Tens of thousands of federal workers and contractors overseeing and upgrading the nation’s nuclear weapons will be furloughed in coming days due to the ongoing shutdown.
While DOE has not yet laid off any staffers, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on Thursday that the National Nuclear Security Administration, or NNSA, a semiautonomous agency within DOE, will soon be unable to pay contractors working to replace older weapons with newer technology.
“We’ve been paying them to date but starting tomorrow — Monday at the latest — we’re not going to be able to pay those workers,” Wright said during an interview on Bloomberg TV. “If that continues on for long, they may get other jobs,” Wright continued. “They’re going to stop their efforts to modernize our nuclear weapons, to guarantee the sovereignty of our country.”
Wright emphasized that some staffers would stay under DOE’s contingency plans and that the U.S. nuclear stockpile will be “secure” and “ready.”
