The Trump Administration began its Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) effort to cut government funding last week, with a series of layoffs in almost all government agencies, including EM, NE, NNSA, Office of Science and other DOE offices. Many employees accepted the government’s deferred resignation “buyout” offer, which would provide workers’ pay through September if they resign. ECA has been notified, as previously reported, that these are senior managers at HQ and in the site offices.

The following cuts have already been made:

• 2,000 DOE staffers were laid off on Thursday, said Randy Erwin, national president of the National Federation of Federal Employees.
• Between 300 and 400 NNSA (NNSA oversees US nuclear weapons production and non-proliferation programs) workers were terminated at HQ and the site offices before some subset were reinstated. The agency’s quick reversal was announced Friday in an all-staff meeting. The NNSA is seeking to recall the workers because they deal with sensitive national security secrets.
• DOE’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations lost roughly 25% of its staff, according to Bloomberg News. That office received some $27 billion in funding from the Inflation Reduction Act, as well as the bipartisan infrastructure law, to finance, among other initiatives, advanced nuclear projects.
• The National Park Service (NPS) fired 1,000 full-time staff Friday but said seasonal hiring is resuming, exempting 5,000 seasonal jobs from the hiring freeze. As reported by Politico, Representative Mike Simpson (ID-2), who represents the district home to Idaho Falls, Butte County, and several National Park Service sites, stated that his staff is talking to the administration about how an OMB-directed, government-wide hiring freeze will affect the NPS.
• More than 200,000 employees, or nearly 10% of the civilian federal workforce, have been on the job for a year (12 months) or less, according to Office of Personnel Management data.

Impacts are already being felt at the site and regional level. Senator Patty Murray (WA) commented on several layoffs at the Hanford site and in the Pacific Northwest over the weekend:

• At the Hanford Site, over a dozen people were laid off. These include safety engineers, environmental scientists, and others critical to the Hanford cleanup mission and the safety of the workers employed here.
• At least 30 federal workers at the Hanford site accepted the buyout offer, the Tri-City Herald reported.
• The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) will lose more than 600 workers. The BPA is the biggest electricity supplier in the Pacific Northwest.

ECA will keep you updated on what developments affect, and how they will impact, DOE programs and offices. 

The House Budget Committee advanced their last-minute draft budget bill through a committee markup last week for House Republicans' party-line reconciliation effort. Regarding energy, one measure in the bill would mandate that the Committee on Energy and Commerce "submit changes in laws within its jurisdiction to reduce the deficit by not less than $880,000,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 2025 through 2034.

Two amendments clinched a 21-16 vote for approval from the panel. One would limit the amount of tax cuts Republicans can enact if they don’t cut $2 trillion in spending. The other would ensure Republicans include the text of the REINS Act in their final reconciliation bill. That measure would curtail federal rulemaking across government. However, the compromises could potentially deter crucial votes from swing-district Republicans uncomfortable with slashing programs like Medicaid and SNAP food assistance.

But with a March 14 funding deadline only weeks away, House Republicans, in effort led by Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), are deadest on quickly passing a large, singular bill. If House Republicans can pass the budget resolution on the floor later this month, they could a fend off a challenge from the Senate to determine the budget strategy.

That challenge comes from Senate Republicans led by Senate Budget Chair Lindsey Graham (R-SC). Senate Republicans, doubtful of the House’s ability to pass the bill quickly, pushed their own budget resolution out of committee, and it could come to the Senate floor later this week. Graham’s two-step strategy would leave tax cuts for later and first deliver a bill that focuses on border security, defense spending and energy policy.

Neither chamber can advance a final package until both approve an identical budget measure. House Republicans hope to utilize “reconciliation” in order avoid the Senate filibuster, which could torpedo a vote on the bill in the Senate. Afterwards, congress could send a unified final bill to the President’s desk for signature.

Johnson’s aim is to bring the House version of the bill to the floor by early April. However, swing-district Republicans may be hesitant to vote on the bill as-is. Republicans only have a two-vote majority in the House, leaving approval of the bill with little room to breathe.

To view a recording of the House markup proceedings from last Thursday, click here.

ECA will keep you updated on the budget as the situation develops. To track details on the budget fight yourself, see Politico's live updates on the matter. For more information on the Budget process, visit ECA’s website. 

Feb. 15, 2025 | IAEA

Ukrainian firefighters have been working around the clock in freezing weather to completely extinguish small fires that still smoulder after Friday’s drone strike on the building containing the remains of the reactor destroyed in the 1986 Chornobyl accident, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said today.

The IAEA team based at the site was granted unrestricted access to the site of the explosion and conducted an extensive walkdown to assess the damage to the New Safe Confinement (NSC), where the drone that struck early yesterday morning pierced a hole through the roof of the large arch-shaped structure built to prevent any radioactive release from the damaged reactor and protect it from external hazards.

The IAEA experts saw smoke coming from the NSC roof and smelled burning plastic.

The ongoing efforts to put out and prevent the spread of any remaining fires – apparently fuelled by inflammable material in the roof cladding – have delayed work to start repairing the damage to the NSC, which was completed in 2019 on top of the sarcophagus that was erected in the immediate aftermath of the accident nearly four decades ago.

Despite significant damage caused by the drone impact, the IAEA team was informed that there had been no change in the radiation levels at the site. This was also confirmed by the team’s own measurements which showed normal dose rate values near the NSC compared to those that the IAEA has recorded since it established a continuous presence at the site just over two years ago.

“This was clearly a very serious incident, with a drone hitting and damaging a large protective structure at a major nuclear site. As I have stated repeatedly during this devastating war, attacking a nuclear facility is an absolute no-go, it should never happen,” Director General Grossi said.

“It is especially concerning as it comes as we are also seeing an increase in military activity in the area around the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant. The IAEA remains committed to doing everything we can to help prevent a nuclear accident. Judging by recent events, nuclear safety remains very much under threat,” he said.

During today’s walkdown at the NSC, the IAEA team members observed that a large area had been affected by the impact of the drone strike and the subsequent blaze. The team confirmed that both the outer and inner cladding of the NSC arch had been breached, causing a hole measuring approximately six metres in diameter and also damaging some equipment as well as electrical cables. However, the structural support beams did not appear to have suffered major damage.

The IAEA team was also shown some of the drone debris remaining at the site, including parts of the wings. The damaged drone had been removed by Ukrainian specialists and taken away for further analysis.

The team was informed that the plant plans to install additional sensors for measuring dose rates and aerosol concentrations near the area impacted by the drone. However, this task cannot be carried out until the remaining fires are totally eliminated to avoid damage to the sensors.

Feb. 14, 2025 | House Committee on Energy & Commerce

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Brett Guthrie (KY-02), Chairman of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, released the following statement on the formation of the National Energy Dominance Council, led by Secretary Wright and Secretary Burgum.

“Energy security is national security. By utilizing our domestic energy resources to create baseload power, we can lower prices, secure our grid, and provide the energy needed to grow manufacturing, heat our homes, and fill our gas tanks,” said Chairman Guthrie. “The creation of this council under the leadership of Secretary Wright and Secretary Burgum is a strong step toward securing our energy future, and ensuring we have the resources necessary to meet the demands that AI will place on our grid. President Trump is continuing to fulfill his promise to the American people to return our nation to energy dominance, and I look forward to working together to achieve that goal.” 

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