On Monday, June 16, Christopher Hanson, the former chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), stated in a release that he was “unjustifiably” removed from his position as a commissioner on the commission last Friday. Hanson expressed that this action “violates existing laws and long-standing precedents regarding the removal of appointed officials from independent agencies.”
White House spokesperson Anna Kelly responded on Monday, stating that “when leaders are working together towards a common direction, all organizations become more efficient,” and added that President Trump “retains the power to dismiss employees within the executive branch from exercising their administrative powers.”
Hanson was initially nominated by President Trump as a commissioner on the commission in 2020, and then nominated as the NRC chairman by former President Joe Biden in 2021. During his second term, Trump appointed David Wright as the NRC chairman, replacing Hanson.
At the commission’s annual regulatory conference in March, Hanson emphasized that “this agency is a two-party, five-member commission deliberately designed by Congress” to ensure it is not influenced by external factors and remains focused on “safety issues.” In his statement on Monday, he stated, “Over the past five years, my focus has always been to prepare this agency for the upcoming changes in the energy sector, while maintaining the independence, integrity, and bipartisan nature of this global nuclear safety benchmark institution.”
President Trump has been advocating for the accelerated construction of new small modular nuclear reactors under NRC oversight as part of his “energy dominance” agenda since returning to the White House. Last month, in a broad executive order aimed at strengthening nuclear energy development, he instructed the NRC to streamline its licensing decision-making process.
Independent government agencies in the United States operate independently from the federal executive branch led by cabinet secretaries. These independent agencies are established based on legislation passed by Congress, and the regulations they formulate are equivalent to federal laws.
The NRC is an independent agency responsible for the management of nuclear energy in the United States, officially commencing work on January 19, 1975. Its main responsibilities include managing the safety, operation, licensing, and renewal of nuclear reactors, nuclear materials, and nuclear waste. The commission consists of five commissioners appointed by the U.S President and confirmed by the U.S Senate, serving five-year terms, with one commissioner designated as the chairman by the President.
Since the start of his second term, President Trump has signed a series of executive orders to accelerate the development and deployment of advanced nuclear technologies, simplify regulatory processes, speed up the permitting and testing of new reactors, aiming to increase U.S. nuclear capacity fourfold by 2050. He also supports domestic nuclear fuel recycling, strengthens industrial infrastructure, and utilizes nuclear energy to achieve national security goals, including providing power for AI infrastructure and military bases.