Trump withdraws nominee to lead NASA Jared Isaacman, a close ally of Elon Musk
The White House confirmed the withdrawal on May 31 and said Trump will soon announce a new nominee to lead NASA. No reason was provided for parting ways with Isaacman, who led and financed private astronaut missions Polaris Dawn and Inspiration4, which was carried out by Musk's SpaceX.
The withdrawal, first reported by the news website Semafor, comes after the 42-year-old Isaacman already cleared the Senate Commerce Committee in April and appeared on track for a full Senate vote.
'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," White House Assistant Press Secretary Liz Huston 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."
More: Elon Musk's rise and fall: From Trump's chainsaw-wielding sidekick to a swift exit
The move comes a day after Musk, a business partner and friend of Isaacman, left the White House after spending four months as a senior White House adviser overseeing the Department of Government Efficiency. Musk joined Trump for an Oval Office news conference to mark the end of the billionaire Tesla and SpaceX CEO's tenure in the White House.
"It is rare to find someone so competent and good-hearted," Musk said in a post on X, in reaction to Trump's decision to withdraw Isaacman's nomination.
Conservative activist Laura Loomer, who has proven influential in many Trump decisions, raised alarm about the status of Isaacman's nomination in an X post, hours before the White House confirmed it was being withdrawn, writing, "There is reason to believe that Isaacman may be facing retaliation because of his friendship with Musk."
More: Trump's pick to head NASA has been to space twice: Recapping billionaire's missions
Isaacman, founder and CEO of the payment processing company Shift4 Payments, undertook his first private space venture in 2021, when he was commander and financier of the world's first all-civilian extended mission to space. In 2024, he returned to space with an all-civilian crew of amateur spacefarers with the Polaris Dawn mission, which he jointly funded with SpaceX.
Isaacman drew concern from some lawmakers over his ties to Musk and SpaceX. During his Senate confirmation hearing in April, he sought to balance NASA's existing moon-aligned space exploration strategy with the Trump administration's push for a space mission to Mars, saying the U.S. 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 prioritize Mars, given that NASA has spent years and billions of dollars trying to return its astronauts to the moon.
NASA, which has about 18,000 employees, has lacked a full-time administrator since Bill Nelson, NASA administrator in the Biden administration, stepped down on Jan. 20 when Trump was inaugurated.
Contributing: Eric Lagatta of USA TODAY and Reuters
Reach Joey Garrison @joeygarrison.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: President Trump withdraws nominee to lead NASA Jared Isaacman
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