U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said that the ongoing government shutdown had led to the furlough of workers who are critical to the maintainance and modernization of the nation’s nuclear program, including weapons and energy. Key nuclear administration sites operate in Nevada, Idaho and New Mexico.
During a news conference in Las Vegas, before visiting the Nevada National Security Site, Wright said the shutdown had led to an additional 68 federal nuclear employees being furloughed this week. That’s on top of 1,400 federal nuclear employees across the country who have already been let go. In addition, more than 1,000 nuclear contractors in Nevada could receive notices by the end of the month, because their work relies on the federal government remaining open.
Wright said the Department of Energy was able to move some funds to temporarily pay federal nuclear workers during the shutdown, but those funds have run dry. “We did everything we could to keep our federal workers here employed as long as possible but unfortunately today is the day our ability to deploy funds to pay those workers ended,” he said.
Wright added that the furloughs have the potential to affect national security. The affected employees are "among the most critical workers in our country," he said. "They test, maintain and ultimately construct the modernized version of our nuclear stockpile. We need to take that deathly serious.”
Wright blamed Democrats for the shutdown, while Democratic lawmakers from Nevada issued statements blasting the job losses. Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev., agreed that furloughing National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) employees puts national security at risk. “Without them, construction of modernized weapons and surveillance of the existing stockpile will grind to a halt, reducing our nuclear deterrence," she said. "This is a decision our enemies will welcome.”
But Titus blamed Republicans: “It also demonstrates that President Trump will go to any lengths — including jeopardizing our national security — to achieve his political ends.”
Rep. Steven Horsford, D-Nev., introduced a bill to secure backpay for furloughed federal contract workers and one that would reimburse federal workers for fees, interest and fines incurred during a shutdown. Horsford responded to Secretary Wright’s Nevada visit in a statement that read, in part, “Secretary Wright traveled across the country to make a spectacle of these furloughs when he could have simply traveled across town in Washington, D.C. to demand an end to this shutdown.”
Horsford said, “As the third week of this Republican-led shutdown draws to a close, I’m appalled that Trump and Wright are using the GOP’s failure to govern as an excuse to threaten the livelihoods of Nevada’s dedicated public servants.”
The NNSA has never experienced a furlough, according to both Republican and Democratic leaders.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Nevada Public Radio, Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Northern Colorado, KANW in New Mexico, Colorado Public Radio, KJZZ in Arizona and NPR, with additional support from affiliate newsrooms across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Eric and Wendy Schmidt.
