Just hours before a pivotal Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on NASA’s 2026 budget, former President Donald Trump named Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy as Acting Administrator of NASA, filling a leadership vacuum that has persisted since the end of the Biden administration.
Acting NASA Associate Administrator Vanessa Wyche, left, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, and acting NASA Administrator Janet Petro, right, react as they watch the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft splash down Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls
The surprise announcement was made on Truth Social late Wednesday night, with Trump declaring Duffy would be a “fantastic leader, even if only for a short period of time.” Duffy, a former congressman and cable news host, responded enthusiastically on X, saying, “Time to take over space. Let’s launch.”
Duffy’s appointment comes at a critical moment. The Senate Appropriations Committee is scheduled to mark up the FY2026 Commerce-Justice-Science (CJS) appropriations bill at 9:30 a.m. ET Thursday, a bill that includes funding for NASA. Trump’s proposed budget would slash NASA’s funding by 24.3%, cutting the agency’s budget from $24.8 billion to $18.8 billion and freezing it at that level through 2030 — a move that has alarmed the space science community.
A lawyer by training, Duffy served as a U.S. Representative for Wisconsin and later hosted a program on Fox Business. His unconventional path to federal leadership began in the 1990s as a cast member on MTV’s The Real World and Road Rules All Stars, where he met his wife, Rachel Campos-Duffy. The couple, married for 25 years with nine children, proudly tout themselves as “America’s first and longest-married reality TV couple.”
While Duffy currently leads the Department of Transportation — which includes the Federal Aviation Administration’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation — he has no direct background in space exploration or aerospace policy. Nonetheless, he is now the face of the Trump administration’s efforts to navigate both a steep budget cut and mounting political pressure surrounding NASA’s future.
NASA has operated without a Senate-confirmed Administrator since January 20, 2025. Janet Petro, former Director of Kennedy Space Center, has been serving as Acting Administrator in the interim. Trump had previously nominated billionaire entrepreneur and private astronaut Jared Isaacman to lead the agency, reportedly at the recommendation of SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. However, the nomination was abruptly withdrawn after Trump’s relationship with Musk deteriorated.
Despite losing the nomination, Isaacman publicly supported Duffy’s appointment, calling it “a great move” in a social media post.
The Deputy Administrator role at NASA also remains vacant. In the absence of confirmed leadership, Associate Administrator Vanessa Wyche — a seasoned NASA veteran and former Director of Johnson Space Center — continues to serve as the agency’s top-ranking civil servant.
Duffy’s new role makes him the second member of Trump’s cabinet to hold multiple posts. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is also serving as Trump’s National Security Advisor, Acting Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, and Acting Archivist of the National Archives — filling posts vacated after a wave of Trump-ordered firings and restructuring.
Congressional debate over NASA’s budget is expected to be contentious. While the White House has proposed deep cuts, lawmakers led by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), who chairs the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, have already added $10 billion for human spaceflight programs in a separate reconciliation bill. Advocates for science missions are now pushing for restoration of additional funds, especially as the Science Mission Directorate faces a proposed 47% cut.
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