DOE Secretary: NNSA to furlough nuclear weapons workers, NM impact unclear - Danielle Prokop, Source New Mexico
National Nuclear Security Administration employees could face layoffs as soon as Friday if the federal shutdown continues, U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in an Oct. 16 appearance on Bloomberg TV, a message he reiterated to USA Today.
Following publication of this story, a Department of Energy spokesperson confirmed the furloughs to Source NM in a statement reading:
“Due to the Democrat shutdown, approximately 1,400 NNSA federal employees will be furloughed as of Monday, October 20th and nearly 400 NNSA federal employees will continue to work to support the protection of property and the safety of human life. NNSA’s Office of Secure Transportation remains funded through Oct. 27, 2025.”
The statement also said Wright would appear in Las Vegas, Nevada on Monday to further address the issue.
“We have not furloughed anyone yet, but we will be out of funds by tomorrow or early next week. So we will be forced to do that if this shutdown continues,” Wright said on Bloomberg. “We’ve been paying them to date, but starting tomorrow, Monday at the latest, we’re not going to be able to pay those workers, if that continues on for long, they may get other jobs,” Wright, putting the “the sovereignty of the country,” at stake.
The NNSA is a section of DOE that oversees the nation’s nuclear stockpile and development of nuclear weapons and waste, including programs for Sandia National Laboratories, Los Alamos National Laboratory and other programs such as nuclear disposal near Carlsbad.
U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Alabama), who chairs the House Armed Services Committee, underscored the message Friday morning during a U.S. House of Representatives news conference, when he said he had been told the NNSA would furlough most of the staf— about 80% of employees.
“We were just informed last night, the National Nuclear Security Administration, the group that handles the nuclear stockpile, that the carryover funding they’ve been using is about to run out,” he said Friday. “…These are not employees that you want to go home. They are managing and handling a very important strategic asset for us. They need to be at work and being paid,” he said.
He also told CBS News that the NNSA told his office the agency would place roughly 1,400 employees on furlough and 375 would continue to work.
Neither Wright nor other officials have said where furloughs will occur.
A spokesperson for Los Alamos National Laboratory told Source via an emailed statement that LANL “has funds in place to continue operations. We focus on maintaining the safety and security of our employees and facilities.”
An automatic response from Sandia National Laboratories stated that they are “open and employees are reporting for work. The Labs will operate in the short-term using unspent funding.”
In a statement, Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) said the DOE had not provided any information on site-specific impacts, but called Wright’s comments an “excuse.”
“In New Mexico and across the country, workers at our National Labs or other defense-related facilities are crucial for our national security. At this time, LANL and Sandia continue to operate at full capacity to deliver the cutting-edge research, technologies, and capabilities that keep our nation safe,” Luján said in a statement to Source NM. “Now, Secretary Wright and the Trump administration have used the government shutdown as an excuse to threaten these critical jobs. Secretary Wright and the Trump administration must prioritize this vital workforce to protect our national security.”
Requests for comment from other members of New Mexico’s congressional delegation remained pending Friday. This story will be updated if needed.
In a statement Friday afternoon, Rep. Melanie Stansbury called the NNSA furloughs “a dangerous political move that puts national security and American lives at risk.”
She further said: “While Sandia National Labs in Albuquerque can maintain operations for now, prolonged NNSA furloughs will directly impact New Mexico’s labs and compromise our national security. These career professionals are essential to both our safety and economy. This shutdown must end. I urge my Republican colleagues to reopen the House and negotiate in good faith—to protect our labs, our security, and the healthcare of families across our state and nation.”
Phone lines for media contacts at Sandia National Laboratories and local NNSA offices all had out-of-office messages, and deferred further comments about the shutdown to the U.S. Department of Energy press office.
The lack of information about furloughs and the shutdown is “dispiriting,” Dylan Spaulding, the senior scientist in the Global Security Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists, a nonprofit science advocacy group, told Source NM Friday.
“It conveys that the NNSA and Department of Energy are not reliable employers,” he said. “I think the best and greatest scientists in particular will move to opportunities elsewhere. The danger is, once those people are lost, they never come back, so even if the furloughs stop, even if the shutdown ends, funding is resumed, you’ve done some irreparable damage.”
Local anti-nuclear groups said the furlough was contradictory to the administration’s push to develop nuclear power and weapons.
