White House seeks resignation of NWTRB members

The Donald Trump administration is replacing most members of the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board, sources told Exchange Monitor late last week.

Two sources within the Department of Energy weapons complex told the Monitor the White House asked for the resignation of nearly all members of the 11-member board charged with independent scientific peer reviews of DOE management of nuclear waste and spent fuel. All 10 members listed on the website (there is one vacancy) were appointed by the Joe Biden administration.

Also, over the weekend, the Washington Post reported President Trump is firing at least 15 inspectors general, including ones for the Department of Energy and the Department of Defense.

Teri Donaldson was DOE inspector general during 2024. As of Thursday Jan. 30, Deputy Jennifer Quinones was listed on the website as the highest ranking lawyer in the DOE inspector general office. 

As for the Technical Review board, the two sources both said all current board members, with the exception of chair Peter Swift, a geoscientist, were told to resign or be terminated. Swift is also a Biden appointee.

The board’s staff executive director Daniel Ogg declined comment when reached by phone Friday afternoon, Jan. 24. Email messages sent to two of the review board members were not immediately returned this week. 

The members serve on a part-time basis and “are appointed by the president from a list of candidates submitted by the National Academy of Sciences to 4-year terms,” according to the website. “By law, nominees to the board are selected solely on the bases of established records of distinguished professional service and eminence in a field of science or engineering.”