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Rachel Maddow & Pete Buttigieg skewer 'sloppy' Trump team for firing nuclear safety staff

Rachel Maddow Pete Buttigieg
MSNBC; Jeremy Bustin Photography/Shutterstock

Rachel Maddow (L); Pete Buttigieg (R)

Maddow and Buttigieg each recently ripped into DOGE for its decision to fire 350 workers at the National Nuclear Security Administration, which oversees the United States’ nuclear arsenal.


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Rachel Maddow and Pete Buttigieg aren't mincing their words when it comes to the Trump Administration's "incompetence."

The MSNBC host ripped into the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) for its recent decision to fire about 350 workers at the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), the agency that oversees the United States’ nuclear arsenal. The organization is also tasked with preventing nuclear technology from leaking or ending up on the black market, as well as keeping terrorist organizations from obtaining them, as noted by Maddow.

“Isn’t there anything about the name of that agency that might suggest to you that maybe this isn’t the best place to make cuts?" Maddow said during a segment Monday. "What about ‘National Nuclear Security Administration’ bugs you and makes you think that one is dispensable?”

The NNSA only employs around 2,000 people, hundreds of whom received notices last week that they were being terminated "effective immediately" and were instantly locked out of their government emails. After seemingly realizing the error, DOGE's acting director, Teresa Robbins, issued a memo a memo late Friday night rescinding the firings for all but 28 employees. However, many were not able to be notified that they were re-hired, as they did not have access to their email accounts.

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“By Friday, the geniuses in the Trump administration had maybe googled what this agency does or something? Maybe heard from a few members of Congress?" Maddow continued. "They tried on Friday to take it back. They tried to un-fire the hundreds of people from the National Nuclear Security Administration that they had just fired the night before. They had no way to get in touch with all those people they just fired to say, ‘Oops! Sorry! Will you please come back?'"

"This is the level of expertise and efficiency we’re dealing with, with this new administration," she added.

DOGE, which is not a real department within the executive branch, is run by Elon Musk, who was not elected and has not been confirmed by Congress. The executive branch also does not have universal power to allocate funds — that power is held by Congress through budget resolutions.

Buttigieg, the former Secretary of Transportation, also drew attention to the story on Bluesky, calling it a "shockingly sloppy episode" even for the Trump Administration.

“Even worse incompetence: they accidentally fired, then apparently today un-fired, hundreds of the people who manage America’s nuclear weapons,” Buttigieg wrote.

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