Trump nukes nominee questioned on DOGE cuts, nuclear weapons testing
Former GOP Rep. Brandon Williams, nominated to lead the National Nuclear Security Administration, stands to inherit a hollowed-out federal workforce after DOGE cuts.
- Approximately 180 of the National Nuclear Security Administration's 2,000 federal employees have departed since January, and more cuts are likely on the way.
- Senators pressed Williams over whether he will protect the nuclear agency's workforce from job cuts.
- Recruiting and retaining highly specialized nuclear talent is a decades-old challenge for the NNSA.
WASHINGTON − Elon Musk wasn't in the room for Tuesday morning's confirmation hearing, but his presence loomed large as President Donald Trump's nominee to head the nation's nuclear weapons agency faced questions from members of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
In written answers submitted to the committee, former GOP Rep. Brandon Williams, Trump's nominatee to lead the National Nuclear Security Administrationy, acknowledged the agency's long-running struggle to recruit and retain the highly specialized workforce that designs, produces, and maintains the country's nuclear arsenal.
Lawmakers grilled the former Navy submarine officer over Musk and DOGE-led NNSA workforce cuts that made news earlier this year and possible firings to come.
The Department of Energy recently designated 500 NNSA employees − roughly 25% of the agency's 2,000-strong federal payroll on the eve of Trump's inauguration − as non-essential, according to E&E News. If some or all of those workers were to be fired, it would compound the impact of losing 180 employees to DOGE's deferred resignation/retirement offer and the chaotic firing (and subsequent partial reinstatement) of probationary employees in February.
"How can you make the organization function when morale has been spiraling downwards because of these personnel changes and simply the lack of personnel?" asked Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., the committee's ranking member.
Williams, who said he was not yet privy to NNSA employee matters, did not explicitly say if he would resist staffing reductions. He repeatedly said he would "be an advocate for the men and woman of the NNSA." He also highlighted his authority, if confirmed, to control the agency's personnel matters.
The NNSA remains overdue and overbudget on several phases of a $200 billion plan to modernize the U.S. nuclear arsenal and resume mass production of new warheads. The agency's work is part of a broader $1.7 trillion effort that includes new missiles, submarines, and nuclear-capable bombers.
Even before the recent cuts, watchdog officials considered the agency's thin federal workforce, which oversees more than 60,000 contract employees, to be an an Achilles heel that poses significant risk of fraud, waste, and abuse of taxpayer funds.
Williams did not directly address critiques of his qualifications to lead the NNSA, nor did Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., press him on issues she raised in a Monday letter questioning his "experience and judgment."
The prospective NNSA administrator also said he would advise against resuming explosive nuclear tests, despite former Trump officials' desire to end a self-imposed 1992 moratorium on tests.
If you're a current or former NNSA employee willing to inform Paste BN's future coverage of the agency, please contact Davis Winkie via email at dwinkie@usatoday.com or via the Signal encrypted messaging app at 770-539-3257. Davis Winkie's role covering nuclear threats and national security at Paste BN is supported by a partnership with Outrider Foundation and Journalism Funding Partners. Funders do not provide editorial input.