Credit: Getty.
According to an official within the Department of Energy, this past Friday, the President-elect’s team instructed the head of the National Nuclear Security Administration and his deputy to clean out their desks when Trump takes office on January 20th.
The NNSA is the $12 billion-a-year agency that “maintains and enhances the safety, security, and effectiveness of the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile.” It’s unclear when the two officials will be replaced.
[…]
Trump, however, appears determined to immediately push out everyone who was appointed by Obama, regardless of whether or not he has anyone in line for the job. Or, as our source put it: “It’s a shocking disregard for process and continuity of government.”
Just as with Obama’s soon-to-be-removed international envoys, Trump has ordered Under Secretary for Nuclear Security Frank Klotz and his deputy, Madelyn Creedon—both Obama appointees—to leave their posts, even if it means no one is in charge of maintaining the country’s nuclear weapons. According to our Energy Department source, Trump’s team has yet to nominate anyone to succeed them. Since both positions require Senate confirmation, if could be months before their chairs are filled. And the vacancies may extend beyond the leadership roles.
“There are scores more appointees within the department,” our source told us. “Secretarial and administration appointments that don’t require Senate confirmation, mostly performing policy, liaison, and strategic advisory capacities in support of the agency they’re at. They serve at the will of the head of their agency. Those people are, theoretically, also out on inauguration day unless otherwise directed, which hasn’t happened yet to my knowledge.”
The source later added, “I’m more and more coming around to the idea that we’re so very very fucked.”
Yes, we certainly are fucked. Probably much more than we know. A government run on spite. That ought to work out just great. Fuck.
Well, Trump is a typical american businessman. That means, his modus operandi is to skim on safety measures, cut corners on material, underpay the workers and devaluate know-how. And when the system is close to collapse (but not obviously collapsing yet), sell it to someone who has to deal with the damage.
Only USA is not a company he will find easy to flog to someone else just before the collapse. There will not be many willing buyers.
The hubris and depravity of Trump. The guy is Idi Amin and Fulgencio Batista with nukes, that he’ll mismanage.
Maybe that is deliberate to put pressure on the Senate to accept whoever Trump and his fellow brigands put forward. The first and worst pick might still be marginally better than having noone to run critical offices. Someone to sign the paperwork that gets things moving again -- and then hope the lower echelons are competent enough to cope with a manic muppet at the top.
Just like to repeat this here, esp. in light of the nuclear post.
…
I thought I was posting that somewhere else.
I’m sorry, it’s morning and the dismantling of the NNSA freaked me out -- freaks me out -- a lot.
BUt don’t expect our dear European leaders to demand that the US nukes be removed from our territory.
First I thought that Trumps proven incompetence at anything would kind of save us from the worst, but it looks like the old saying “I smiled because it could be worse and it got worse” is proving its truth once more.
Or possibly a deliberate and typical new-CEO style trick to see if these people are needed at all. I’ve worked at more than one place where an axe-wielder came in and fired several top managers, then replaced them when the wheels came off. The significant thing, though, is that usually in at least half the cases the wheels don’t come off, and it turns out that the people at the top on the big money were in fact surplus to requirements and their subordinates turn out to be perfectly capable of running the department… on less money. Obviously this works fine if your business is mixing paint and the deadwood you suddenly don’t have is the commercial director. When your business is nuclear safety… maybe not so much.
I would go so far as to say that we are fucked bigly.
Yuge, even.
--