NYT catalogs the people from NNSA who took the "fork in road" buyout. Turns out (stop me if you've heard this) DOGE really did chase out critical people. www.nytimes.com/2025/03/17/u... - ThreadSky

emptywheel.bsky.social • 4 days ago

NYT catalogs the people from NNSA who took the "fork in road" buyout.

Turns out (stop me if you've heard this) DOGE really did chase out critical people.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/17/us/politics/federal-job-cuts-nuclear-bomb-engineers-scientists.html

Comments

arijojo.bsky.social•4 days ago

🚨 NATIONAL SECURITY CRISIS 🚨 Critical nuclear experts are LEAVING — and guess what? DOGE DID THIS. Losing top talent in uranium and plutonium management = HUGE threat to national security. THIS IS INSANE. Sound the alarm — SHARE NOW! 🚨🔥

adrianmjo.bsky.social•4 days ago

Eric and Don Jr will be moved into those jobs working on the nuclear "pits".

soulofashu.bsky.social•4 days ago

Abundantly clear who the executive branch DOGE are working for.

sweet2020.bsky.social•4 days ago

So they bribed them?. Really?

This is an Edelweiss moment

I hate that schmuck.

lameep.bsky.social•4 days ago

That's unfair to say of them. They are making the smartest decision for them based on their own personal internal knowledge and observations, and many saw their long standing leadership be put in unethical positions & resigned rather than do what DOGE across all agencies. Rock vs hard place.

sweet2020.bsky.social•4 days ago

It implies being "bought out".

1tonytony.bsky.social•4 days ago

KGB Grand Master plan

mochajava13.bsky.social•3 days ago

Of all the people I want to stay in the US and employed by the government, it’s the people who know how to make nuclear warheads.

damonmast.bsky.social•4 days ago

ME-Lon has no understanding of human psychology. The people stealing as he claims are the least likely to take buyouts for the little offered. People who work hard with in-demand skills are the ones with opportunities. There aren’t many where the offer matched up with retirement date expectations.

annaeuchner.bsky.social•4 days ago

Time for a DOGE-themed exit party!

pi3832.bsky.social•4 days ago

The people with the most valuable skills are more likely to go on the job market? Who could've predicted THAT.

rogue-rider.bsky.social•4 days ago

This should be on the front page of every publication in the land‼️

oraclesean.com•3 days ago

They'll surely claim they can replace everyone with AI, at which point Grok will have nuclear capability and only Matthew Broderick's character from War Games can save us, except his contemporary is "Big Balls," and oh shit, we're all gonna die in cleansing radioactive fireballs.

jimlsilver.bsky.social•3 days ago

It should come as no surprise that the most important people had other options where they would make more money.
I've done it twice in my career. You can't disrespect employees who have options.

getoutofmyway.bsky.social•4 days ago

When your boss is a total asshole lunatic and he opens a door for you to escape through, you pretty much take it.

4purpose.bsky.social•4 days ago

Russia and China be lapping this all up, America destroying itself from the inside.

diabol.bsky.social•4 days ago

Not an accident.

auntybear.bsky.social•4 days ago

“But multiple current and former officials of the agency said the loss of staff would hobble the agency’s ability to monitor the more than 60,000 contract employees who carry out much of the agency’s work. That could encourage fraud or misuse of taxpayer dollars, rather than limit it….”

alttag.bsky.social•4 days ago

Every team I work with save one lost critical people.

Two types of people took the “fork”: a) very experienced people near retirement, b) very capable people who could easily get another job. (Two I know had a job the next day.)

