Trump fires Democrat from independent nuclear commission

President Trump has fired the commissioner of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the latest move by the president to purge Democrats from independent agencies.

Commissioner Christopher Hanson said in a statement Monday that he was terminated Friday “without cause” and “contrary to existing law and longstanding precedent regarding removal of independent agency appointees.”

Mr. Hanson said he was notified of his termination via an email sent Friday night. The email did not include any information about why he was let go, Mr. Hanson said.

“My focus over the last five years has been to prepare the agency for anticipated change in the energy sector while preserving independence, integrity and bipartisan nature of the world’s gold standard nuclear safety institution,” Mr. Hanson said.

A White House official confirmed that Mr. Hanson no longer works at the NRC, but did not provide further comment.

In a statement, the NRC confirmed Mr. Hanson’s firing, saying it has functioned in the past with fewer than five commissioners and “will continue to do so.”

The five-member Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which oversees the safety of nuclear energy plants, had a 3-2 Democratic majority under Mr. Hanson. A Democrat, Mr. Hanson was appointed to the Commission by Mr. Trump during his first term.

President Biden had tapped Mr. Hanson to serve as chair of the commission, but Mr. Trump replaced him in the top spot during his second term, appointing David Wright to head the NRC.

Mr. Hanson criticized the president in March after Mr. Trump issued an executive order aimed at bringing independent agencies under the control of the White House.

“As a five-member bipartisan commission, the agency was deliberately structured by Congress to promote independence from outside influences that might turn the focus away from safety,” Mr. Hanson said at the NRC’s annual conference. “This was a purposeful lesson learned from the days of the Atomic Energy Commission and implemented through the creation of the NRC.”

Edwin Lyman, director of nuclear power safety at the Union of Concerned Scientists, called the firing the “latest outrageous move” from the Trump administration, saying it undermines an agency that protects the country from nuclear power plant disasters.

“The loss of such a highly knowledgeable and fair-minded individual will imperil the public from coast to coast as the White House continues to compromise the safety and security of the U.S. nuclear fleet,” Mr. Lyman said in a statement.

The move is the latest in Mr. Trump’s efforts to push Democrats out of independent agencies, including the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the National Labor Relations Board, the Merit Systems Protection Board and the Federal Trade Commission.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told The Washington Times in March that Mr. Trump has no plans to put Democrats on the traditionally bipartisan commissions or agencies.

Typically, these commissions or agencies operate independently from any one administration and often have a bipartisan structure so they are not beholden to any political party or president.

The U.S. Supreme Court in May supported Mr. Trump’s firings. In a two-page order, the high court declined to reinstate members of the National Labor Relations Board and the Merit Systems Protection Board whom Mr. Trump had fired.