Trump renominates billionaire Jared Isaacman for NASA administrator

President Donald Trump on Tuesday night renominated billionaire Jared Isaacman as the next NASA administrator, months after he pulled the initial nomination because the businessman did not share his vision for the space agency.

Trump first nominated Isaacman, who is an ally of SpaceX founder Elon Musk, last year. But he withdrew the nomination in May and placed Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy in the post on a temporary basis.

Isaacman is a billionaire tech entrepreneur who led Shift4 payments, a credit card payment processing company.

"Sean Duffy has done an incredible job as Interim Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)," Trump posted on Truth Social. "This evening, I am pleased to nominate Jared Isaacman, an accomplished business leader, philanthropist, pilot, and astronaut, as Administrator of NASA. 

"Jared’s passion for Space, astronaut experience, and dedication to pushing the boundaries of exploration, unlocking the mysteries of the universe, and advancing the new Space economy, make him ideally suited to lead NASA into a bold new Era," he added.

Isaacman has no background in the federal government but partnered with Musk to pay for and launch the Polaris Program in 2022. The Polaris Program is a private spaceflight program that sends civilians outside the Earth's orbit to test technologies and conduct research. Isaacman was one of four civilians on the program's first spaceflight. 

The billionaire will still need to be confirmed by the Senate.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.