Anyone less confident in the market stayed.

alttag.bsky.social•4 days ago

Don’t mistake me, good people stayed too, but the “fork” was undoubtedly a brain drain.

poweza.bsky.social•4 days ago

No worries I’m sure there is an 18 yr old racist that can take this on.

auntbunny.bsky.social•4 days ago

Just waiting for my BIL to be fired any week now. A career civil servant, former judge and federal employee who won’t back down.

douglasmontgomery.bsky.social•4 days ago

It is kind of like how the amazing physicists, rocket scientists, architectural talents, artists and intellectuals left Germany during the Nazi rise and came to support the US.
Trump will be a drain on the intellectual power of this country.
They need their voters dumb .

devokneivel.bsky.social•4 days ago

Buyouts are a quick way to lose your most marketable people.

zer0point-vids.bsky.social•4 days ago

supercritical, even

lainiew24.bsky.social•4 days ago

📌

john.muccigrosso.org•4 days ago

And as usual the headlines downplays the whole thing. It’s not even clear what it means.

marcellograz.bsky.social•4 days ago

DOG(E)S are rabid.

metrochimp.bsky.social•3 days ago

Aktul-ly, we don't need no stinkin' Energy Department!

The world is now social, not physical and it runs on mimetic desire, not energy, so power can be harnessed as Bitcoin™!!!

padraigpostal.bsky.social•4 days ago

Who would possibly need these people?

sweetiesue1111.bsky.social•4 days ago

Yeah but i heard Trump appointed the lady who does his spray tan for the top job sooo... I feel so much better now.

zapitron.bsky.social•4 days ago

Seems reasonable. Why _wouldn't_ Putin want these people gone?

diary-of-a-madman.bsky.social•3 days ago

Still makes me wonder how hard our so-called enemies are trying to get them to work there.

woit.bsky.social•4 days ago

If you only knew how happy Putin and Xi are to see how small America is becoming! 🤏🤔

goodtsis.bsky.social•4 days ago

A NOTE TO DEMS/MEDIA, PLS MAKE YOUR TAG LINE “AND EXACTLY WHO IS WATCHING ELON MUSK???” He’s in charge of all these depts w/the only oversight being Trump?AMERICANS CAN UNDERSTAND THAT! Trump’s motive is about the scam: $$ & power. We do not need to ask why Trump is deferential to Putin. We know!

pink-leninade.bsky.social•4 days ago

I used to work for NNSA. Many employees that work(ed) there have been there for a VERY long time and have highly, HIGHLY specific skills and knowledge that’s just irreplaceable. The ramifications of people like this being kicked out of the agency are going to be felt for years if not decades.

gardenofangels.bsky.social•3 days ago

📌

in-zeus-i-trust.bsky.social•4 days ago

If things continue to get worse, I can assure you that we will have a nuclear war between us, French, and the EU (the European Union), in general, against Nazi America. Canada will ask for our help. So I suggest that, if you can escape, find shelter, do it, or prepare for it...

lealeander.bsky.social•4 days ago

It's all too weaken us. Make it easier for Russia to take over.

sarafinasings.bsky.social•3 days ago

At least Mr. Fowler is still working with the good guys.

rimbrakemonkey.bsky.social•3 days ago

the people who take buyouts are always the people who are burnt out from overwork, are about to retire, or have another job immediately at hand

russmanheimer.bsky.social•4 days ago

Follow the benefit.

malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social•4 days ago

2 groups of workers most likely to not return to government service: those eligible to retire (the highly experienced) and those who easily find other jobs (the highly qualified). Which anyone could have predicted if they had thought about this “strategy” for more than 15 seconds

epvh.bsky.social•4 days ago

Competent people don’t want to deal with bullshit around doing their jobs. Shocker.

frenchfont.bsky.social•4 days ago

No! Shut the front door!
Who could have seen this coming?

skarthi64.bsky.social•4 days ago

Chinese and Russian intelligence agencies must be salivating.

holgapro.bsky.social•4 days ago

#DeporttheNazi

voceofreason.bsky.social•4 days ago

Great opportunity for europe to hire some experts, now that they will need to scale up their nuclear weapons program.

happycat11.bsky.social•3 days ago

Draconian management "initiatives" usually cause people with marketable skills to leave. This is nothing new. I've seen it many times over many decades.

deaconblues24.bsky.social•4 days ago

And Comrade Vladimir is very happy.

expatsy.bsky.social•4 days ago

Holy shit

wgez.bsky.social•4 days ago

US going through a huge "brain drain" as a result of Trump that will impact decades of work.

safeguard2.bsky.social•4 days ago

Got to look at this whole thing as a games out already planed scenario. They set this in motion a long time ago. The “family” from Paul Ryan comments about Putin paying trump.

