Businessman Jared Isaacman is no longer a candidate for the position of NASA head. According to US administration officials, his candidacy was withdrawn, and now someone else will be proposed for this important position.
Isaacman’s candidacy withdrawn
On May 31, official sources in the US government reported that Jared Isaacman’s candidacy for NASA director had been withdrawn. Later that day, White House spokeswoman Liz Huston confirmed this and said that they were looking for another person for the post.
“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,” Huston stated. “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.”
It is not specified what exactly did not suit the White House in Isaacman’s candidacy. However, the entire space community and a significant part of the political elite are shocked by this news. After all, the topic of the new head of NASA was already considered closed.
Money and Elon Musk
Jared Isaacman is not a random person. He is a businessman who is closely connected with space and has flown there twice himself. The White House presented his candidacy on April 30. And since then, absolutely no one has said anything against him. The U.S. Senate has even agreed on a date when his candidacy and his alone will be voted on.
And then the news comes that they will now look for someone else, and it is unclear why Trump stopped liking Isaacman so abruptly. But the most likely reason can be guessed. He is a friend and partner of Elon Musk. And the latter is just stepping down from his position as head of DOGE, so his protégé no longer has a place in the White House team.
All of this is happening against the backdrop of confirmed cuts in NASA funding, which will soon affect many important scientific programs. Isaacman had nothing to do with it, did not protest directly, but was very careful to say that such a significant cut in science funding was inappropriate.
Everyone hoped that his balanced position would allow him to effectively advocate for scientific programs before Trump, who is generally quite hostile to the space theme and does not tolerate disagreement. But no one knows what will happen now.
Provided by: spacenews.com
