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WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration has halted the firings of hundreds of federal employees who were tasked with working on the nation's nuclear
Elon Musk listens during an event in the Oval Office with President Donald Trump at the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, in Washington. WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has halted the firings of hundreds of federal employees who were tasked with working on the nation’s nuclear weapons programs, in an about-face that has left workers confused and experts cautioning that DOGE’s blind cost cutting will put communities at risk.
Three U.S. officials who spoke to The Associated Press said up to 350 employees at the National Nuclear Security Administration were abruptly laid off late Thursday, with some losing access to email before they’d learned they were fired, only to try to enter their offices on Friday morning to find they were locked out. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation. One of the hardest hit offices was the Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas, which saw about 30% of the cuts. Those employees work on reassembling warheads, one of the most sensitive jobs across the nuclear weapons enterprise, with the highest levels of clearance. The hundreds let go at NNSA were part of a DOGE purge across the Department of Energy that targeted about 2,000 employees. “The DOGE people are coming in with absolutely no knowledge of what these departments are responsible for,” said Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association, referencing Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency team. “They don’t seem to realize that it’s actually the department of nuclear weapons more than it is the Department of Energy.” By late Friday night, the agency’s acting director, Teresa Robbins, issued a memo rescinding the firings for all but 28 of those hundreds of fired staff members. “This letter serves as formal notification that the termination decision issued to you on Feb. 13, 2025 has been rescinded, effective immediately,” said the memo, which was obtained by the AP. The accounts from the three officials contradict an official statement from the Department of Energy, which said fewer than 50 National Nuclear Security Administration staffers were let go, calling them “probationary employees” who “held primarily administrative and clerical roles.” But that wasn’t the case. The firings prompted one NNSA senior staffer to post a warning and call to action. “This is a pivotal moment. We must decide whether we are truly committed to leading on the world stage or if we are content with undermining the very systems that secure our nation’s future,” deputy division director Rob Plonski posted to LinkedIn. “Cutting the federal workforce responsible for these functions may be seen as reckless at best and adversarily opportunistic at worst.” While some of the Energy Department employees who were fired dealt with energy efficiency and the effects of climate change, issues not seen as priorities by the Trump administration, many others dealt with nuclear issues, even if they didn’t directly work on weapons programs. This included managing massive radioactive waste sites and ensuring the material there doesn’t further contaminate nearby communities. That incudes the Savannah River National Laboratory in Jackson, South Carolina; the Hanford Nuclear Site in Washington state, where workers secure 177 high-level waste tanks from the site’s previous work producing plutonium for the atomic bomb; and the Oak Ridge Reservation in Tennessee, a Superfund contamination site where much of the early work on the Manhattan Project was done, among others. U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur of Ohio and U.S. Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, both Democrats, called the firings last week “utterly callous and dangerous.” The NNSA staff who had been reinstated could not all be reached after they were fired, and some were reconsidering whether to return to work, given the uncertainty created by DOGE. Many federal employees who had worked on the nation’s nuclear programs had spent their entire careers there, and there was a wave of retirements in recent years that cost the agency years of institutional knowledge. But it’s now in the midst of a major $750 billion nuclear weapons modernization effort — including new land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles, new stealth bombers and new submarine-launched warheads. In response, the labs have aggressively hired over the past few years: In 2023, 60% of the workforce had been there five years or less. Edwin Lyman, director of nuclear power safety at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said the firings could disrupt the day-to-day workings of the agency and create a sense of instability over the nuclear program both at home and abroad. “I think the signal to U.S. adversaries is pretty clear: throw a monkey wrench in the whole national security apparatus and cause disarray,” he said. “That can only benefit the adversaries of this country.”WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has halted the firings of hundreds of federal employees who were tasked with working on the nation’s nuclear weapons programs, in an about-face that has left workers confused and experts cautioning that DOGE’s blind cost cutting will put communities at risk. Three U.S. officials who spoke to The Associated A fatal accident involving multiple vehicles and a tractor-trailer shut down traffic for a time on a stretch of Interstate 20 in the Dallas area early Sunday, authorities said. The tractor-trailer fell off an interstate highway ramp and onto the ground before it eventually caught fire, said Dallas Fire-Rescue Department spokesperson Jason Evans. He said GREEN RIVER, Wyo. — A third victim was found Sunday in the wreckage from a fiery crash inside a Wyoming highway tunnel that involved 26 cars and trucks, officials said. At least five people were seriously injured in Friday’s accident along Interstate 80 near the small town of Green River, Wyoming. The crash sparked WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s approach to ending Russia’s war against Ukraine has left European allies and Ukrainian officials worried they are being largely sidelined by the new U.S. administration as Washington and Moscow plan direct negotiations. With the three-year war grinding on, Trump is sending Secretary of State Marco Rubio, national security adviser COVINGTON, Ga. — Two people were killed when a single-engine plane crashed shortly after takeoff late Saturday from a small airport east of Atlanta, authorities said. The Rockwell Commander with two people on board crashed near Covington Municipal Airport around 11:40 p.m., according to the Federal Aviation Administration. “There was no further communication from It’s NASCAR’s turn to throw its version of the Super Bowl, and the Daytona 500 is trying hard to match the hype, though the race has been substantially delayed due to rain. Captain America actor Anthony Mackie and even President Donald Trump were in attendance at the “Great American Race.” The field is stacked with The Museum of Pop Culture , located in Seattle, steps into the realm of folklore and fantasy with its upcoming exhibition, “Asian Comics: Evolution of an Art Form.” In collaboration with the renowned Barbican Centre in London, the limited-time exhibition journeys through the rich, multifaceted world of Asian visual storytelling, paying homage to its historical Deciding when it's time for senior living can be challenging. However, a senior living community can be a positive step toward ensuring safety, health and happiness. Fighting hunger together: Safeway’s, Albertsons’ Nourishing Neighbors program tackles food insecurity‘Preventing the preventable:’ Most effective ways to protect your home from water damage Water damage stands as one of the most common and costly claims that homeowners face, accounting for nearly a quarter of all homeowners insurance claims.The Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust is hosting a tree-planting fundraiser, helping create a sustainable future for local communities, wildlife and the planet.
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