WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump has dismissed a Democratic member of the federal agency that manages nuclear safety, as he moves to increase his influence over independent regulatory bodies.
Christopher Hanson, who previously served as the chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, announced on Monday that Trump removed him from his position as NRC commissioner without justification, “defying existing laws and established precedents regarding the dismissal of independent agency officials.”
Hanson’s removal is part of Trump’s strategy to reduce the autonomy of the independent safety agency, which has been overseeing the U.S. nuclear sector for the last 50 years. In May, Trump issued executive orders aimed at increasing domestic nuclear power production fourfold over the following 25 years, a target that experts believe the United States is unlikely to achieve. These orders empower the U.S. energy secretary to authorize certain advanced reactor designs and projects, facilitating the faster development of nuclear power.
White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told reporters that “all organizations are more effective when leaders are rowing in the same direction” and that the Republican president reserves the right to remove employees within the executive branch who exert his executive authority.
Trump fired two of the three Democratic commissioners at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, an independent federal agency responsible for enforcing federal laws that prohibit discrimination in the workplace. In a similar move, two National Labor Relations Board members were fired. Willie Phillips, a Democratic member and former chairman of the independent Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, stepped down in April, telling reporters that the White House asked him to do so.
Trump also signed an executive order to give the White House direct control of independent federal regulators such as the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Communications Commission.
New Jersey Rep. Frank Pallone, the top Democrat on the the House Energy and Commerce Committee, called Hanson’s firing illegal and another attempt by Trump to undermine independent agencies and consolidate power in the White House.
“Congress explicitly created the NRC as an independent agency, insulated from the whims of any president, knowing that was the only way to ensure the health, safety and welfare of the American people,” Pallone said in a statement.
Senate Democrats also said Trump overstepped his authority. Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse, Patty Murray and Martin Heinrich said in a joint statement that “Trump’s lawlessness” threatens the commission’s ability to ensure that nuclear power plants and nuclear materials are safe and free from political interference.
Hanson was nominated to the commission by Trump in 2020. He was appointed chair by President Joe Biden in January 2021 and served in that role until Trump’s inauguration to a second term as president. Trump selected David Wright, a Republican member of the commission, to serve as chair. Hanson continued to serve on the NRC as a commissioner. His term was due to end in 2029.
Wright’s term expires on June 30. The White House has not said if he will be reappointed.
Edwin Lyman, director of nuclear power safety at the Union of Concerned Scientists, called Hanson a dedicated public servant and a strong supporter of the NRC’s public health and safety mission. Firing Hanson is Trump’s “latest outrageous move to undermine the independence and integrity” of the agency that protects the U.S. homeland from nuclear power plant disasters, Lyman said in a statement.
The NRC confirmed Hanson’s service ended on Friday, bringing the panel to two Democrats and two Republicans. The commission has functioned in the past with fewer than the required five commissioners and will continue to do so, the statement said.
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McDermott reported from Providence, R.I.
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