Workers at federal agency monitoring nuclear weapons to be furloughed as shutdown continues

The federal agency that monitors and secures the nation’s nuclear stockpile will furlough about 1,400 employees across the country as the ongoing government shutdown battle between Republicans and Democrats nears the three-week mark.

The National Nuclear Security Administration has never been forced to furlough workers since the agency was established in 2000, Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said Monday at an NNSA office in Nevada.

“This should not happen, but this was as long as we could stretch the funding for the federal workers,” he said. “We were able to do some gymnastics and stretch it further for the contractors.”

The work done at Nevada’s NNSA’s site played a major part in the development and design of America’s nuclear arsenal. Today’s employees are needed to ensure they remain in ready working order, Mr. Wright said.

“We need to understand when it’s time to rotate out and replace weapons,” he said.

Officials said the agency also provides “key expertise” in tracking down nuclear material that may turn up in the hands of terrorists or adversarial state actors.

“These are not employees who you want to go home. They’re managing and handling a very important strategic asset for us,” said Rep. Mike Rogers of Alabama, the Republican chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. “They need to be at work and be paid.”

The agency has a different funding source for contractors, so they won’t be part of the initial furlough, but that could change if the shutdown continues for too long, officials said.

Negotiations between Republicans and Democrats to break the congressional logjam over the government shutdown appear to have stalled. Democrats are continuing to insist on an expansion of the enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies, which are set to expire at the end of the year, before they agree to GOP proposals to reopen the government.

“There are going to be debates and negotiations about particular spending bills. That’s what the House and Senate are all about,” Mr. Wright said. “But, let’s do it with the government open, with all of our workers being paid, and with all of our critical national security work moving forward.”

Staffers at the National Nuclear Security Administration also work in cybersecurity and help develop the next generation of weapons at the Nevada site. The agency requires employees with considerable experience and has assembled what Energy Secretary Wright called a “tremendous workforce” of federal employees and contractors.

“You have expertise and you have a workforce that is working well together. The last thing we want to do is see that workforce disrupted,” Mr. Wright said. “When people are out of work too long, they go get other jobs. That’s a loss to our country.”

While the “large majority” of NNSA employees will be furloughed, some will remain on the job without drawing a paycheck until the government shutdown is over, Mr. Wright said.

“There are people where it’s too risky, even in the short term, to not have so there will be carve-outs,” Mr. Wright said. “There are a number of ’mission critical’ folks that are still working.”