President Donald Trump caught allies by surprise when he announced his decision over the weekend to withdraw billionaire commercial astronaut Jared Isaacman as his nominee for the next NASA administrator.
The Senate had been scheduled to vote on Isaacman’s confirmation this week, following a confirmation hearing before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation in April. But White House officials argue that Isaacman’s past support for Democrats essentially tied the president’s hands.
“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 spokeswoman 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.”
White House officials cited reporting from the Washington Examiner in January detailing Isaacman’s more than $322,000 in donations to Democrats since 2010. That period included $100,000 donations to then-Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-NY) super PAC in 2021 and more than $100,000 in donations to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee from 2022 to 2024. Furthermore, White House officials cited Isaacman’s ownership of a Russian MiG-29 fighter jet, potentially the only one privately owned in America, and his being a registered Democrat in Pennsylvania as justifications to withdraw his nomination.
Trump didn’t specifically mention Isaacman’s past donations while announcing his decision Saturday night.
“After a thorough review of prior associations, I am hereby withdrawing the nomination of Jared Isaacman to head NASA, I will soon announce a new Nominee who will be Mission aligned, and put America First in Space,” he wrote on Truth Social. “Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
Still, multiple Republican congressional staffers, all avowed supporters of the president, and aeronautical industry insiders say that growing tension between the recently departed Elon Musk, who had lobbied for Isaacman’s nomination behind the scenes, and other senior members of the president’s team contributed to the personnel decision.
Trump originally announced his plans to nominate Isaacman, buoyed by Musk’s support, before entering office back in December of 2024. Two Senate GOP staffers told the Washington Examiner that the decision, made before the Trump team could stand up its Office of Presidential Personnel, cut short the vetting process for Isaacman and other possible NASA candidates.
Musk stepped down from his role as a special government employee on Friday, but not after running into conflict with Trump Cabinet officials regarding the slash-and-burn cuts to the federal workforce advocated by the Department of Government Efficiency. One senior aeronautical executive told the Washington Examiner that Office of Presidential Personnel Director Sergio Gor and other senior Trump advisers saw the Isaacman nomination as a means of settling the score with Musk.
“This was just a power play — the real people who are actually in charge of the White House letting Elon know, ‘we’re running things,’” that person said.
White House officials vehemently denied that Musk’s departure, and any conflict he had encountered with Trump’s Cabinet, had factored into the president’s decision on Isaacman.
Both Senate GOP aides and aeronautical insiders floated retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Steven Kwast as the heir apparent to Isaacman.
Kwast, a decorated pilot and former commander of the Air Force’s Education and Training Command in San Antonio, has steadily supported Trump and his push to launch both the Space Force in his first term and the Golden Dome missile defense system, which Trump announced in May.
Kwast has also said that space will emerge as a critical battlefield in future conflicts with China and has raised alarm bells about Beijing’s plans to further develop “global reach” aircraft.
“China’s plans to mature these hypersonic technologies is hardly a surprise. China is far ahead in developing and flying hypersonic weapons,” he co-wrote in a May op-ed published by Newsmax.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, himself a longtime proponent of American space dominance, told the Washington Examiner that he had not spoken to the president about his next choice to lead NASA but gave Kwast a full endorsement to fulfill that role if called upon.
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“I have worked for years with Kwast. He was the brilliant head of the Air University. He is probably the most forward looking Air Force General I’ve ever worked with, and he would be an extraordinary leader at NASA,” he said Monday.