NNSA Workers Fired, Rehired | Arms Control Association

March 2025
By Libby Flatoff

Hundreds of workers who maintain the U.S. nuclear weapons arsenal were fired as part of a purge of federal workers by the Trump administration, which is now rushing to rehire many of them.

Researchers at the Savannah River National Laboratory, part of the vast U.S. nuclear weapons complex managed by the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), whose workforce was hit by Trump administration layoffs. (Photo courtesy of SRS)

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Feb. 11 to promptly "initiate large-scale reductions in force," and two days later, some 300 employees at the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), a semi-autonomous agency within the Department of Energy, were fired as part of the broader layoffs.

The decision to rehire almost all of those dismissed from their jobs came after sharp criticism from the public, experts, and members of Congress. Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.), responding to the cuts on X, wrote, “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.”

On its website, NNSA describes its mission as “to ensure the United States maintains a safe, secure, and reliable nuclear stockpile,” which its Office of Defense Programs carries out through the Stockpile Stewardship and Management Program.

With a $25 billion annual budget, the agency maintains, refurbishes, and secures more than 3,000 nuclear warheads and oversees the production of new nuclear warheads. It employs 2,000 staff and manages more than 55,000 contractors.

According to the Stockpile Stewardship Management Plan, “since many roles within the nuclear security enterprise require specialized training or years of experience to develop proficiency, effectively training personnel, then retaining them, is essential to success.”

Rob Plonski, an NNSA deputy division director, discussed the layoffs in a LinkedIn post Feb. 15. “We cannot expect to project strength, deterrence, and world dominance while simultaneously stripping away the federal workforce …. Years of knowledge and experience are being lost, with no clear strategy to replenish that expertise at the pace required to maintain operational excellence,” he wrote.

Speaking to reporters Feb. 13, Trump suggested scaling back nuclear modernization as a way to reduce government spending. “There’s no reason for us to be building brand-new nuclear weapons. We already have so many, you could destroy the world 50 times over, 100 times over,” he said.

There are an estimated 12,400 nuclear weapons worldwide, including 5,225 held by the United States.