President Donald Trump expressed confidence on Tuesday when questioned about the quick purge and reinstatement of largely probationary employees at the agency that oversees the U.S. nuclear stockpile.
Employees were laid off from the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) last week before being reinstated over the weekend. Most of those involved were probationary employees, which typically means they were hired or promoted within the last year.
The employees let go from the NNSA were mostly involved in clerical or administrative roles, according to the Department of Energy. Many of those laid off worked on climate and energy efficiency-related projects that do not align with Trump’s agenda for American energy dominance. None of the employees worked directly on weapons-related programs, according to <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/02/17/trump-musk-nuclear-weapons-workers-nnsa/78968238007/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">USA Today</a>.
When asked if he was worried about what turbulence over the layoffs would do to the agency, the president said he was “not at all” concerned and that he was delivering on his agenda to voters.
“I think we have to just do what we have to do,” Trump said. “It&#8217;s amazing what&#8217;s been found right now. It&#8217;s amazing. Some, if we feel that, in some cases, they’ll fire people and then they’ll put some people back, not all of them, because a lot of people were let go.”
“Don’t forget, I got elected on the basis of making our government stronger and smaller because we have millions of people that, obviously, they’re paying millions of people that shouldn’t be paid,” he added.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Reporter: There was a big wave of probationary federal workers who were fired over the weekend. Some of these workers focused on nuclear weapons security were immediately rehired. Do you have any concerns? 
Trump: No, not at all. I think we have to just do what we have to do.… <a href="https://t.co/enXcCxKVlZ">pic.twitter.com/enXcCxKVlZ</a>
&mdash; Acyn (@Acyn) <a href="https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1891967707534553233?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 18, 2025</a></blockquote>
The agency, which is semi-autonomous under the Department of Energy, sent out termination emails late last week before <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/trump-administration-wants-un-fire-nuclear-safety-workers-cant-figure-rcna192345?taid=67b0cdf1e6d2760001470968&amp;utm_campaign=trueanthem&amp;utm_medium=social" target="_blank" rel="noopener">retracting</a> some over the weekend. Managers had difficulty contacting some of the reinstated employees after cutting off their work email accounts.
The number of employees let go from the agency is unclear. The Department of Energy said the layoffs affected less than 50 people. According to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-energy-department-says-less-than-50-purged-nuclear-security-office-2025-02-16/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Reuters</a>, 325 employees received termination emails.
The confusion over the agency’s employees took place amid widespread cuts to federal agencies being led by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) project, an Elon Musk-led group within the White House that is overseeing an audit of federal employment and spending priorities. 

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Trump ‘Not At All’ Worried About DOGE Cuts After Reinstatement Of Nuclear Safety Workers