Energy secretary says nuclear safety agency has begun furloughing employees as part of shutdown

The federal agency that oversees the U.S. nuclear stockpile has begun furloughing employees as part of the ongoing federal government shutdown, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Monday.

Wright said in a post on National Nuclear Security Administration Federal employees are being furloughed as part of the shutdown that began Oct. 1. Wright did not say in his post how many employees were being furloughed or what their roles were.

chairman donald trumpThe Republican administration fired hundreds of NNSA employees earlier this year, before reversing its stance amid criticism that the action could jeopardize national security. Similar criticism emerged Monday after Wright’s announcement.

NNSA has said it may furlough 1,400 employees as a result of the reduction in funding caused by the shutdown. About 400 federal employees will remain on the job with NNSA contractors. agency, a semi-autonomous branch of Department of EnergyAlso works to secure nuclear materials around the world.

Wright said he was scheduled to visit the Nevada National Security Site on Monday and pledged to “ask Nevada leaders to help us end this shutdown.” The purpose of Wright’s visit is to “highlight the impact of the ongoing shutdown on workforce retention and weapons modernization efforts critical to national security,” the Energy Department said.

democratic senator ed markey Massachusetts said it is “dangerously unacceptable that the Trump administration claims it must temporarily suspend certain nuclear security programs due to the ongoing government shutdown.”

“There is no justification for lax security and oversight when it comes to our nuclear stockpile,” Markey said.

The February firings, which initially involved NNSA workers, were part of a mass layoff of federal employees led by the then-Trump adviser. Elon Musk And their Department of Government Efficiency.

One of the most affected offices at that time was the Pantex plant near Amarillo, Texas. Those workers perform reassembly of weapons, one of the most sensitive jobs in a nuclear weapons enterprise, with the highest level of clearance.