Trump administration wants to un-fire nuclear safety workers but can’t figure out how to reach them

WASHINGTON — National Nuclear Security Administration officials on Friday attempted to notify some employees who had been let go the day before that they are now due to be reinstated — but they struggled to find them because they didn’t have their new contact information.

In an email sent to employees at NNSA and obtained by NBC News, officials wrote, “The termination letters for some NNSA probationary employees are being rescinded, but we do not have a good way to get in touch with those personnel.”

The individuals the letter refers to had been fired on Thursday and lost access to their federal government email accounts. NNSA, which is within the Department of Energy and oversees the nation’s nuclear stockpile, cannot reach these employees directly and is now asking recipients of the email, “Please work with your supervisors to send this information (once you get it) to people’s personal contact emails.”

The Department of Energy did not immediately respond to an NBC News request for comment.

President Donald Trump’s administration has acted with unprecedented speed — and in some cases, questionable legality — in seeking to cut large portions of the federal government, laying off staff and ending contracts. But that speed has resulted in complications, including firing people agencies actually want to keep.

The emails come after multiple staff — all civil servants — at the NNSA received termination notices late Thursday, according to a source with direct knowledge of the notifications. NBC News reviewed the termination notification, which included the subject line: “Notification of Termination During Probationary/Trial Period.”

The NNSA is tasked with designing, building and overseeing the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile.

The termination notices, which read “effective today,” came within hours of a Russian drone striking the Chernobyl power plant in Ukraine. NNSA tracks nuclear risks in Ukraine, including through sensor systems.

The NNSA saga comes as the Trump administration executed mass firings throughout the federal government this week, primarily slashing the jobs of employees categorized as “probationary.”

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Some departments saw significant numbers of layoffs, like the Department of Homeland Security, where over 400 people were told that their jobs were cut.

An NNSA nuclear safety specialist fired Thursday because she was a two-year probationary employee told NBC News she was still locked out of her email, but her manager had called to inform her that her “termination was rescinded” and to report to work on Tuesday.

“I will be honest, I intend to keep looking for work,” the employee said. “I will go back, but as soon as I find another role, I’ll be leaving.”

Asked why she will still look for employment elsewhere, she said that she has “no faith I will keep my job.”

The move comes as Trump and one of his top advisers, tech mogul Elon Musk, seek to slash the size of the federal government.

The federal cuts have been met with pushback from Democrats, labor unions and progressive organizations. More than 60 lawsuits against the Trump administration alleging executive overreach and other violations are pending.