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White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt took to X-formerly-Twitter<\/a> this week to mock the space agency\u2019s since-abandoned commitment to sending the first woman and first person of color to the Moon.<\/p>\n Leavitt shared an April article<\/a> by the conservative news website The Daily Signal, with the message of her tweet bearing only its title: \u201cNASA Nominee Plans to Prioritize America First Agenda in Space, Not DEI.\u201d<\/p>\n The whiplash is jarring. After all, it was the first Trump administration that boasted<\/a> about its plans to send the \u201cfirst woman\u201d to the Moon just five years ago. In fact, the mission was already supposed to have happened, since it was slated for 2024 before delays pushed it back.<\/p>\n The Daily Signal article implied that SpaceX space tourist and billionaire Jared Isaacman \u2014 who was handpicked by SpaceX CEO Elon Musk to lead NASA, but whose nomination was kicked to the curb by president Donald Trump<\/a> in late May after his major falling out with Musk<\/a> \u2014 was looking to further Trump\u2019s so-called \u201cAmerica First\u201d agenda by ditching the Biden administration\u2019s \u201cdiversity, equity, and inclusion goals.\u201d<\/p>\n Leavitt likely shared the seven-month-old article this week because Isaacman has been back in the news lately, with Trump officially re-nominating him<\/a> for the position of NASA administrator on Wednesday.<\/p>\n Per the Daily Signal, Isaacman will \u201crefocus the agency on its founding mission statement, which was \u2018to explore the unknown in air and space, innovate for the benefit of humanity, and inspire the world through discovery.’\u201d<\/p>\n In reality, though, Isaacman has yet to personally comment on Trump\u2019s staunchly anti-DEI agenda. Despite alluding to him prioritizing Trump\u2019s agenda over DEI, the article fails to quote Isaacman a single time. Instead, it extensively quotes NASA press secretary Bethany Stevens, who told the publication that the agency was \u201censuring hiring and promotion opportunities are based on merit alone\u201d by removing \u201cDEI considerations\u201d altogether.<\/p>\n Futurism has reached out to Isaacman for comment.<\/p>\n While Isaacman made no mention of DEI initiatives during Congressional hearings in April, his nominations proved divisive among Republicans, given his extensive donations to Democrats during previous election cycles, with some arguing DEI should be \u201cfront-and-center,\u201d according to The Washington Examiner<\/a>. Isaacman\u2019s payment processing company Shift4 also touted its DEI initiatives, per documents obtained by the publication.<\/p>\n Since the beginning of Trump\u2019s second term, his administration has taken direct aim at DEI initiatives across government agencies, going as far as to force NASA to purge all mentions of women in leadership<\/a> on its websites.<\/p>\n Under Trump\u2019s leadership, NASA also dropped its longstanding public commitment<\/a> to land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon, a central goal of the Artemis program \u2014 which, again, was a commitment actually made during Trump\u2019s first term, under the leadership that he appointed.<\/p>\n The hypocrisy of Trump\u2019s reimagined NASA is on full display, in other words. His first administration actively sold the program as a way to specifically \u201cland the first woman\u201d on the Moon by 2024 in a 2020 press release<\/a>, as NASA Watch points out<\/a>.<\/p>\n Whether Isaacman stands a chance to finally take on the role of NASA administrator \u2014 after Trump berated him in June for betraying the Republican party<\/a> by donating to Democrats \u2014\u00a0remains unclear at best.<\/p>\n With or without Isaacman at the helm, NASA is facing an existential crisis as entire buildings are being emptied and the threat of devastating budget cuts looms large<\/a>. In other words, focusing on eviscerating diversity and inclusion initiatives at an agency with an already extensive history of racial discrimination<\/a> and segregation may be the least of his concerns.<\/p>\n