Trump taps transportation secretary Sean Duffy as interim NASA chief

President Trump appointed Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to serve as the acting head of NASA, filling a leadership gap after withdrawing his original nominee for the role.

Announcing the decision on Truth Social Wednesday evening, Trump praised Duffy as “a fantastic leader” for the space agency, even if only temporarily. Duffy confirmed the appointment in a post on X, saying he was honored to take on the responsibility. He will continue his work at the Transportation Department while leading NASA.

Duffy has recently been managing the fallout from a deadly midair collision in Washington that claimed 67 lives and has called for improvements to the U.S. air-traffic control system. At NASA, however, he’ll face a different set of challenges, including stalled leadership and budget pressures.

The agency has been without a permanent administrator since May, when Trump abruptly withdrew support for Jared Isaacman, a private astronaut and entrepreneur who had been expected to win Senate confirmation. Trump later expressed concern over Isaacman’s political contributions to Democrats and his business ties to SpaceX (SPACE) founder Elon Musk, with whom the president has had public tensions.

Isaacman responded by saying he respected the president’s decision and emphasized that he has contributed to both political parties and maintained a professional relationship with Musk.

NASA had been under the interim leadership of Janet Petro, a longtime agency official, since January. According to NASA’s chief of staff, a permanent replacement may not be appointed for another six months.

The Trump administration has also proposed significant cuts to NASA’s scientific research and operations, along with changes to the Artemis lunar program. However, Congress recently passed legislation that preserved funding for Artemis, maintaining continuity despite White House efforts to reshape it.

Duffy isn’t the only official juggling multiple high-level roles. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is also serving in additional posts, including as interim head of the National Archives.