Between February and March 2025, more than 150 employees were fired or resigned from the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), which is responsible for maintaining the U.S.’s nuclear stockpile, providing nuclear propulsion for the U.S. Navy, and responding to nuclear emergencies.
Affected staff include nuclear physicists and scientists, engineers, safety experts, and program and project analysts, as well as a small group of nuclear scientists who work to determine the safety and viability of the nuclear stockpile. More than 300 NNSA probationary employees, roughly 1/7 of the agency’s total staff, were fired in February. All but 27 of those employees were later reinstated after members of Congress complained directly to Secretary of Energy Chris Wright.
While DOE claimed that those terminated were mostly non-critical administrative staff and that “nuclear weapons production plants and nuclear laboratories are operated by federal contractors and have been exempt,” current and former agency officials disagree. They claim that the firings will impede NNSA’s ability to oversee the agency’s more than 60,000 contract employees. “The federal oversight is vital,” said Corey Hinderstein, the former NNSA deputy administrator for nonproliferation under President Biden.