House Armed Services Committee Chairman Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala., on Friday warned that the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is planning to furlough most of its civilian staff amid the government shutdown.
The NNSA is the federal agency that oversees the nation’s stockpile of nuclear weapons.
“We were just informed last night [that] the National Nuclear Security Administration — the group that handles and manages our nuclear stockpile — that the carryover funding they’ve been using is about to run out,” Rogers told reporters during House Republicans’ daily press briefing at the U.S. Capitol.
“They will have to lay off 80% of their employees.”
But he added later: “These are not employees that you want to go home. They’re managing and handling a very important strategic asset for us. They need to be at work and being paid.”
The money used to pay salaries and expenses at the NNSA is expected to run out Saturday, the agency said in a notice shared with lawmakers.
Roughly 1,400 employees will be placed on furlough once that happens and 375 employees will continue to work.
The agency also said it was reviewing contractors’ plans to place facilities in “minimum-safe” status — that is, continuing “only those functions necessary to ensure the safety of life or protection of property.”
That means certain NNSA functions, like nuclear weapons life extension and nonproliferation programs, could be put on hold indefinitely, reports Politico.
NNSA will “provide estimates of the number of contractor employees affected upon finalization of those plans,” the notice said.
The government shutdown reached Day 17 Friday with no end in sight after senators failed for the 10th time to resolve the impasse in votes Thursday.
The shutdown is now the third-longest funding lapse in modern history — the longest shutdown occurred from late 2018 to early 2019.
Founded in 2000 within the Department of Energy, the NNSA is central to safeguarding America’s nuclear security.
The agency manages the safety, reliability and protection of the U.S. nuclear stockpile while also leading efforts to secure nuclear materials worldwide and promote nuclear nonproliferation and arms control.
Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, R-Tenn., chair of the House Appropriations subcommittee that funds DOE, in early October blasted Democrats for blocking Republicans’ continuing resolution.
“Democrats’ stupid and unnecessary shutdown jeopardizes our national security, energy dominance, & vital work to modernize our nuclear deterrent,” he said in a post on X.
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