Jared Isaacman is Donald Trump’s nominee to be administrator of NASA. Isaacman, 44, is the billionaire CEO of Shift4, a payment processing company he started at age 16 in his parents’ basement in New Jersey. He is also a pilot and a commercial astronaut with Elon Musk’s SpaceX. In 2021, Isaacman self-funded a three-day SpaceX mission to space called Inspiration4, marking the first space flight manned by civilians rather than government astronauts, and the first private astronaut to conduct a spacewalk. A confirmation hearing has not yet been scheduled.

Danielle Sassoon, serving as the acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, met with Emil Bove, the Justice Department official who ordered her to drop the case against New York City mayor Eric Adams, the center of a quid pro quo scheme in which for dropping corruption charges against him, he would enforce the Trump administration’s immigration policies. Sassoon refused and resigned her position. In her letter of resignation, she said the order to dismiss the case was “inconsistent with my ability and duty to prosecute federal crimes without fear or favor and to advance good-faith arguments before the courts.” In her decision, she said she has always considered it her obligation “to pursue justice impartially, without favor to the wealthy or those who occupy important public office, or harsher treatment for the less powerful.” As a conservative, and as a Trump appointee, Sassoon might have been expected to remain mute and simply follow orders. She did not.

Alex Bregman, the third-baseman who wore a Star of David on his cap following the Oct. 7 attacks, reportedly signed with the Boston Red Sox in a $100 million deal. It makes him the top-earning Jewish player in baseball history.

Scarlett Johansson condemned a viral AI-generated video that used her likeness and those of other Jewish celebrities to depict them giving the middle finger to Kanye West. “I am a Jewish woman who has no tolerance for antisemitism,” she said, but warned, “We must call out the misuse of A.I., no matter the messaging, or we risk losing a hold on reality.” (People Magazine)

Deborah Lipstadt, whom President Joe Biden named the U.S. State Department’s special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism, will step down. President Donald J. Trump has not yet named a successor to Lipstadt, one of the world’s foremost scholars of the Holocaust and antisemitism. “She brought expertise, gravitas, and determination to the role,” said Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt. In as related item, an ADL global survey found that 46 percent of the world’s adults harbor antisemitic attitudes, prompting Greenblatt’s assessment that “antisemitism is nothing short of a global emergency.”

President Trump reportedly is eyeing  Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, former Democratic Assemblyman Dov Hikind, and social media influencer Lizzy Savetsky.

Robert Spitzer of Mercer Island, WA, was elected president of B’nai B’rith International by the organization’s International Board of Governors. Spitzer immediately begins a three-year term, leading the world’s oldest and most widely known Jewish humanitarian, human rights and advocacy organizations.

As president, Spitzer plans to enhance grassroots engagement and continue to address rising antisemitism and the organization’s support for Israel.