DOT Chief Sean Duffy Named Interim Administrator of NASA
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President Donald Trump named Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy as what he calls an interim administrator of NASA, replacing current acting administrator Janet Petro.
“He will be a fantastic leader of the ever more important Space Agency, even if only for a short period of time,” Trump wrote on his website Truth Social. “Congratulations, and thank you, Sean!”
Petro, who has served as acting administrator since January, will return to the Kennedy Space Center, according to an administration official. She was appointed director of the KSC in June 2021, making her the first woman to hold the role.
Duffy’s appointment comes less than two months after Trump unexpectedly pulled the nomination of his original choice for NASA administrator, SpaceX astronaut and billionaire Jared Isaacman, citing his donations to Democratic politicians. Trump also claimed that Isaacman would have been “inappropriate” as NASA administrator because he was a “very close friend” of Elon Musk and NASA “is such a big part of Elon’s corporate life.”
🚀 Honored to accept this mission. Time to take over space. Let’s launch. 🇺🇸🛰️ — Secretary Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy)
The about-face on Isaacman also coincided with Musk’s step back from the Trump administration and a very public fallout between the SpaceX CEO and the president.
It’s unclear how long Duffy will serve in this role or if Trump still intends to nominate a full-time acting administrator for NASA in the coming months. On Musk’s social media site X, Duffy said he would be “honored to accept this mission. Time to take over space. Let’s launch.”
NASA said it had no further details on Duffy’s appointment beyond Trump’s statement.
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