The White House is backtracking on its choice of a tech billionaire with deep ties to Alabama’s space industry to be the next leader of NASA, according to multiple news reports.

SpaceNews reported Saturday afternoon that the Donald Trump administration is withdrawing its nomination of Jared Isaacman. Administration spokeswoman Liz Huston told NBC News, “it’s essential that the next leader of NASA is in complete alignment with President Trump’s America First agenda.”

The move comes as the Senate was preparing to vote in the coming days on Isaacman’s nomination. His nomination cleared a Senate committee in April, with Huston saying at the time that Isaacman, “is exceptionally qualified to advance President Trump’s bold agenda to restore American leadership in space science, technology, and exploration. We look forward to the Senate’s swift confirmation of him.”

Isaacman is founder and CEO of the credit card payment processing company Shift4 Payments. He is a close ally of Elon Musk, having twice purchased flights into space aboard the latter’s SpaceX rockets.

Musk, the former head of Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, left his post recently after publicly rebuking the president over what he saw as waste in next year’s spending plan.

Isaacman attended U.S. Space & Rocket Center’s Aviation Challenge as a child and, in 2022, donated $10 million for the construction of the facility’s Inspiration4 Skills Training Center. He is also a member of the class of 2022 U.S. Space and Rocket Center Space Camp Hall of Fame.