A White House spokesperson confirmed on May 31 that President Donald Trump was withdrawing his nomination of Jared Isaacman to become the next administrator of NASA.
“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 spokesperson Liz Huston said in an email received by The Epoch Times.
“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.”
The White House did not comment any further as to why it was withdrawing Isaacman’s nomination shortly before his final consideration and vote was about to go before the Senate.
Isaacman is the founder and CEO of Shift4 Payments and Draken International, a defense aerospace company. He has a history that includes working alongside Elon Musk for many years.
He became a commercial astronaut in 2021 and served as mission commander for both the Inspiration4 and Polaris Dawn missions. He also performed the first-ever commercial spacewalk.
He was nominated for the role by Trump in December 2024, and quickly accepted the nomination.
“I was born after the Moon landings; my children were born after the final space shuttle launch,” he wrote on social media platform X. “With the support of President Trump, I can promise you this: We will never again lose our ability to journey to the stars and never settle for second place. We will inspire children, yours and mine, to look up and dream of what is possible.
“Americans will walk on the Moon and Mars, and in doing so, we will make life better here on Earth. It is the honor of a lifetime to serve in this role and to work alongside NASA’s extraordinary team to realize our shared dreams of exploration and discovery.”
Isaacman appeared before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation in April, and that committee, led by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), voted to advance his nomination to the Senate floor.
During that hearing, Isaacman affirmed that he was committed to beating communist China to the moon, fulfilling the legal obligation of NASA’s administrator in establishing a permanent human presence on or around the moon, and fulfilling the goal Trump announced at his inauguration to have American astronauts plant the American flag on Mars.
“I'd like to instill a very strong mission-first culture at the agency,” he said. “If we can execute on our mission, and get to the moon, get to Mars and all the other things, the inspiration, the STEM education will take care of itself, a culture of ownership and accountability that when we make mistakes, we own them, we fix them, and we get back to delivering on their important objectives.”
He also told the committee that while he believes that NASA could pursue Mars- and Moon-focused goals, he affirmed that Mars plans would not get in the way of his legally bound lunar priority.
Isaacman responded to the news with a post of his own, thanking Trump and the Senate for the opportunity to be involved in the process.
“It may not always be obvious through the discourse and turbulence, but there are many competent, dedicated people who love this country and care deeply about the mission. That was on full display during my hearing, where leaders on both sides of the aisle made clear they’re willing to fight for the world’s most accomplished space agency.”
