretary Bethany Stephens first told Reuters this week.

In a statement to Fox News Digital, he added: “At the direction of President Trump, the Secretary [Sean] In his capacity as acting NASA Administrator, Duffy meets with and vets many candidates for the permanent role.”

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The nomination was withdrawn on May 31, a day after the White House held a farewell press conference for Musk, the SpaceX and Tesla CEO who leads the work of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Trump announced on social media that he was withdrawing his nomination of Isaacman, a commercial astronaut and founder and CEO of payment processing company Shift4 Payments, after “a thorough review of previous affiliations.”

Trump also said he would announce a “new Nominee who will be aligned with the Mission and put America First in Space.”

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DOT Secretary Sean Duffy served as acting NASA administrator. (STEFANI REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

Isaacman’s relationships with Musk include being an investor in SpaceX as well as leading two private companies spaceflight missions With SpaceX, including Inspiration4. The 2021 Inspiration4 mission was the first time an all-civilian crew entered Earth orbit.

The billionaire investor flew into space twice with the company’s capsules.

By the time his nomination was withdrawn, he had spent months managing the Senate confirmation process, balancing NASA’s multibillion-dollar strategy of returning to the moon first and its focus on Mars. NASA recently announced plans to develop a nuclear reactor on the moon.

Isaacman stated that he suspected his ties to Musk were part of the decision, and that the call came the day Musk’s tenure at DOGE ended.

“I don’t need to play dumb on this,” Isaacman said on the “All In” podcast. “I don’t think the timing is too coincidental, there were other changes on the same day.

“I guess there were some people with some axes, and I was a good, visible target.”

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Isaacman has made two SpaceX flights into space. (Space X / Fox News)

Tensions between Trump and Musk came to a head when Musk opposed Trump’s massive tax and spending package, the “Big Beautiful Bill.”

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Relations between the two appear to be improving. They shook hands and chatted at Charlie Kirk’s funeral Glendale Arizona last month.

“We had a little conversation,” Trump said. “We had a very good relationship, but it was nice to have him come.”