Trump struggles to reinstate nuclear weapons staff he abruptly fired
By Agency Report
The US agency charged with overseeing nuclear weapons is looking to contact workers who were fired on Thursday last week as part of President Donald Trump administration’s federal cost-cutting measures, but are now needed back.
Officials with the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) attempted to notify some probationary employees who had been let go that they are due to be reinstated but they struggled to find them because their contact information was missing
More than 300 employees were initially fired at the agency that is tasked with managing America’s nuclear weapons. All but around 25 NNSA staffers have since been reinstated, two current NNSA employees with knowledge of the matter told CNN.
Though, it is unclear how many will return to work Tuesday (Today).
The firings created days of chaos inside the agency. Officials backtracked on the terminations Friday after multiple members of Congress petitioned Energy Sec. Chris Wright to reverse course, explaining the dire national security implications.
Some of the initially fired employees included NNSA staff who work at facilities where nuclear weapons are built, oversee contractors who build nuclear weapons and who are responsible for inspecting those weapons.
Many of the employees affected hold a “Q” security clearance within the Energy Department, meaning they have access to nuclear weapons design and systems. It also included employees at NNSA headquarters who write requirements and guidelines for contractors who build nuclear weapons.
“That’s not normal,” an NNSA employee familiar with the firings told CNN. “It was ridiculous, unprecedented and sloppy. There’s no formal process.”
Related Posts
One NNSA employee who was fired on Thursday and reinstated a day later confirmed HR wasn’t involved. The employee told CNN they lost their access to their government email and personnel files Thursday night, before they were even told they were being fired.
“I didn’t think I would be fired until it happened,” the employee said, adding NNSA’s workforce initially believed they would be exempt from the executive orders and memos that focused on cutting the overall number of federal workers.
Those memos “all had a national security exemption, and we thought surely the NNSA with national security in the name would be exempt,” the employee said.
The terminations being executed before a long holiday weekend has also “stymied” the process of notifying people they’ve been reinstated and getting them back in the system, one person familiar with the incident told CNN.
Additionally, legal experts have warned that the administration’s attempt to reclassify certain non-political positions as political appointees could undermine long-standing protections designed to ensure the independence of nuclear security personnel.
If these changes proceed, they could significantly alter the management of the US nuclear stockpile, further escalating tensions within the agency.
As the administration moves forward with broader efforts to downsize the federal workforce, national security officials remain on high alert, warning that any future missteps could have dire consequences.
