According to US media, the US government is attempting to rehire nuclear safety staff members it sacked on Thursday after growing worries that their termination would compromise national security.
Hundreds of staff in the energy sector received letters of termination, including those at the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA).
The department is responsible for planning, constructing, and managing the US nuclear weapons arsenal.
The layoffs are a part of President Donald Trump’s huge drive to reduce the number of government employees, which he started less than a month ago on his first day in office.
According to people familiar with the situation, US media covered the layoffs of over 300 NNSA employees.
A Department of Energy spokeswoman denied the figure, telling CNN that “less than 50 people” were fired from NNSA.
CNN said that the layoffs on Thursday included employees working at weapons manufacturing facilities.
Following the lockout of their federal email accounts, the sacked individuals have found it difficult to contact the Trump administration, which has now attempted to reverse their terminations, according to media outlets.
“The termination letters for some NNSA probationary employees are being rescinded, but we do not have a good way to get in touch with those personnel,” according to a memo distributed to NNSA staff on Friday and obtained by NBC News.
“Please work with your supervisors to send this information (once you get it) to people’s personal contact emails,” the memo stated.
Several US sites reported that approximately 10,000 federal employees were laid off across different agencies last week.
That number was in addition to the approximately 75,000 employees who willingly left in the fall after accepting a White House offer.
Trump has even advocated for eliminating the education department as part of his efforts to reduce spending both domestically and internationally.
The richest man in the world, Elon Musk, is assisting him. Through the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge), he has dispatched employees to search through data at federal agencies and assisted in implementing the “buyout” offer.
This week, the Trump administration ordered agencies to terminate almost all probationary staff members, who had typically been there less than a year and had not yet received job protection. That also applied to the NNSA employees.
The action may have an overall impact on hundreds of thousands of individuals.
The Trump administration has faced legal challenges to several of its attempts to reduce the size and spending of the government.
Since the president’s inauguration on January 20, the Trump administration has been the target of more than 60 lawsuits.