Wake up.

https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/bigbangtheory/images/4/4c/Tri_dimensional_chess.png/revision/latest?cb=20210515233411

njbrpe.bsky.social•3 days ago

Hmm

Firing will be followed by hiring when the loss is apparent

The real question, who is hiring whom?

Who will step up for the uncertainty that will still remain after this admin, if it goes?

What will motivate the prospective employee?

FSB has ideas

drgeophysics.bsky.social•4 days ago

Excellent work. It turns out that was the plan eh? The federal agencies this was initially focused on gave the game away. Eight month paid vacations with benefits to weaken American capabilities and hard/soft power; mission accomplished.

jfohatesmaga.bsky.social•4 days ago

Surprise surprise but did they get the $?

bethafus.bsky.social•3 days ago

It’s possible the former LANL director who took a position at NATO, will be able to help “things”
better from the NATO office. I’m I’ll-informed but hopeful.
In related news I expect NM to be flipped in ‘26. Just a novice opinion but I live here. And I’m watching.

bethafus.bsky.social•3 days ago

“ill-informed”

marcymouse.bsky.social•4 days ago

Did these people even receive any recompense for walking or was this the sham we think it is???

meeper444.bsky.social•4 days ago

Imagine the vetting it took to get these people cleared for this kind of work? If they found a potential candidate tomorrow it would take what, six months or a year to get them in place?

deehellcat.bsky.social•4 days ago

Vetting? Ha. rump would throw some teen punk employee of mush's in there and his congress will roll over and let him.

lealeander.bsky.social•4 days ago

The only vetting is " do you love trump as much as I love trump?"

sybilltrelawney.bsky.social•3 days ago

Putin is pleased by this result.

donh-----2.bsky.social•4 days ago

Don't worry, Cadet Dumbass will hire someone that'll tell him he's doing a great job. 😬

dugsong.com•4 days ago

This is horrific. They also help track nuclear fissile material around the world that isn’t ours (NSDD), preventing the development and potential use of dirty bombs against the US.

fridayharbor.bsky.social•4 days ago

A brain drain from America? WTF?

webofevil.bsky.social•4 days ago

This is a great example - despite the decent journalistic legwork being done - of why the NYT is ultimately dogshit: it will run an article detailing these disastrous actions but then conclude soothingly that it all just amounts to a "bold new vision".

admiralcynicism.bsky.social•4 days ago

What are you talking about? The article lists all the issues, doesn't pull any punches, and then ends by stating the difficulty of a specific role and how do you find someone to do it as an example to end the article. Are you high? Are they supposed to write IN ALL CAPS!!!! For emphasis?

webofevil.bsky.social•4 days ago

At this point, why not. For every one of these good pieces of journalism they run, seemingly for plausible deniability, they undercut it by running more articles, opinion pieces, editorials etc designed to downplay, de-escalate, soothe and normalise.

webofevil.bsky.social•4 days ago

The NYT might as well end every article detailing this national-scale destruction with a Seinfeld-esque "Not that there's anything wrong with that!"

cscolbert.bsky.social•3 days ago

tartan37.bsky.social•4 days ago

There are so many things that are never going to come back or if they do, it’ll take longer than the next Democratic president can achieve… I could blame Trump, but the GOP is the true enemy of the people

skarthi64.bsky.social•4 days ago

Looking directly at you, Mitch McConnell

donh-----2.bsky.social•3 days ago

Count every bootlicker.😠

egoode.bsky.social•4 days ago

It will take DECADES to undo the damage DOGE has done to the country.

And some will never be undone.

And it will cost us TRILLIONS.

sallyny.bsky.social•4 days ago

Just finished reading that one. People have no idea, do they, of the investment that needs to be made in someone who has the absolute highest security clearance ever. [The security clearance level for which none of the Trump admin could ever be approved to achieve.]
Our country's heroes. Gone.

alttag.bsky.social•3 days ago

For the viewers at home: the investigation for TOP SECRET relies on multiple agencies and takes about a year from start to adjudication.

Imagine that even after hiring someone, they can’t even access part of their job for the first twelve months.

Comments

Posting Rules

Reply