\u201cEveryone, and I mean everyone in the West Wing, is furious at him,\u201d one source told the outlet.<\/p>\n
Duffy, 54, wants to cling to his role as NASA administrator, a post that President Donald Trump handed him in an acting capacity in July, and fold the agency into the Department of Transportation, according to NOTUS and the Wall Street Journal<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are people in the White House who believe Duffy has made unnecessary chaos rather than just accept that his time is in the sunset,\u201d an administration official told NOTUS.<\/p>\n But it\u2019s not just Duffy who has his eyes on the helm of the widely revered space agency. Musk pal Jared Isaacman, a 42-year-old commercial astronaut and billionaire, has reportedly been working behind the scenes to revive his failed bid to become NASA administrator earlier this year.<\/p>\n The Journal reported that both Duffy and Isaacman\u2019s staff have been ringing up their contacts in the Trump administration, including the president himself, to advocate for their candidates. The world\u2019s richest man, for his part, has been blasting \u201cSean Dummy\u201d in a string of X posts.<\/p>\n Trump yanked<\/a> Isaacman\u2019s nomination to the top NASA job in May amid a widening rift with Musk that culminated in a dramatic and highly publicized falling out. The pair have since struck a shaky ceasefire that White House insiders now worry is being jeopardized by Duffy, who peeved Musk by calling on space companies to overtake SpaceX in the race against China.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to get to the moon in this president\u2019s term, so I\u2019m going to open up the contract,\u201d Duffy told CNBC<\/a>. \u201cI\u2019m going to let other space companies compete with SpaceX, like Blue Origin.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cBlue Origin has never delivered a payload to orbit, let alone the Moon,\u201d Musk retorted on X. \u201cSpaceX is moving like lightning compared to the rest of the space industry.\u201d<\/p>\n Duffy responded that he loved the \u201cpassion\u201d from the tech entrepreneur.<\/p>\n \u201cThe race to the Moon is ON. Great companies shouldn\u2019t be afraid of a challenge. When our innovators compete with each other, America wins!\u201d he said.<\/p>\n![\"Jared](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/YD7GKWZEXBDGTNDZU32M7AOZQY.jpg\")
Jared Isaacman has privately flown to space twice with Elon Musk’s SpaceX. Patrick T. FALLON \/ AFP\/ Getty Images <\/p>\n