Washington (AP) – President Donald Trump fired a democratic commissioner for the Federal Agency, which controls nuclear safety as he continues to uphold more control over independent regulatory agencies.
Christopher Hanson, a former chairman of the US Nuclear Regulation Commission, said on Monday, that Trump terminated his position as a NRC commissioner for no reason, “contrary to the existing law and a long -time precedent regarding the removal of the appointments appointed by the independent agency.”
Hanson’s dismissal comes when Trump seeks to take power from an independent safety agency, which regulates the US nuclear industry for five decades. Trump signed executive orders in May designed to approve the domestic production of nuclear energy within the next 25 years, targeted experts say the United States is very unlikely to reach. In order to accelerate the development of nuclear energy, the orders provide the US Secretary of Energy to approve some modern designs and designs of reactors.
White House spokesman Anna Kelly said in an email 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 in his own executive branch.”
Trump fired two of the three democratic commissioners in the Equal Opportunity Commission, an independent federal agency responsible for the implementation of federal laws that prohibit discrimination in the workplace. Two national members of the Labor Relations Council were fired in a similar move. Willie Phillips, a democratic member and former chairman of the Independent Federal Energy Regulation Committee, withdrew in April, telling reporters that the White House had asked him to do so.
Trump also signed an enforcement order to give direct control to the White House to Independent Federal Regulators such as the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Committee on Trade and the Federal Communication Committee.
The Republic of New Jersey Frank Palone, the best Democrat in the Chamber Energy and Trade Committee, called Hanson’s dismissal and another Trump attempt to undermine independent agencies and consolidate the White House power.
“Congress explicitly created the NRC as an independent agency, isolated from the whims of every president, knowing that this is the only way to guarantee the health, safety and well -being of the American people,” Palone said in a message.
The Senate Democrats also said Trump has exceeded his authority. Sens Sheldon Whitehaus, Patty Murray and Martin Heinrich said in a joint statement that Trump’s “idleness” threatens the committee’s ability to ensure that nuclear power plants and nuclear materials are safe and without political intervention.
Hanson was nominated in the Trump committee in 2020. He was appointed president Joe Biden in January 2021 and played this role until Trump entered a second term as president. Trump elected David Wright, a Republican member of the committee to serve as chairman. Hanson continued to serve NRC as a commissioner. His term of office was to end in 2029.
Wright’s term expires on June 30. The White House did not say if it would be reassigned.
Edwin Liman, Director of Nuclear Energy Safety at the Union of Interested Scientists, called Hanson a specialized civil servant and a strong supporter of the NRC Public Health and Safety Mission. Hanson’s dismissal is “Trump’s last outrageous move to undermine the agency’s independence and honesty”, which protects the country’s home from disasters from nuclear power plants, Liman said in a message.
The NRC confirmed that the Hanson service ended on Friday, leading to the group of two Democrats and two Republicans. The Commission has functioned in the past with less than the necessary five commissioners and will continue to do so, the statement said.
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McDermot reported from Providence, Ri
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