The US Energy Department has identified 8,500 jobs as “non-essential” — including positions that oversee the nation’s stockpile of nuclear weapons — as it prepares to cut employees in response to a mandate from Elon Musk’s government efficiency team.
Those “non-essential” roles account for about half of the department’s 17,500 positions and could be targeted in upcoming layoffs, according to a document seen by Bloomberg News. The list includes positions across the department, including the National Nuclear Security Administration.
The Energy Department is conducting an agency-wide review of its organizational structure at the behest of President Donald Trump, who has empowered Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency to identify ways to cut costs and downsize the federal workforce. Every agency has been directed to come up with plans to cull their staffs.
“No final decisions have been made and multiple plans are still being considered,” the department said in a statement.
According to the document, 500 out of 3,000 positions at the National Nuclear Security Administration were deemed non-essential.
The Associated Press first reported on the document.
The agency earlier this year drew alarm after abruptly firing hundreds of workers responsible for designing and maintaining the nation’s cache of nuclear weapons, before reversing course.
Earlier: Fired Nuclear Bomb Specialists Recalled by Energy Department
The Energy Department has a sprawling mission from overseeing the nation’s cache of emergency oil to protecting the power grid from cyberthreats. Nearly 1,300 staff have already been put on administrative leave after accepting deferred resignation offers. The agency has also cut 555 probationary workers, the document shows.
Congressional Democrats, including Senator Patty Murray of Washington and Representative Marcy Kaptur of Ohio, said cutbacks at department imperil national security.
“Arbitrary staffing cuts across the Department of Energy would recklessly jeopardize its ability to fulfill its mission,” the lawmakers said in a statement. “Gutting the department will raise energy costs for American fa