Former central New York Rep. Brandon Williams testified this week in his Senate confirmation hearing to lead the National Nuclear Security Administration. Williams would be an Undersecretary in the Department of Energy.
Williams served 6 years in the military, working as a nuclear submarine engineer. During his one-term in Congress he was a member of the House Subcommittee on Energy. In this role leading the NNSA, he would be in charge of modernizing the country’s nuclear arsenal.
“My mission if confirmed by this esteemed body is to accelerate the restoration of our nuclear weapons enterprise, rebuild trust with Congress and with NNSA’s customers, the Department of Defense, Stratcom, the Department of State and others and prioritize strengthening the relationships with our nuclear assurance partners overseas,” Williams said in his opening statement.
But the bulk of the questioning during the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing didn’t focus on Williams’ background, but rather recent staffing cuts to the agency by Elon Musk’s DOGE unit.
New Hampshire Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen cited this in her questioning.
“I would hope that if you are confirmed that you would be very clear about what personnel are essential to ensuring that our nuclear stockpile is safe,” Shaheen said.
“I will advocate for the men and women of NNSA and know that they have special skills and special experience that cannot be easily replicated,” Williams said to Shaheen and other senators asking about staffing cuts.
Williams also stated he would advise against resuming explosive nuclear tests. The U.S. has not done that since 1992. Some Trump administration allies have called for the testing to restart.
