President Donald Trump on Wednesday named Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy as the temporary head of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), weeks after pulling back the nomination of a businessman with ties to Elon Musk for the same role.
Announcing the decision on his social media platform Truth Social, Mr. Trump wrote, “He will be a fantastic leader of the ever more important Space Agency, even if only for a short period of time.”
Responding on X, formerly Twitter, Duffy said he was “honored to accept this mission” and added, “Time to take over space. Let’s launch.”
Drivers of commercial vehicles who can’t speak our national language will be taken out of service. This is just common sense.
Drivers who can’t read our signs or communicate with law enforcement have no business being on our roads.
America First = Safety First! pic.twitter.com/ax68jlm1yH
— Secretary Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy) July 8, 2025
Sean Duffy Picked Over Jared Isaacman
Trump had initially selected billionaire private astronaut Jared Isaacman to lead the space agency. However, just days before the Senate was scheduled to vote on Isaacman’s confirmation, the president rescinded the nomination. He cited a “thorough review of prior associations” as the reason for the withdrawal.
Expanding on the decision last weekend, Trump explained that Isaacman had been recommended by Elon Musk but turned out to have political leanings that raised concerns.
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“While I thought his friend was very good, I was surprised to learn that he was a blue blooded Democrat, who had never contributed to a Republican before,” the president wrote on Truth Social.
Records from the Federal Election Commission confirm that Isaacman has donated to Democratic congressional candidates and organizations, although he has also made some contributions to Republican causes.
From Reality TV to the White House: Who is Sean Duffy?
Sean Duffy is a former Republican congressman from Wisconsin, who brings different background to his new role at NASA. Before entering politics, Duffy worked as a competitive lumberjack athlete, then a reality television personality, prosecutor, and also a Fox News commentator.
In 1997, he appeared on MTV’s reality show “The Real World: Boston” and later met his future wife, Rachel Campos-Duffy, during the filming of “Road Rules: All Stars” in 1998.The two now a co-host of Fox News’ “Fox & Friends Weekend.”
Duffy also served as a special prosecutor and later as district attorney in Ashland County, located in northern Wisconsin. He successfully ran for Congress in 2010 during the Tea Party wave, campaigning as an underdog.
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Zubair Amin is a Senior Journalist at NewsX with over seven years of experience in reporting and editorial work. He has written for leading national and international publications, including Foreign Policy Magazine, Al Jazeera, The Economic Times, The Indian Express, The Wire, Article 14, Mongabay, News9, among others. His primary focus is on international affairs, with a strong interest in US politics and policy. He also writes on West Asia, Indian polity, and constitutional issues. Zubair tweets at zubaiyr.amin
