President Donald Trump is cleaning house at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), firing a Democrat commissioner who is now claiming the move was illegal.
This action is part of the president’s broader strategy to assert control over government agencies that have operated as independent rogue agencies.
President Trump removed Christopher Hanson from the commission, reasserting presidential authority over executive branch agencies.
The White House made no apologies for the decision, and spokesperson Anna Kelly defended the president’s constitutional prerogative to manage his administration effectively.
“All organizations are more effective when leaders are rowing in the same direction,” Kelly stated.
She added that the President “reserves the right to remove employees within his own Executive Branch who exert his executive authority.”
Hanson was originally nominated by President Trump in 2020 but was later elevated to chair by Joe Biden in 2021.
Hanson was then demoted from the chairmanship earlier in President Trump’s second term when David Wright was appointed to lead the commission.
Now, the president has completed the process by removing Hanson entirely from the five-member panel.
The move comes after a May Supreme Court decision that strengthened presidential authority over independent agencies.
For decades, these agencies have operated with little accountability to elected officials, often pursuing their own agendas regardless of administration priorities or the will of American voters.
In response, Democrats are crying foul. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse, Martin Heinrich, and Patty Murray released a statement.
They claimed, “In removing NRC Commissioner Hanson, Trump has overstepped his authority, jeopardizing U.S. nuclear leadership at a critical time. It’s hard to understand this when so much nuclear reform progress has been bipartisan.”
However, these complaints miss the bigger picture. President Trump’s action aligns with his administration’s broader goals of promoting nuclear energy development and cutting regulatory red tape.
In recent executive orders, the president has pushed for streamlining the NRC’s licensing decisions to support nuclear power expansion as part of his “energy dominance” agenda.
According to agency spokesperson Scott Burnell, the NRC will continue to function with its current four commissioners: two Republicans and two Democrats.
This balanced partisan makeup ensures fair consideration while allowing the agency to move forward with President Trump’s vision for American energy independence.
The Trump administration has emphasized the need for domestic nuclear power production, granting the energy secretary expanded authority over reactor designs and projects.
The days of independent agencies operating as a fourth branch of government beyond the control of the people’s elected representatives appear to be numbered.
