Trump Names Transportation Secretary Duffy as Interim NASA Administrator

Duffy will join several other Cabinet officials in serving in more than one role in the Trump administration.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy testifies before a House Committee on Appropriations subcommittee on Capitol Hill in Washington on May 14, 2025. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy will take over as interim administrator of NASA, President Donald Trump said on July 9.

“I am pleased to announce that I am directing our GREAT Secretary of Transportation, Sean Duffy, to be Interim Administrator of NASA,” Trump wrote in a post on social media platform Truth Social.

“Sean is doing a TREMENDOUS job in handling our Country’s Transportation Affairs, including creating a state-of-the-art Air Traffic Control [system], while at the same time rebuilding our roads and bridges, making them efficient, and beautiful, again.”

The development comes a little more than one month after Trump rescinded his previous nominee for NASA administrator, Jared Isaacman, citing a “thorough review of prior associations,” which include past donations to Democrats.

At the time, Trump posted on Truth Social that he would nominate someone who would put “America First in Space.”

Isaacman is a billionaire entrepreneur and a friend of SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk, who recommended him to lead the U.S. space agency.

Isaacman helmed several SpaceX missions, including 2021’s Inspiration4 and 2024’s Polaris Dawn, in which he participated in the first private space walk.

When he was 16, he founded payment processing company Shift4 Payments in his parents’ house, which is where Isaacman accumulated his wealth. He is also a founder of aerospace defense contractor Draken International.

Trump called Isaacman a “Democrat” when pulling his nomination. Notably, Trump and Musk began a public and protracted feud in the days after the president rescinded the nomination.

A senior administration official told The Epoch Times that the feud with Musk did not play a role in Trump’s decision to pass on Isaacman.

“Jared Isaacman should have never been picked,” the senior administration official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

During a June 4 podcast interview, Isaacman said the donations issue was “not a new development” and instead suggested that someone in the administration had convinced the president that he was a “good, visible target.”

“I want to be overwhelmingly clear,” he said. “I don’t fault the president at all. I fully support him.”

Duffy will not be the first Trump Cabinet official to serve in more than one role. Currently, Secretary of State Marco Rubio is also acting national security adviser, acting administrator for the U.S. Agency for International Development, and acting archivist for the National Archives and Records Administration.

Additionally, Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum also serves as Trump’s energy czar, and FBI Director Kash Patel is also acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.

Russell Vought, who serves as director of the Office of Management and Budget, was named acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in February.

Petr Svab contributed to this report.