The Trump administration is no longer planning to scrap the lease of a Department of Energy building overseeing a major nuclear waste site in New Mexico, reversing course on a plan from the so-called Department of Government Efficiency led by Elon Musk.
The proposed lease termination for the Skeen-Whitlock Building, which supports the only U.S. storage site for defense-related nuclear waste, appeared this month on DOGE.gov, stating that the move would save taxpayers $810, 599 in annual costs. The posting sparked public concerns about breaches to natural security and radioactive waste leaks at the New Mexico site.
As of Thursday, the listing for Skeen-Whitlock, also known as the Carsbad Field Office, remained as the only DOE building slated for closure on the DOGE site. But in a letter Thursday, the General Services Administration said it was revoking its prior notice to “exercise termination rights” for the building, which is tied to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad, New Mexico. The site stores nuclear waste shipped from around the country in underground salt formations.
The development is the latest example of Trump administration reversals on building leases and job cuts. Earlier this week, GSA released a list of government buildings around the country — including DOE headquarters in Washington — that were on a list for “disposal,” before trimming and later removing the list. DOE also initially fired probationary workers last month at the National Nuclear Security Administration before attempting to rehire many of them. The DOGE website, meanwhile, has included multiple errors, including one case last month where it said there would be $8 billion in savings from a canceled immigration contract, when it was actually $8 million.
