Amidst an all-out assault on what it believes to be the “administrative state,” Donald Trump’s representatives inside the Department of Energy laid off 300+ staffers inside National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA).
Just one problem: many of them, according to Rene Marsh and Ella Nilsen at CNN, “oversee” America’s nuclear stockpile:
Trump administration officials fired more than 300 staffers Thursday night at the National Nuclear Security Administration — the agency tasked with managing the nation’s nuclear stockpile — as part of broader Energy Department layoffs, according to four people with knowledge of the matter. Sources told CNN the officials did not seem to know this agency oversees America’s nuclear weapons.
Members of congress, the article added, went in person to energy secretary Chris Wright to voice concerns about the firings.
‘Congress is freaking out because it appears DOE didn’t really realize NNSA oversees the nuclear stockpile,’ one source said. ‘The nuclear deterrent is the backbone of American security and stability—period. For there to be any even very small holes poked even in the maintenance of that deterrent should be extremely frightening to people.’
AUTHOR FOOTNOTE
Glad to see CNN warning Americans about the grave danger here, but in legacy media more broadly it will barely last a couple hours in news cycles dominated by Trump-inspired (and directed) chaos.
Something CNN mentioned at the end of its story raised my eyebrow:
In addition to overseeing America’s nuclear weapons, the NNSA also helps secure nuclear material nationwide. Sources told CNN it’s a critical mission, pointing to the Russian drone attack on a Chernobyl power plant reactor in Ukraine on Thursday. ‘NNSA maintains sensors in Ukraine to help track nuclear risks, whether intentional or unintentional,’ a source said, adding the layoffs are ‘frightening.’
In a recent piece I wrote about attempted destruction of USAID, I mentioned the simple premise that “if it benefits Putin, Donny will try to push it on America.” If Putin wanted to sabotage the United States’ ability to track (and warn of) nuclear attacks coming from Russia, either intentional or accidental, weakening NNSA would be a good step in that direction.
In other words, if it feels like a favor to Putin, it probably is.
