The Energy Department identifies thousands of nonessential positions at risk of DOGE cuts

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The Energy Department identifies thousands of nonessential positions at risk of DOGE cuts

2025-04-05 03:41 Last Updated At：03:51

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Energy Department has identified thousands of federal workers it deems "nonessential” and would not be protected if there is another round of large-scale firings, according to a document obtained by The Associated Press.

The jobs at risk include more than 8,500 positions across the Energy Department and the National Nuclear Security Administration — which upgrades and maintains the nation's nuclear warheads. The department identified them as eligible to be cut to meet the goals of President Donald Trump’s executive order for mass reductions in federal employees.

It was not clear if every position identified as nonessential would be eliminated. All federal agencies had until March 13 to identify what departments and positions could be consolidated in a planning process to streamline the agencies and ready them for potential “large scale reductions in force,” Trump’s Feb. 26 order directed.

Asked if large-scale firings are coming, the Energy Department, through spokesperson Ben Dietderich, said multiple plans are being considered and no final decisions have been made.

Sen. Patty Murray of Washington and Rep. Marcy Kaptur of Ohio said gutting the department would raise energy costs for families and businesses, slow innovation and put national and global security at risk.

“It is extremely concerning that the department is reportedly considering firing the very experts tasked with maintaining a safe, secure and reliable nuclear weapons stockpile,” the two Democrats said in a joint statement to The Associated Press. “These dangerous cuts should not transpire. We call for this foolishness to be set aside.”

There are about 17,500 federal positions within the department, which has a wide range of responsibilities beyond those for nuclear weapons. It also operates hydroelectric dams, cleans up contaminated radioactive waste sites, maintains and modernizes the power grid and provides grants for things like home weatherization. Only 9,004 of those positions were deemed essential, according to the document.

The majority of the employees within the National Nuclear Security Administration were deemed essential, according to the document. The majority of the national labs operated by the Energy Department are run by contractors and also would not be affected.

In February, the Trump administration ended up scrambling to reinstate hundreds of National Nuclear Security Administration employees who were laid off by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency after it became apparent many were directly supporting nuclear weapons management.

About 3,000 employees at the Energy Department work directly for the nuclear security agency, which manages national security complexes nationwide where nuclear weapons material and warhead components are stored and refurbished to maintain the nuclear weapons stockpile.

According to the document, about 500 positions at the nuclear security agency and about 8,000 jobs across the Energy Department were deemed nonessential. Some of those have already been reduced through deferred resignations.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright has said the department grew too big during the Biden administration in the last four years and now he’s right-sizing it. He acknowledged publicly that it was a mistake to lay off the nuclear security agency workers in February.

Unlike some of the other federal agencies where cuts have left a deep impact on employment in the national capital region, much of the Energy Department's workforce is scattered throughout the country in different energy sectors.

An earlier round targeted probationary employees but was thrown out by a federal judge.

Stocks quake after Trump threatens to escalate tariffs despite seeing how much Wall Street hates it

2025-04-08 03:25 Last Updated At：03:30

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are careening through a manic Monday after President Donald Trump threatened to crank his tariffs higher, despite a stunning display from Wall Street showing how dearly it wants him to do the opposite.

The S&P 500 was down 0.8% in late trading, but only after a shocking day of heart-racing reversals as battered financial markets try to figure out what Trump’s ultimate goal is for his trade war. If it’s to get other countries to agree to trade deals, he could lower his tariffs and avoid a possible recession. But if it’s to remake the economy and stick with tariffs for the long haul, stock prices may need to fall further.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 563 points, or 1.5%, with a little less than an hour remaining in trading, while the Nasdaq composite was 0.6% lower.

All three indexes started the day sharply lower, and the Dow plunged as many as 1,700 points following even worse losses worldwide on worries that Trump's tariffs could torpedo the global economy. But it suddenly surged to a gain of nearly 900 points. The S&P 500, meanwhile, went from a loss of 4.7% to a leap of 3.4%, which would have been its biggest jump in years.

