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By Timothy Gardner
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump and his adviser Elon Musk purged less than 50 workers from the agency that maintains the country's nuclear weapons arsenal, the Department of Energy said on Sunday, after far wider layoffs there were suddenly rescinded, causing chaos among staff.
On Friday, sources told Reuters that 325 workers had been sent notice that they had been laid off from the National Nuclear Security Administration, part of the department which employs about 2,000 people and works around the world to secure dangerous nuclear materials, including in Ukraine as Russia's war continues.
Later that day, an uncertain number of those layoffs were rescinded, causing chaos in NNSA offices in Washington and other places in the country, as many workers were unsure of their employment, the sources said.
On Sunday, a department spokesperson said less than 50 were dismissed.
"These staff members were probationary employees and held primarily administrative and clerical roles," the spokesperson said.
NNSA will continue all of its protection of national security, the development and management of atomic weapons, and non-proliferation work, the spokesperson said.
The NNSA cuts are part of a broader purge across the federal government as Trump, a Republican, and Musk cut thousands of workers at the Departments of Interior, Energy, Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, and Health and Human Services.
One NNSA source said that managers had been called on Thursday evening and told to inform people they had been let go, but got emails on Friday saying things had suddenly changed.
"STOP ALL ACTIONS WITH TERMINATIONS," said one email sent to managers, one source said, adding that they were told to re-justify employment of some workers.
"It's nuts," the source said.
Another NNSA source said the confusion distracted NNSA workers and managers from their critical national security work.
Democratic lawmakers blasted the layoffs at NNSA, calling them "shocking."
“Until such time as we are briefed on these developments, we will not know the damage to our country and the world as a result of these haphazard and thoughtless firings," Senator Patty Murray and Representative Marcy Kaptur said in a release.
(Reporting by Timothy Gardner; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
