Trump And Nuclear Weapons: President-Elect To Dismiss Those In Charge Of Nukes Before Securing Replacements

President-elect Donald Trump ordered the head of the National Nuclear Security Administration and his deputy to leave their posts on Jan. 20, a Department of Energy official told Gizmodo.

Trump’s move leaves the NNSA, the agency that secures U.S. nuclear weapons, without a leader -- and it’s unclear when the officials will be replaced.

Usually those appointed by previous administrations turn in resignations, effective on noon of inauguration day. However, those is key positions, like the head of the NNSA, are often asked to continue serving in their roles until a replacement is found and confirmed by the Senate. (For President Barack Obama’s first term and into part of his second, the NNSA Administrator remained a Bush appointee.)

Trump instructed Under Secretary for Nuclear Security Frank Klotz and his deputy, Madelyn Creedon, whom were both appointed by Obama, to leave their posts, even if it means no one will be in charge of maintaining the nation’s nuclear weapons.

“It’s a shocking disregard for process and continuity of government,” the source told Gizmodo, adding that it could take months until the positions are filled.

The vacancies won’t prevent the agency from fulfilling its essential duties, but it will leave it without an advocate as it tries to secure a budget from congress and unable to take on new initiatives, Bob Rosner, the Co-Chair of the Science and Security Board of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists and the former director of Argonne National Laboratory, told Gizmodo.

The agency usually defends its new budget to congress during the first few months after a new president takes over, which means the NNSA won’t be able to do that now that it is leaderless. That is a stumble for Trump, since he promised to expand the country’s nuclear capacity.

Rosner noted that Trump’s promised expansion is “a perfect example of Trump basically being clueless.”

“He didn’t understand that we have a refurbishment program,” Rosner told Gizmodo. “He didn’t understand that, under Obama, that we’d rebuilt the entire production complex. So exactly what he would mean by ‘strengthening the nuclear program,’ it’s a bit of a mystery. I don’t know what he’s talking about. We’ve done it already.”