The sudden rise followed a false rumor that Trump was considering a 90-day pause on his tariffs, one that a White House account on X quickly labeled as “fake news.” Stocks then turned back down. That a rumor could move trillions of dollars' worth of investments shows how much investors are hoping to see signs that Trump may let up on tariffs.

But soon after that, Trump threatened to raise tariffs further against China after the world's second-largest economy retaliated last week with its own set of tariffs on U.S. products.

It’s a slap in the face to Wall Street, not just because of the sharp losses it’s taking, but because it suggests Trump may not be moved by its pain. Many professional investors had long thought that a president who used to crow about records reached under his watch would pull back on policies if they sent the Dow reeling.

On Sunday Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that he does not want markets to fall. But he also said he wasn’t concerned about a sell-off, saying “sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something.”

Trump has given several reasons for his stiff tariffs, including to bring manufacturing jobs back to the United States, which is a process that could take years. Trump on Sunday said he wanted to bring down the numbers for how much more the United States imports from other countries versus how much it sends to them.

Still, indexes kept swerving between losses and gains Monday, even after Trump threatened to raise his tariffs, because hope still remains in markets that negotiations may still come.

“Could things get worse? Of course they could," said Nate Thooft, a senior portfolio manager at Manulife Investment Management. “We’re not calling the all-clear at all, but when you have this type of volatility in the market, of course you're going to have back and forth” in markets not just day to day but also hour to hour.

“We’re all waiting for the next bit of information,” he said. “Literally a Truth Social tweet or an announcement of some sort about real negotiations could dramatically move this market. This is the world we live in right now.”

All that seems to be certain is that the financial pain hammered investments around the world on Monday, the third straight day of steep losses after Trump announced tariffs in his “Liberation Day.”

Stocks in Hong Kong plunged 13.2% for their worst day since 1997. A barrel of benchmark U.S. crude oil dipped below $60 during the morning for the first time since 2021, hurt by worries that a global economy weakened by trade barriers will burn less fuel. Bitcoin sank below $79,000, down from its record above $100,000 set in January, after holding steadier than other markets last week.

Nike dropped 4% for one of the larger losses on Wall Street. Not only does it sell a lot of shoes and apparel in China, it also makes much of it there. Last fiscal year, factories in China made 18% of its Nike brand footwear. Vietnam made 50%, and Indonesia made 27%.

Trump’s tariffs are an attack on the globalization that’s remade the world’s economy, which helped bring down prices for products on the shelves of U.S. stores but also caused production jobs to leave for other countries.

It also adds pressure on the Federal Reserve. Investors have become nearly conditioned to expect the central bank to swoop in as a hero by slashing interest rates during downturns.

But the Fed may have less freedom to act this time around because the conditions are so much different. That's cheifly because inflation is higher at the moment than the Fed would like. And while lower interest rates can goose the economy, they can also put upward pressure on inflation. Expectations for inflation are already swinging higher because of Trump’s tariffs, which would likely raise prices for anything imported.

“The recent tariffs will likely increase inflation and are causing many to consider a greater probability of a recession,” JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, one of the most influential executives on Wall Street, wrote in his annual letter to shareholders Monday. “Whether or not the menu of tariffs causes a recession remains in question, but it will slow down growth.”

In the bond market, Treasury yields rallied Monday to recover some of their sharp drops from earlier weeks. Some of the big move may have been because of reduced expectations for cuts to interest rates by the Fed. Some analysts also said it could be due to investors outside of the United States wanting to pare their U.S. investments.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury jumped to 4.14% from 4.01% late Friday.

Earlier in the day, the S&P 500 briefly fell more than 20% below its record set less than two months ago. If it finishes a day below that bar, it would be a big enough drop that Wall Street has a name for it. A “bear market” signifies a downturn that’s moved beyond a run-of-the-mill 10% drop, which happens every year or so, and has graduated into something more vicious.

The S&P 500, which sits at the heart of many investors’ 401(k) accounts, is coming off its worst week since COVID began crashing the global economy in March 2020.

Kurtenbach reported from Bangkok. McHugh reported from Frankfurt, Germany. Associated Press writers Ayaka McGill, Paul Harloff, Matt Ott and Jiang Junzhe also contributed.