WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal agency tasked with overseeing the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile has begun furloughing employees as part of the ongoing government shutdown, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Monday.
During a visit to Nevada, Wright said the National Nuclear Security Administration is furloughing 1,400 federal employees as part of the shutdown that began Oct. 1. Nearly 400 federal employees will remain on the job, along with thousands of NNSA contractors, the Energy Department said. The NNSA, a semi-autonomous division of the Department of Energy, also works to secure nuclear materials around the world.
“Today is a tough day,” Wright said in Las Vegas ahead of a planned visit to the Nevada National Security Site in Mercury, Nevada. “We are working hard to protect everyone’s jobs and secure our national stockpiles,” Wright said.
The furloughs did not pose an immediate threat to national security, Wright said, adding: “We have emergency forces and current nuclear weapons stockpiles are safe.”
President Donald Trump’s Republican administration fired hundreds of NNSA employees earlier this year, but then reversed course amid criticism that the move could threaten national security. Similar criticism emerged on Monday following Wright’s announcement.
Wright said the disruption would impact employees and their families and delay testing of commercial reactors, including some diminutive modular reactors that the Trump administration has touted as a cheaper alternative to exorbitant nuclear power plants that can take years or even decades to get online.
“These are tasks of great importance,” Wright said, urging congressional leaders to reopen the government as quickly as possible.
Democratic Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts said it was “dangerously unacceptable for the Trump administration to claim it needs to temporarily suspend certain nuclear security programs due to the ongoing government shutdown.”
“There is no reason to relax security and oversight when it comes to our nuclear stockpile,” Markey said.
House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Ala., said lawmakers were informed of the upcoming furloughs behind schedule last week.
“These are not employees you want to send home,” he said at a news conference on Friday. “They manage and manage a very important strategic asset for us.” They have to work and get paid.”
The crucial reason for the government shutdown is the impending spike in health insurance for millions of people. Democrats are moving toward negotiations over expiring health care subsidies, while Republicans say they won’t discuss it or any other measures until the government returns to power.
The February layoffs, initially involving NNSA employees, were part of a massive purge of federal employees led by then-Trump adviser Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency.
One of the hardest hit offices at the time was the Pantex factory near Amarillo, Texas. These employees work on warhead reassembly, one of the most sensitive tasks in the entire nuclear weapons enterprise, and have the highest clearances.
Employees received furlough notices Sunday for 30 days or less with an expiration date of Nov. 18. Employees who were not involved in the performance of critical functions, such as: Those working, for example, in connection with the safety of human life and the protection of property or on the systematic cessation of operations, have been placed on unpaid leave status.
___
Jennifer McDermott in Providence, Rhode Island and Ty O’Neil in Las Vegas contributed to this story.
