The Donald Trump administration paused on firing hundreds of federal employees that worked on the nation’s nuclear weapons for the Department of Energy’s semi-autonomous National Nuclear Security Administration, media outlets reported.
Late last Thursday, over 300 of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) 1,800 employees were fired, including all probationary employees, through Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency.
By late Friday night, NNSA’s acting director Teresa Robbins issued a memo rescinding the firing of all but 28 employees “effective immediately,” according to Associated Press.
According to NBC News, NNSA officials tried notifying employees Friday that were laid off the day prior that “termination letters for some NNSA probationary employees are being rescinded, but we do not have a good way to get in touch with those personnel.”
The layoffs were heavily criticized by former and current NNSA officials. Jill Hruby, NNSA’s former administrator, said the firings would cause “nearly guaranteed” delays to the country’s modernization program, according to USA Today.
Additionally, in a rare social media posting, Rob Plonski, the agency’s deputy division director of worker safety and health, wrote on LinkedIn over the weekend that he feels “compelled to speak out against the recent decisions to reduce the DOE/NNSA federal workforce” without regard for “impacts of tomorrow.”
“We cannot expect to project strength, deterrence, and world dominance while simultaneously stripping away the federal workforce that provides strategic oversight to ensure our nuclear enterprise remains safe, secure, and effective,” Plonski said. “This is a pivotal moment.”
