US agency that runs nations nuclear weapons stockpile to furlough 80% of staff due to government shutdown

The agency that maintains America’s nuclear weapons stockpile is reportedly preparing to furlough about 80% of its workforce — highlighting the widening impact of the government shutdown as it enters its third week.Roughly 1,400 employees of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) — a branch of the Department of Energy — will be sent home starting Monday, with only about 375 designated as essential staff expected to remain on the job, according to a notice obtained by Politico.The furloughs come as the agency’s funding has dried up due to a budget impasse that has closed much of the federal government for 17 days — now the third-longest shutdown in US history.“The Democrat shutdown is now jeopardizing our national security,” White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers told Fox News Digital on Friday afternoon.“By refusing to pass the clean, bipartisan funding extension, the Democrats are causing funds to run out for critical programs, resulting in furloughs of personnel at the National Nuclear Security Administration who manage our nuclear stockpile.”Rogers added that the furloughs are “reckless and could be completely avoided if the Democrats simply voted to reopen the government and stopped holding the American people hostage.”Leading Democrats, however, reject the claim that they are to blame for the ongoing shutdown.“Every day that Republicans refuse to negotiate to end this shutdown, the worse it gets for Americans — and the clearer it becomes who’s fighting for them,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told Fox Digital earlier in October of the shutdown.“Each day our case to fix healthcare and end this shutdown gets better and better, stronger and stronger because families are opening their letters showing how high their premiums will climb if Republicans get their way.”The NNSA oversees the safety and reliability of the nation’s nuclear warheads, manages the Navy’s nuclear propulsion systems and leads efforts to...