Jeff Dewitt, State Treasurer, Nominated By Trump To Be Nasa CFO

What could be Arizona's loss would end up being NASA's gain. President Trump on Wednesday nominated Arizona State Treasurer Jeff DeWitt to be the chief financial officer for the space agency.

DeWitt, who is 44-years-old, is passing on a chance to challenge Senator Jeff Flake in a primary next year. He has been mentioned as a potential top contender.

In naming DeWitt, Trump picked the man who was the chief operating officer for his presidential campaign. The two have known each other since meeting in 2015 at a meeting of the State Financial Officers Foundation.

DeWitt needs to be confirmed by the Senate before joining the agency with a $20 billion budget. It is one of the few agencies largely unaffected by proposed cuts by the Trump administration.

If approved, Governor Ducey would then have to name a replacement. State law says that it has to be a person from the same party. So, another Republican.

That person would then have to run for election.

Photo of DeWitt at Trump Tower via Drew Angerer/Getty Images News/Getty Images