Trump administration to furlough 1,400 nuclear security workers amid shutdown

The Trump administration will furlough approximately 1,400 employees at the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) by October 20 due to the ongoing government shutdown, the Department of Energy (DOE) announced on October 17.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in a post on X that the furloughs will impact NNSA staff involved in modernising the U.S. nuclear weapons arsenal. Nearly 400 workers will remain on duty, including those handling global nuclear security operations, such as securing dangerous nuclear materials in Ukraine.

The NNSA, a semi-autonomous branch of the DOE, oversees roughly 60,000 contractors maintaining and testing nuclear weapons at national laboratories and other facilities across the country. Wright warned that, in addition to staff furloughs, tens of thousands of contractor jobs could also be affected.

Experts have raised concerns over the potential security and operational risks. Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association, said, “If the Trump administration really thinks the NNSA’s functions are important — and many of them are essential for nuclear facility safety and security — I am sure they can find the funds to keep the workers on the job.”

Wright indicated that emergency services will continue, but programs to modernise the nuclear weapons arsenal, which aim to replace ageing weapons, could face delays. “To have everybody unpaid and not coming to work, that will not be helpful,” he told Bloomberg Surveillance.

A 2025 Congressional Budget Office report projects that operating and modernising U.S. nuclear forces through 2034 could cost $946 billion, a 25% increase over 2023 estimates, with expenditures split between the Pentagon and the NNSA.

The DOE said Wright will visit the National Nuclear Security Site in Nevada on October 20 to assess the impact of the shutdown on the country’s nuclear arsenal.

By Vugar Khalilov