Trump administration reverses on plan to close nuclear waste site management office, Democratic senator says

The Trump administration appears to be reversing a plan to end the lease for an office that manages radioactive waste as the Trump administration seeks to cancel leases for hundreds of federal buildings.

The Department of Government Efficiency's (DOGE) website lists an Energy Department office in Carlsbad, N.M., as among the 748 leases it is terminating.

However, Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) says he spoke with the Energy Secretary Chris Wright, who told him the office will not close.

“This week, @RepGabeVasquez, @SenatorLujan, and I demanded that the Carlsbad DOE office and [Waste Isolation Pilot Plant] stay open,” Heinrich posted Thursday on the social platform X.

“I’m pleased to announce that on my call with Secretary Wright, he promised they will,” he added.

The Energy Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The office is home to workers who manage the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant — an underground storage facility for defense-related nuclear waste.

The lease is not related to the waste site itself, but rather the office of the employees who run it.

The General Services Administration (GSA), which maintains federal buildings, declined to address the specific case but provided The Hill with a statement saying it was looking to “optimize the federal footprint.”

“Acting Administrator [Stephen] Ehikian’s vision for GSA includes reducing our deferred maintenance liabilities, supporting the return to office of federal employees, and taking advantage of a stronger private/government partnership in managing the workforce of the future,” said an agency spokesperson in a written statement.

“GSA is reviewing all options to optimize our footprint and building utilization. GSA is actively working with our tenant agencies to assess their space needs and fully optimize the federal footprint, and we’ll share more information on specific savings and facilities as soon as we’re able,” the statement continued.

This is not the first time the Trump administration made a quick move to cut costs but later apparently reversed itself.

Previously, the Energy Department reportedly sought to reverse the firing of federal workers in the National Nuclear Security Administration. It was among several departments that later reinstated fired workers.

The DOGE website lists the lease cancellation as providing $810,599 in annual savings.

Wright was confirmed in a bipartisan vote last month, with Heinrich and Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) among the Democrats who voted in favor of his confirmation.

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