In an abrupt about-face on Saturday, President Donald Trump pulled the nomination of his pick for the next person to lead NASA. His nomination was days away from a vote in front of the full U.S. Senate.
The withdrawal of Jared Isaacman, an entrepreneur and commercial astronaut, came less than a day after NASA published its proposed budget, which fleshes out the deep cuts forecast in the “skinny budget” previously released.
Semafor was the first to report the ouster of Isaacman, which was then confirmed by the White House.
“The Administrator of NASA will help lead humanity into space and execute President Trump’s bold mission of planting the American flag on the planet Mars,” Liz Huston, a spokesperson for the White House, said in a statement. “It’s essential that the next leader of NASA is in complete alignment with President Trump’s America First agenda and a replacement will be announced directly by President Trump soon.”
Isaacman was nominated to be the NASA Administrator in early December 2024 and received a stamp of approval from the Senate’s Commerce Committee in late April.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
