Isaacman and Duffy are playing a ‘Game of Thrones’ for control of NASA

A weeks-long “Game of Thrones” struggle for control of NASA is still ongoing. In one corner is Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy. In the other corner is billionaire private space traveler Jared Isaacman.

It all started when President Trump abruptly withdrew the nomination of Isaacman to be NASA administrator. A month or so later, Trump appointed Duffy, the secretary of Transportation, to be acting NASA administrator pending the selection of a permanent space agency chief.

Duffy’s tenure as a caretaker administrator continued for a time without controversy, with him occasionally showing up on television to tout the Artemis program and express confidence that NASA would beat China back to the moon. He also announced an initiative to build a small nuclear power plant on the lunar surfa