Key points
- DOE has about 14,000 federal employees
- Some NNSA firings rescinded
- Loan Programmes Office loses 45 workers
ISLAMABAD: US President Donald Trump’s administration has laid off about 1,200 to 2,000 workers at the Department of Energy, including 325 working with the Nuclear Security Administration.
The sweeping layoffs also hit the loans office.
According to Reuters, Democratic lawmakers also said the layoffs include workers at national labs and hydroelectric plants, and Cold War legacy nuclear sites that pose safety risks.
The DOE has about 14,000 federal employees and 95,000 contractors.
The layoffs of probationary workers come after three people representing billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency arrived at the agency last week.
Some 325 workers have been let go from the department’s National Nuclear Security Administration, which manages the US nuclear weapons fleet and works to secure radiological materials around the world, two of the sources told Reutters.
“Partly rescinded”
But those layoffs at NNSA have been “partly rescinded” to retain essential nuclear security workers. It was unclear how many of the 325 firings were rescinded.
“It’s been chaotic for the staff,” one employee at NNSA said. “We just want to focus on national security stuff and this has distracted us from our work.”
The losses at the NNSA occur at a time when nuclear power plants have been at risk in Russia’s war on Ukraine, including Zaporizhzhia, the largest in Europe.
The NNSA is still working to secure radiological materials in the region.
A copy of a letter sent to some DOE employees says: “DOE finds that your further employment would not be in the public interest. For this reason, you are being removed from your position with DOE and the federal civil service effective today.”
Access cut off
The department cut off workers’ access to government-issued laptops and phones just after midnight Eastern Time (0500 GMT) on Friday, leaving many without a way to receive the notifications and no knowledge they had been fired.
Some 45 workers were let go from the Loan Programmes Office, which has hundreds of billions of dollars in loan authority for clean energy, nuclear and clean vehicle projects. Another seven were laid off in the Office of General Counsel who had been supporting work in clean energy demonstration projects.
