A former Republican congressman from New York was confirmed last week to lead the federal agency responsible for building, maintaining and storing America's nuclear weapons.

Former Rep. Brandon Williams, R-N.Y., inherits several sticky issues as the new administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration, or NNSA, which plays an integral role in the nation's ongoing $1.7 trillion nuclear weapons modernization effort. Williams, who was confirmed Sept. 18, will simultaneously serve in the role of Under Secretary of Energy for Nuclear Security.

The Senate confirmed Williams as part of a 48-nominee batch that Republicans changed Senate rules to approve en masse along party lines, 51-47. The NNSA had two other officials confirmed in the so-called "nuclear option" vote: new principal deputy administrator Scott Pappano and deputy administrator Matthew Napoli, who will oversee defense nuclear nonproliferation efforts aimed at preventing new countries from obtaining nuclear weapons.

The former congressman, who also served as a submarine officer in the U.S. Navy, faced criticism from Democratic senators over his qualifications and reported business ties to China ahead of his confirmation hearing in April, where Senate Armed Services Committee members grilled him about staffing issues at the agency.

Multiple challenges await the Navy vet

Williams will be tasked with addressing the NNSA's decades-long struggle to secure adequate talent to oversee its costly infrastructure projects and nuclear warhead programs.

The Trump administration, via its Department of Government Efficiency, exacerbated those chronic issues in early 2025, according to a USA TODAY investigation published in May. More than 130 employees left via DOGE's deferred resignation program, and another 300-plus were fired and then rehired in February.

The NNSA also faces an internal Energy Department review of its effort to reestablish mass production of plutonium pits, which are the explosive cores of modern nuclear weapons.

In a memo ordering the probe, the Department of Energy's No. 2 official, James Danley, said, "I have become increasingly concerned about the (NNSA's) ability to consistently deliver on nuclear weapons production capabilities needed to support the national defense of the United States."

The agency's push to restart pit production "is the largest and most complex infrastructure undertaking at NNSA since shortly after the Manhattan Project," according to Jill Hruby, a former NNSA administrator. But the effort, which Hruby estimated to cost between $28 billion and $37 billion, is years behind schedule and lacks a solid price tag, according to the Government Accountability Office.

Such cost estimating issues remain endemic, according to the GAO. The independent watchdog agency has criticized the NNSA's ability to effectively oversee the more than 60,000 contractor employees who perform most of the hands-on weapons work.

Davis Winkie's role covering nuclear threats and national security at USA TODAY is supported by a partnership with Outrider Foundation and Journalism Funding Partners. Funders do not provide editorial input.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Former GOP Rep. Brandon Williams confirmed as Trump nukes chief after 'nuclear' option

Reporting by Davis Winkie, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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