“I think this is mostly theatrical and designed to bring Democrats to the bargaining table,”Greg Mello, the executive director of nuclear nonproliferation nonprofit Los Alamos Study Group, said. ”However, if NNSA’s unspent balances are not in the categories they need, they may well have to furlough people, and they might even furlough people as part of the theater.”
Don Hancock, director of the Nuclear Waste Safety program at the Southwest Research and Information Center, criticized the “lack of transparency” from the federal government about what impacts this may have on nuclear weapons stockpiles and waste work in New Mexico.
“What I don’t understand is why this shutdown is so different from the 35-day one in the first Trump administration when they didn’t get rid of 80% of the NSA folks,” Hancock said.
Security guard arrested in fatal shooting of shoplifter at Spirit Halloween store - Nakayla McClelland, Albuquerque Journal
A security guard was arrested after allegedly shooting and killing a man who took $90 worth of merchandise from a Halloween store in Northeast Albuquerque on Thursday evening.
Josiah Armijo, 25, was arrested and charged with second-degree murder Friday in the death of 41-year-old Chase Beltramo. He was booked into the Metropolitan Detention Center and does not yet have an attorney.
Armijo’s wife confirmed he had been working as a security guard for New Mexico Security Services LLC for “a long time.”
“I don’t know how it could have occurred, but I know he’s a good man,” she said.
The manager of the security company, Kathy Mauldin, declined to comment Friday morning.
Officers were dispatched to the Spirit Halloween on Carlisle NE at Indian School around 5 p.m. Thursday following reports of a homicide. Upon arrival, police saw Beltramo with a gunshot wound to the chest, according to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court.
Security camera footage from the store showed Beltramo place $90 worth of merchandise in his basket before walking out of the store, the complaint states. Armijo chased Beltramo out to the parking lot and tackled him to the ground.
“The man, who was not armed with a weapon, attempted to get up, but Armijo threw him back on the ground without giving any commands,” Gallegos said.
Footage from the store camera showed Armijo punch Beltramo before he grabbed his gun and pointed it at the man while yelling, “Don’t (expletive) move, I’ll (expletive) shoot you,” according to the complaint.
Armijo holstered his gun, got on top of Beltramo and pepper sprayed him in the face, the complaint states. The man rolled onto his back and Armijo put away his pepper spray and drew his gun again.
Beltramo fought with Armijo and pulled him to the ground, got on top of him and appeared to punch Armijo, Gallegos said. A shot was heard on the surveillance video and the men continued to fight.
Two more shots were heard and footage showed Beltramo fall to the ground, according to the complaint. Armijo used his radio to report that shots were fired and he needed help.
“Detectives, working with the District Attorney’s Office, determined that Armijo had probable cause to stop the man for stealing the items from the store,” Gallegos said. “But he was charged with second-degree murder because he did not have the necessary need for deadly force.”
It is not the first time Armijo has faced charges related to his actions as a security guard. Armijo is awaiting trial on a misdemeanor battery charge in a Sept. 23 incident.
In that case, a man told police he was exiting a Dollar Tree at 120 98th NW, near Central, when Armijo told him to leave the property, according to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court.
“At one point the security guard ‘chest bumped’ him while trying to force him to leave the property,” the complaint states.
Police spoke to Armijo’s supervisor, who said that Armijo told him about the altercation but said no physical contact had been made, according to the complaint.
Officers spoke with Armijo, who said the incident was only verbal and the two had been “talking (expletive) to one another,” the complaint states.
Prosecutor Aaron Mitchell said he does not know if he will seek a pretrial detention for Armijo in the homicide case but Mitchell does believe he should not be allowed to possess a firearm.
“I think the safest thing for this community would be for him to never be able to possess a firearm again or be a security guard because we’re looking at two cases less than a month apart where he’s exhibiting violence throughout the course of his job,” he said.
New Mexico Supreme Court takes up case with McKinley County District Attorney - KOB-TV
The New Mexico Supreme Court issued an order on Friday accepting jurisdiction in a case calling for the removal of McKinley County District Attorney Bernadine Martin.
KOB-TV reports before the New Mexico Supreme Court could consider the issue of Martin's removal, it first has to establish its authority to rule on the case.
New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez is calling for Martin’s removal. The New Mexico Department of Justice claims Martin “repeatedly failed, neglected or refused” to do her job properly.
The Court also issued a separate order on Friday, directing all parties to weigh in on whether the Court should consider allegations of misconduct outside of Martin’s current term for her removal.
