Former NASA nominee Jared Isaacman is getting another shot at running the space agency—and it’s no coincidence that it comes just as President Donald Trump and Elon Musk have kissed and made up.
Isaacman, the private astronaut and longtime Musk ally who was tossed from contention to lead the agency earlier this year, met with acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy this week to discuss stepping into the role, NASA press secretary Bethany Stephens told Reuters.
“Secretary Duffy and Jared Isaacman had an excellent meeting yesterday,” she said. “At President Trump’s direction, Secretary Duffy in his capacity as acting NASA Administrator is meeting with and vetting several candidates for the permanent role.”
Isaacman’s first nomination came last December at Musk’s urging. But when Trump and Musk had their high-profile falling out this spring, Isaacman paid the price, with Trump yanking his nomination and installing Duffy as acting chief.
But now the political weather has shifted again. Musk and Trump have smoothed things over, and Isaacman is suddenly back in the mix. His renewed consideration is a clear reminder of how loyalty—to Trump and those close to him—can carry as much weight as a résumé.
Trump himself has met with Isaacman multiple times about the job, including in recent weeks, according to CNBC. Isaacman also attended Trump’s September dinner for tech power players at the White House, though Musk skipped it. More recently, they sat down several more times to discuss space policy.
The reversal is remarkable. Just a few months ago, Trump called Isaacman a “blue-blooded Democrat” and said it was “inappropriate” for Musk’s close friend to run an agency so central to Musk’s business empire.
Isaacman isn’t a stranger to space. He’s flown twice with SpaceX, and his company Shift4 has invested $27.5 million in Musk’s rockets. After losing the nomination, he stepped down as his company’s CEO and shifted to executive chairman.
“Even knowing the outcome, I would do it all over again,” he told investors at the time.
If he gets the nod this time, it’ll be at a moment when NASA is already stretched thin. Trump has proposed slashing its budget by roughly 25%, and around 4,000 employees have taken buyouts as part of Musk’s initiative with the so-called Department of Government Efficiency.
And while Trump toys with denying federal workers back pay during the GOP’s government shutdown, NASA has quietly carved out exceptions for missions involving Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin—both Trump allies—while everyone else waits.
Meanwhile, Duffy—an ex-MTV reality star now wearing multiple hats in the Trump administration—has been busy picking fights with unpaid federal workers. As the shutdown presses on, he threatened to punish air traffic controllers who call in sick, even as travel chaos mounts.
Ultimately, if Isaacman lands the job, it’ll be one more example of how Trumpworld works: Stay loyal, stay close—or stay out.
