I'm surprised at this news, time tagged Wednesday, July 9 at 9:32 PM. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy has been installed as the temporary, new administrator of NASA. Secretary Duffy, a cabinet-level position, currently (without NASA) oversees 55,000 employees across 13 agencies, including the Federal Aviation Administration.
"Sean is doing a TREMENDOUS job in handling our Country's Transportation Affairs, including creating a state-of-the-art Air Traffic Control systems, while at the same time rebuilding our roads and bridges, making them efficient, and beautiful, again," Trump wrote on his social media network Wednesday evening. "He will be a fantastic leader of the ever more important Space Agency, even if only for a short period of time."
In response to this post, Duffy wrote on X, "Honored to accept this mission. Time to take over space. Let’s launch."
The idea of the head of NASA being the secretary of transportation is a little odd, especially if, like me, you think NASA should get out of the transportation or "getting there" side of their business - how to get there when "there" is beyond the surface of our planet. On the other hand, his experience in the air transportation regulatory world might help guide NASA to concentrating on the mission once they're at their destination and not on renting rockets. Given that "getting there safely" is critical for a mission like going to Mars, it still pales in comparison to all the other planning required.
Although he does not have a space background, Duffy has shown an interest in spaceflight since becoming FAA administrator. He watched from NASA Headquarters the Crew 9 mission's splashdown on March 18, which brought Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams back to Earth after a prolonged stay in space. He also had expressed an interest in attending the forthcoming Crew 11 launch at the end of this month.
Officials at NASA were caught unaware by the announcement on Wednesday evening. They had been expecting the existing acting administrator, Janet Petro, to remain in place at least through the end of the year while a new nominee was put forth to lead NASA and confirmed by Congress.
Eric Berger at Ars Technica quotes his sources as saying Petro wasn't highly regarded in the Trump administration. Another way of saying that is that she did nothing to be removed from her position. It simply seems that Trump wanted someone he liked and trusted running NASA. This is probably a benefit for the agency, as it will give NASA a direct line to the president. He and Trump are thought to have each other's phone numbers and can text each other 24/7.
Sean Duffy, US secretary of transportation, during a cabinet meeting at the
White House in Washington, DC, US, on Tuesday, July 8, 2025. Credit: Aaron
Schwartz/CNP/Bloomberg via Getty Images
As always, speculating to any depth on every imaginable subject is going to be rampant for a while. He's going to rubber stamp Trump's budget cuts versus he's going to back someone else's ideas for NASA's budget. As with all of other appointees, we can message our senators and representatives to approve or disapprove of Sean Duffy or for whatever level of NASA's spending you think is proper.
Interesting choice, SiG. Certainly in practical terms of business management, one way to resolve a personnel impasse is simply to give the job to a currently serving employee.
ReplyDeleteToird has the answer in my opinion. This appointment avoids a huge amount of preparation for presenting in Congress, avoids even more biased press, keeps the space vector on course and removes the obvious stumbling blocks for commercial operations to the moon or planets. I say commercial because some say the military is already on the moon. I am in the group thinking that space is a tough venture and the moon is a harsh mistress.
ReplyDeleteCrazy, but it works.
Dave
Yeah, I think there's a lot of good in what Toird is saying - and you too.
ReplyDeleteI would hate to see probes still operating, like the Mars rovers, Voyagers and so on, shut down. And I don't think anyone is crazy enough to argue to shut down the recently launched ones, like Psyche. The Voyagers are sort of in a race to see if they make 50 years in 2027, but honestly, it's a point of pride thing. I know they're passing back information that's new and there's only one other probe anywhere near as far away as they are, the New Horizons (Pluto) probe, with nothing else planned to go out of the solar system. There's no way we're going to spend "much" more on the Voyagers.
Other missions looking to be in deep shit include Mars Sample Return, which has seemingly died twice already.
Will he remain clothed ?
ReplyDeleteAn interesting choice, as mentioned an end run around some obstacles.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I've read before, the DOT already has some influence on NASA as do many other agencies due to complicated legal requirements and MOUs.
Is it just me or his his tan and hair overdone like many high up in the government?
Unlike Trump, he looked a little too toasted...
Jonathan
Sean Duffy: (from Wikipedia) Marketing major, MTV actor, Attorney, US House Rep from Wisconsin, Fox News co host, long time Trump supporter, one wife, nine children, clashed with Musk while Sec transportation.
ReplyDeleteIn mathmatics, there is a concept of a placeholder.
I wasn't sure what you meant by the 9:08 comment, but I'm also bouncing around the house this morning and not sitting around thinking about this.
DeleteAll I know about him as a detail is that he's married to Fox & Friends Weekend host Rachel Campos (Campos-Duffy) which I used to watch pretty much every weekend until maybe a year ago. I saw the detail about nine children the other day, but that stands out only because "how many people do you know who have an entire baseball team?"