NM cannabis exec asks NM Supreme Court to overturn Gov’s recent line-item vetoes - Patrick Lohmann, Source New Mexico
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham crossed out several provisions in a $162 million spending package state lawmakers approved during a special session earlier this month, an act that a prominent cannabis CEO contends in a new lawsuit is unconstitutional.
Duke Rodriguez, the CEO of Ultra Health Cannabis who is publicly weighing a run for governor as a Republican, filed a lawsuit Thursday asking the New Mexico Supreme Court to undo the governor’s vetoes.
He argued that the governor striking language from House Bill 1, a spending bill lawmakers approved in early October to counteract federal funding cuts, disrupts the balance of power between the Legislature and the executive branch.
Each of the line-item vetoes “distorts legislative intent and is therefore an unconstitutional attempt by the Executive to substitute her policy-making judgment for that of the people’s elected representatives,” the lawsuit alleges.
The bill awarded $12 million to the state Health Care Authority “to maintain the minimum federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefit for elders and people with disabilities.” But the governor struck the words “minimum federal.”
Rodriguez’s lawsuit argues that removing that language illegally allows the executive branch to expand SNAP benefits beyond the minimum federal requirements, which was not the state Legislature’s intent.
“The Governor may attempt to use funds appropriated by the Legislature to provide SNAP benefits that exceed the federal minimum, or to provide SNAP benefits to an expanded class of beneficiaries, in direct contravention of legislative intent,” Rodriguez writes in the lawsuit.
The governor also struck language regarding about $6 million aimed at replenishing funding local public broadcasters lost when Congress cut funding to the Center for Public Broadcasting. She removed requirements that the unexpended funding to the state finance and Indian Affairs departments be returned to the general fund, and she removed language requiring the funding to be spent within the next two fiscal years.
Michael Coleman, the governor’s communications director,, told Source New Mexico on Friday afternoon that Rodriguez’s attempt to speak on behalf of the Legislature’s behalf is “preposterous.”
“Mr. Rodriguez was not present for discussions with lawmakers about the budget, but he appears to be claiming knowledge of the ‘legislative intent’ of these appropriations,” he said, before noting that the Legislature passed the appropriations with broad bipartisan support. “With this lawsuit, Mr. Rodriguez is advocating to take food off the tables of New Mexican families that need it most.”
In an Oct. 3 statement Lujan Grisham published detailing the vetoes, she said they were “minor” but necessary changes to counteract “provisions that unduly constrain the Executive Department’s ability to assist New Mexicans.”
Rodriguez is seeking the court’s immediate intervention to determine the constitutional limits of the governor’s line-item veto power. He argues that he has standing to bring the lawsuit as a private citizen because the “separation of powers is an issue of substantial public importance.”
Jacob Candelaria, a former state senator, is representing Rodriguez in court. Candelaria was a Democrat until his last year in office 2022, when he changed his party designation to “Decline to state.”
He successfully sued Lujan Grisham in 2021 over a similar allegation of the governor usurping the Legislature’s spending power. He argued that lawmakers, not the governor, should be in charge of distributing hundreds of millions of dollars in federal pandemic funding.
California man charged with trespassing after Rio Grande Gorge Bridge rescue - Santa Fe New Mexican
A man who was rescued from the Rio Grande Gorge last week, after sheriff's deputies say he became trapped for hours under a ledge while hiking in search of a hot spring, now faces a charge of criminal trespassing.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reports that Casey Waldman, 54, of Huntington Beach, Calif., had climbed into the gorge to look for a hot spring. But, he couldn’t climb back out, and ended up stranding himself roughly 150 feet beneath the ledge.
Waldman was “cursing and irate” with deputies and the person who reported the incident, according to Taos County Sheriff Steve Miera. Deputies later charged Waldman with criminal trespassing, accusing him of illegally climbing into the gorge, which is part of the Rio Grande Gorge National Monument.
Miera said in a statement “This was an unnecessary and avoidable expenditure of County and Town resources.”
Around 1:15 p.m. Oct. 10, Taos County dispatch received a call reporting a man had fallen into the gorge near West Rim Trail on the west side of the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge. The Taos Fire Department, Taos County Fire and Rescue and the Taos County Sheriff’s Office responded to the incident.
The gorge’s steep terrain posed complicated challenges to the rescue operation. Taos County Fire and Rescue Lt. Isaac Varela said first responders spent about 20 minutes determining the safest way to reach Waldman.