Firings Of U.S. Nuclear Weapons Workers Halted

The Trump administration has halted the firings of hundreds of federal employees working on the nation's nuclear weapons programs, reversing course in a move that has left workers confused and experts warning that the Department of Energy’s (DOE) blind cost-cutting could put communities at risk, Associated Press (AP) reporters Tara Copp and Anthony Izaguirre wrote.

Employees at Pantex are responsible for reassembling warheads. I Photo: Department of Energy

Three U.S. officials who spoke to the AP said up to 350 employees at the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) were abruptly laid off late Thursday. Some lost access to their email before even learning they had been fired, only to find themselves locked out of their offices when they attempted to return on Friday morning.

The officials, who requested anonymity for fear of retaliation, said one of the hardest-hit locations was the Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas, which saw about 30% of the cuts.

Employees at Pantex are responsible for reassembling warheads—one of the most sensitive jobs in the nuclear weapons enterprise, requiring the highest levels of security clearance.

The layoffs at the NNSA were part of a broader DOE staff reduction affecting approximately 2,000 employees.

“The DOE leadership is coming in with absolutely no knowledge of what these departments are responsible for,” said Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association (ACA).

“They don’t seem to realize that it’s essentially 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 employees. The sudden cuts prompted a senior NNSA staffer to issue a stark warning.

“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 on LinkedIn.

“Cutting the federal workforce responsible for these functions may be seen as reckless at best and adversarially opportunistic at worst.”

Edwin Lyman, director of nuclear power safety at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), said the mass firings could disrupt the agency’s daily operations and create instability in the nuclear program, both domestically and internationally.

“I think the signal to U.S. adversaries is pretty clear: throw a wrench into the national security apparatus and cause disarray,” he said. “That can only benefit the adversaries of this country.”