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President Donald Trump on Friday removed Nuclear Regulatory Commission member Christopher Hanson, prompting criticism from the Democrat commissioner, who called the firing unlawful and a threat to the independence of regulatory agencies.
In a statement, Hanson argued he was dismissed “without cause” and that the action was taken “contrary to existing law and long-standing precedent regarding removal of independent agency appointees.”
White House spokesperson Anna Kelly defended the decision, telling Politico that “all organizations are more effective when leaders are rowing in the same direction,” and emphasized Trump’s authority to remove personnel within his executive branch.
Hanson was initially nominated to the commission by Trump in 2020 but was later named chairman in 2021 by President Joe Biden. After returning to office, Trump named Commissioner David Wright as the new chairman earlier this year and has now moved to remove Hanson from the commission entirely.
Hanson had publicly criticized Trump’s move to exert more control over independent agencies. At the NRC’s annual regulatory conference in March, Hanson raised concerns about a Trump executive order that sought to bring independent regulatory agencies under greater White House oversight.
“As a five-member bipartisan commission, the agency was deliberately structured by Congress to promote independence from outside influences that might turn the focus away from safety,” Hanson said, according to Politico.
“This was a purposeful lesson learned from the days of the Atomic Energy Commission and implemented through the creation of the NRC,” he added.
In his statement Friday, Hanson said it had been “an honor to serve” on the commission.
“My focus over the last five years has been to prepare the agency for anticipated change in the energy sector while preserving the independence, integrity and bipartisan nature of the world’s gold-standard nuclear safety institution,” he said.
Wright was appointed chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission by President Donald Trump on Jan. 20. He was previously sworn in as a commissioner on May 30, 2018. Wright also previously served in the South Carolina House of Representatives and was the mayor of Irmo, South Carolina.
