It appears that Trump is de-prioritizing NASA and America’s overall space mission during his second term—a strange turn of events, considering his mastery of space policy issues during his first.
After ousting Jared Isaacman—a literal astronaut—as his next NASA administrator, President Donald Trump has opted to pick the current Secretary of Transportation, Sean Duffy, as the acting NASA administrator.
The ouster of Isaacman, and his replacement by Duffy, marks the continuation of a serious shakeup going on inside the executive branch. But Trump’s new pick does not address one of the core failings (thus far) of the Trump administration: America’s space policy has been adrift since the 47th president returned to the Oval Office in January.
The reasons for Isaacman’s termination are not altogether clear. The former astronaut and billionaire entrepreneur had a gambling problem in his younger years, and was once arrested for check fraud. He also donated to Democratic political candidates. But his curse appears to have been far simpler: he was recommended by fellow billionaire rocket artist Elon Musk, with whom the president has had a spectacular falling-out in recent weeks.
Trump’s Missed Opportunity with Jared Isaacman
Who was Jared Isaacman, and why would he have been such a great pick for NASA administrator?
For starters, as noted above, Isaacman was an actual astronaut—and not just a one-off astronaut from decades ago, as previous NASA administrator Bill Nelson had been. Isaacman broke records as the man who led SpaceX’s Inspiration4 and Polaris Dawn missions. Isaacman is himself a trained pilot with countless hours of flight time under his belt, too.
Isaacman is a billionaire, too, having made his wealth in the tech sector. And while many are skeptical of the so-called “Broligarchs”—wealthy Silicon Valley tech entrepreneurs who have thrown in with Trump seemingly out of convenience rather than deep ideological agreement—it is hard to imagine a more qualified person to be at the leading edge of America’s spaceflight operations than Musk or Isaacman. Certainly, either of these two people would be far more qualified than Trump’s new choice, Sean Duffy—a former reality TV star turned congressman turned Fox News personality turned cabinet secretary.
Is Sean Duffy Really Qualified to Lead NASA?
On the face of it, Duffy’s appointment to lead NASA is extremely odd. Since taking the reins as Secretary of Transportation, his tenure has been plagued by a series of air traffic control screw-ups—one of which may have resulted in the January 29 midair collision between a civilian airliner on its final approach over Reagan National Airport in Washington, DC and US Army National Guard Black Hawk helicopter on a nighttime training mission, taking the lives of 67 passengers. On top of that crash, there have been multiple near-misses on the ground, as well as an overall air traffic control crisis across the country’s overburdened airports.
It is too simple to blame all of this on Duffy personally, of course. But whether the secretary likes it or not, these problems fall under his domain. Tellingly, Duffy has tried to shift blame for these incidents, accusing his predecessor, Biden-era secretary of transportation Pete Buttigieg, of malfeasance. And it may well be true that Buttigieg was more incompetent than Duffy. Regardless of the truth or falsehood of these claims, though, Duffy’s time as the secretary of transportation has objectively been anything but successful. At the very least, his tenure would not warrant being given even more responsibilities, such as the NASA portfolio—which is, and should be, its own agency.
But expertise or aerospace qualifications would not seem to be the reasons behind Duffy’s appointment. Instead, it appears that Trump is de-prioritizing NASA and America’s overall space mission during his second term—a strange turn of events, considering how masterful Trump was on space policy issues during his first. Indeed, since Duffy’s nomination as acting NASA director, reports are already flowing in that major elements of what was once America’s premier space agency are set to be gutted. Top scientists will soon receive their walking papers. And the already besieged manned spaceflight program—the beating heart of NASA—is about to receive a massive blow.
Duffy’s Appointment Is a Petty Act of Political Revenge
Why does Trump like Duffy so much? One assumes it is because the secretary of transportation openly resisted Elon Musk’s efforts to rein in excessive federal government spending through his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) at the Department of Transportation.
That’s because Duffy is apparently going into NASA specifically to damage SpaceX’s lucrative contracts with the space agency.
NASA and the Defense Department are key customers for Musk’s SpaceX. On his popular right-wing podcast, War Room, former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon claimed that Duffy was being deployed strategically by Trump. His main assignment, per Bannon, would be “going through [NASA’s contracts with SpaceX] line-by-line … Sean Duffy may go over [to NASA] and do a forensic audit or two.”
Bannon made these comments immediately after repeating comments he had made months ago about nationalizing SpaceX. According to the podcaster, “97 percent [of SpaceX’s funding] comes from the [US] government,” and therefore “the people of the United States should own a big hunk of” SpaceX and Starlink.
Bannon’s numbers are wildly inflated: around 25 percent of SpaceX’s budget comes from NASA and Defense Department contracts, according to a report done by the New York Post. But the numbers are irrelevant. Trump’s and Duffy’s moves have nothing to do with reining in waste or graft at NASA. Instead, Trump and his team have decided to punish Elon Musk for daring to “go against” the president. Ironically, this sort of interference is not altogether different from former President Biden’s similarly punitive behavior against SpaceX after Musk failed to toe the political line—behavior that Trump condemned at the time.
Trump’s Actions Will Give China Space Dominance
Since the end of the space shuttle program during the early days of the Obama administration, the United States has been forced to rely upon the Russians to get American astronauts into orbit. That changed the moment that Musk’s SpaceX began successfully bidding on NASA launch contracts.
For nearly a decade, while NASA dithered on getting their own manned spaceflight system to replace the space shuttle, NASA was able to still place astronauts and equipment into orbit without having to rely upon a foreign competitor. But between the obvious intention to freeze out SpaceX launch contracts at NASA and the rumored brute force cuts that Duffy is coming into NASA to impose, it is unlikely that the civilian manned spaceflight program—or perhaps even NASA itself—will survive this ordeal.
Although there are other private space firms that could theoretically pick up the slack, the fact remains that none possess the infrastructure and scale that SpaceX has developed over the last 15 years. And it will take years before these other private rocket companies can catch up.
In the meantime, China moves with astounding speed toward achieving what Chinese military white papers openly refer to as “space dominance.” Right now, Musk’s SpaceX is keeping the Americans competitive in the global space race with China and Russia. Remove SpaceX, gut NASA needlessly, and Beijing will take the dominant place in space. “Make America Great Again,” indeed!
About the Author: Brandon J. Weichert
Brandon J. Weichert, a Senior National Security Editor at The National Interest as well as a contributor at Popular Mechanics, who consults regularly with various government institutions and private organizations on geopolitical issues. Weichert’s writings have appeared in multiple publications, including the Washington Times, National Review, The American Spectator, MSN, the Asia Times, and countless others. His books include Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower, Biohacked: China’s Race to Control Life, and The Shadow War: Iran’s Quest for Supremacy. His newest book, A Disaster of Our Own Making: How the West Lost Ukraine is available for purchase wherever books are sold. He can be followed via Twitter @WeTheBrandon.
Image: Wikimedia Commons.
