Sen. Murray also criticized reports that hundreds of FAA employees were fired over the weekend.
SEATTLE — The Trump administration’s reported decision to fire hundreds of employees who were part of the nation’s nuclear system, including some at the Hanford Nuclear Site in central Washington, has Sen. Patty Murray “deeply concerned.”
“These are everyone from safety inspectors to people who deal with cybersecurity across the board, and they basically were laying off the newest, latest employees that had only been there a year or two,” Murray told KING 5 on Monday. “These are often our best and brightest. They have the new technology, and this is a real safety concern, at Hanford, which is a nuclear waste clean-up site.”
Three U.S. officials who spoke to The Associated Press said up to 350 National Nuclear Security Administration employees were abruptly laid off late Thursday. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation. By late Friday night, the agency’s acting director, Teresa Robbins, issued a memo rescinding the firings for all but 28 of those hundreds of fired staff members.
Murray said it is unclear how many of the layoffs at the Hanford Site were rescinded, but still is troubled about safety at the facility.
Beyond nuclear employees, the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists union said President Trump has fired “several hundred” Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) employees, the Associated Press reported
“We already have a staffing shortage at the FAA,” Murray said. “Again, what Elon Musk and Trump are doing is just going into every federal agency and indiscriminately saying we are laying off 10% of people without looking at what the mission is, what the backlog is, the safety concerns of that administration, and how they are going to run an agency like the FAA that we all count on, as we well know, to be able to fly safely.”
The reported FAA firings come amid a typically busy holiday travel weekend around the country.