Making America Less Safe? Trump Officials Scrambling After Firing Nuclear Weapons Staff

The Trump administration is now looking to rescind the layoffs of individuals responsible for overseeing the nation's nuclear weapons.

After Trump administration officials fired over 300 staffers at the National Nuclear Security Administration on Feb. 13, they realized that some of the people they fired were responsible for securing the nation’s supply of nuclear weapons and started to rescind some of those firings by Valentine’s Day.

According to CNN, four people with knowledge of the matter said that the firings came as part of a broader wave of layoffs at the Department of Energy and that the officials who fired these workers, despite the administration’s name, did not know the agency is responsible for overseeing the United States of America’s nuclear weapons stockpile.

According to one of the sources, individuals, including staff who are on the ground at facilities where nuclear weapons are built and employees at the NNSA headquarters who write requirements and guidelines for contractors who build nuclear weapons, were fired because “no one has taken any time to understand what we do and the importance of our work to the nation’s national security.”

Another source told CNN that Congress is upset about this, and rightfully so, the NNSA is a backbone to the nation’s network of national security protocols.

Last night, the Trump administration accidentally fired more 300 employees at the National Nuclear Security Administration — the agency tasked with managing our nuclear stockpile.
Some of the fired employees were on the ground at facilities where nuclear weapons are built. pic.twitter.com/KNs140QByi
— Igor Sushko (@igorsushko) February 15, 2025

Omg these morons are incompetent….so you’re telling me they fired 300-400 employees at the Energy Department that work on the nuclear weapons program and now want to rehire them smh….what can possibly go wrong https://t.co/QNGGzb7GPC pic.twitter.com/0IDW02mOmI
— Wu Tang is for the Children (@WUTangKids) February 15, 2025

The Trump Administration fired the U.S. nuclear staff not realizing they oversee the country’s entire weapons stockpile.

This isn't government efficiency. It's incompetence.

They are making America less safe. https://t.co/nDKgCV1JE6
— Rep. Jason Crow (@RepJasonCrow) February 15, 2025

“Congress is freaking out because it appears DOE (Department of Energy) didn’t really realize NNSA oversees the nuclear stockpile. 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,” the source said.

According to NPR, the firings resulted from Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency’s slash-and-burn approach to curbing federal spending, which was in accordance with the wishes of Donald Trump and the Trump administration.

According to their reporting, an employee at the NNSA, a semi-autonomous agency, informed NPR that despite the critical function performed by the agency, it was not immune to the cuts instituted and directed by Musk and company, who gave the managers 200 characters to describe why the jobs under their purview mattered.

The testimony of one of the NNSA’s workers is at odds with DOGE’s determination that the NNSA provides some kind of undue burden on the federal government’s budget.

The anonymous worker, who stayed anonymous out of fear of retaliation from the Trump administration, told NPR that the firings have been “paused. ” They then said that their work is high-pressure and highly specialized and that they are underpaid for it. Citing what they had experienced in the past 24 hours, they asked, “Why would anybody want to take these jobs?”