President Donald Trump’s administration is struggling to contact recently laid-off nuclear safety employees to inform them that they have been reinstated, according to reports.
Newsweek has contacted the Department of Energy, which oversees the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), for comment outside of regular working hours.
Why It Matters
The confusion surrounding the firing and rehiring of NNSA employees is the latest controversy involving and Elon Musk’s cost-cutting measures overseen by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
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What to Know
Around 300 staff members at the NNSA were told on Thursday that they were being fired as part of ongoing plans to reduce federal spending.
These layoffs were part of broader reductions at the Department of Energy, but officials allegedly did not seem to realize that this agency oversees the U.S. stockpile of nuclear weapons, CNN reported.
Department of Energy press secretary Ben Dietderich dismissed these claims. In a statement to CNN and USA Today, he said “less than 50” NNSA employees were dismissed, and they were new workers in a probationary period who did not have civil service firing protections.
NNSA officials are now scrambling to inform some of those workers that their terminations have been rescinded, but are struggling to find their personal contact details, according to NBC News.
In an email sent to employees at NNSA, the department said they “do not have a good way” to get in touch with those whose roles had been terminated and are asking for help in locating them.
DOGE, which is headed by tech billionaire Musk, was established on January 20 as part of Trump’s plan to “dismantle” government bureaucracy and reduce federal spending.
Since then, several departments have been gutted, with nearly 10,000 federal workers laid off so far, Reuters reported.
Trump has recently suggested that scaling back the nation’s nuclear weapons program could be a way to save money.
The president has reignited calls for the U.S., Russia, and China to hold “denuclearization” talks and reduce their nuclear weapon stockpiles.
As of September 2023, the U.S. has approximately 3,748 nuclear warheads in its stockpile, an 88 percent reduction from its peak of 31,255 warheads in the late 1960s, according to the Department of Energy.
What People Are Saying
NNSA email to staff: “The termination letters for some NNSA probationary employees are being rescinded, but we do not have a good way to get in touch with those personnel. Please work with your supervisors to send this information (once you get it) to people’s personal contact emails.”
Democratic Representative Jason Crow of Colorado, posted on X, formerly Twitter: “The Trump administration fired the U.S. nuclear staff not realizing they oversee the country’s entire weapons stockpile. This isn’t government efficiency. It’s incompetence. They are making America less safe.”
President Donald Trump, speaking on Thursday, said: “There’s no reason for us to be building brand-new nuclear weapons. We already have so many, you could destroy the world 50 times over, 100 times over. And here we are, building new nuclear weapons. And they’re [Russia] building new nuclear weapons. And China’s trying to catch up.”
What Happens Next
It is unclear how many of the previously terminated NNSA employees will be reinstated.
Several of the Trump administration’s cost-cutting measures are also facing legal challenges in court.
