Vol. 29, No. 6 
Mass terminations hit NNSA this week, all probationary employees fired
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
DOGE employees gain access to DOE nuclear weapons programs, news outlets report
Multiple media sites reported over the weekend that members of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency started working at the Department of Energy without security clearances. Chris Wright, the newly-confirmed Secretary of Energy, told CNBC Feb. 7 that three members of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) “have access to look around, talk to people […]
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National Laboratories
Livermore director says office closed due to executive order ending DEI
Kim Budil, director of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, said Wednesday the lab closed an office due to President Donald Trump’s executive order ending “diversity, equity, and inclusion” programs in the federal government. “We did have an office that we closed,” Budil said at a hearing by the House Science, Space and Technology subcommittee […]
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Budget & Policy
Judge unblocks deferred retirement ‘fork,’ OPM closes program
On the same day a federal district judge in Massachusetts lifted his earlier restraining order against the Donald Trump administration’s deferred retirement program for government workers, the Office of Personnel Management closed out the program. “The Deferred Resignation Program is now closed,” according to a notice Wednesday on the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) website. […]
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Delivery Systems & Nuclear Triad
Air Force halts parts of Sentinel program
Certain segments for the intercontinental ballistic missile Sentinel are being put on hold while the program undergoes restructuring, the Air Force said in a statement Monday. “The Air Force has ordered the Northrop Grumman Corporation to suspend the design, testing, and construction related to the Command and Launch Segment,” a spokesperson said in the statement. […]
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Plutonium Pit Production
UCS questions ‘rush’ to Los Alamos pit production
A representative from the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) Tuesday said government urgency for plutonium pit production at the Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico is “unnecessary” —and increases risk to workers. Dylan Spaulding, a senior scientist researching nuclear weapons production at the Union of Concerned Scientists, laid out his case […]
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Naval Nuclear Propulsion
Courtney slams Trump steel tariffs after Australia sends sub industry money
The ranking member of the House Armed Services Seapower subcommittee criticized President Donald Trump for his announcement of new steel and aluminum tariffs days after Australia sent its first increment of hundreds of millions of dollars of AUKUS submarine industrial base funding. On his way to the Super Bowl on Sunday, Trump told reporters his […]
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Naval Nuclear Propulsion
Trump familiar with and supportive of AUKUS, Hegseth says
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said last Friday President Donald Trump would support the AUKUS agreement with Australia. The defense secretary made the remarks while meeting his Australian counterpart, Defense Minister Richard Marles, at the Pentagon. Hegseth said this after Australia made its first payment of $500 million last week toward the $3 billion investment […]
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Naval Nuclear Propulsion
HASC seapower leaders urge prompt DoD Australian AUKUS funds plan
The Republican chair and ranking Democrat of the House Armed Services seapower and projection forces subcommittee Tuesday asked Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth for quick action on Australia’s recent submarine industrial base investment payment. On Feb. 7 Australia sent the Defense Department a $500 million payment to invest in the U.S. domestic submarine industrial base […]
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International
Israel could strike Iran’s nuclear facility in coming months, US intelligence says
Israel might strike Iran’s Fordow and Natanz nuclear facilities in the first six months of 2025, multiple media outlets reported that U.S. intelligence said. According to Washington Post-reported intelligence reports spanning from the end of the Joe Biden administration and the beginning of the Donald Trump administration, such an attack would set Iran’s nuclear program […]
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International
Wrap up: Trump and Putin talk ending Ukraine war; Trump wants denuclearization of China and Russia; House and Senate advance dueling budget proposals; Leidos and the Iron dome
President Donald Trump and Russian president Vladimir Putin, on a phone call this week, talked negotiations for ending the nearly three-year war Russia waged in Ukraine, media reported. Trump said Thursday that Ukraine would have a seat at the table in peace negotiations, after Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Kyiv’s allies warned against a “dirty […]