The administration of United States President Donald Trump has announced that it will furlough about 1,400 workers at the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) starting next week due to the ongoing shutdown of the US government.
A spokesman at the Department of Energy, of which the NNSA is a semiautonomous branch, said on Friday that nearly 400 workers would remain at the agency, which is responsible for overseeing the US nuclear weapons stockpile.
President Trump’s energy secretary, Chris Wright, said “enough is enough” in a post on X on Friday, as he announced the planned furlough of NNSA workers.
“Starting next week, we’re going to have to furlough thousands of workers that are critical to modernizing our nuclear arsenal because of [Chuck] Schumer’s disastrous Shutdown,” Wright said in his post, referring to the US Senate’s Democratic party leader.
On Thursday, Democrats in the Senate voted against advancing a Republican bill to extend funding to federal agencies for a 10th time, and continuing the government shutdown that has now lasted for 17 days.
Starting next week, we’re going to have to furlough thousands of workers that are critical to modernizing our nuclear arsenal because of Schumer’s disastrous Shutdown.
Enough is enough!https://t.co/0jSorVkdkZ
— Secretary Chris Wright (@SecretaryWright) October 17, 2025
Republicans have blamed Democrats for the deadlock, as they continue to block the funding legislation to force Republicans to negotiate on healthcare subsidies.
Federal employees categorised as “essential” continue to work without pay during government shutdowns until they can be reimbursed when it ends.
Approximately 750,000 of the US government’s more than two million federal employees have been furloughed so far, along with tens of thousands of federal contractors.
The NNSA’s federal staff oversee approximately 60,000 contractors, who maintain and test nuclear weapons at national laboratories and other locations across the US.
The agency also works to secure dangerous nuclear materials around the world, including in Ukraine, where there is an escalating risk of nuclear disaster due to Russia’s invasion, according to the United Nations.
Nuclear weapons control expert Daryl Kimball, who is the executive director of the Arms Control Association, a nonpartisan organisation promoting arms control, criticised next week’s potential cuts to NNSA staffing.
“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,” Kimball said.
“Or else, they might want to rethink their position on the federal government shutdown,” he added.
Speaking to the Bloomberg news organisation on Friday, Energy Secretary Wright warned that modernisation of the US’s nuclear weapons programme will be slowed by the shutdown.
“We’re just getting momentum there … To have everybody unpaid and not coming to work, that will not be helpful,” he said.
The Energy Department said Wright would visit the National Nuclear Security Site in Nevada on Monday to discuss the impacts of the shutdown.
Earlier this year, NNSA employees were among hundreds of employees in the Energy Department who received termination letters as part of Elon Musk’s short-lived efforts to slash government expenditure through his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
The Trump administration quickly scrambled to rehire the majority of the axed employees, issuing a memo days later rescinding the firings.
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