WASHINGTON – During his opening remarks in the hearing to examine counterintelligence risks at our National Labs, U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, condemned the Trump Administration’s sweeping layoffs at the Department of Energy that are creating unmeasurable threats to our national security.

VIDEO: Heinrich Delivers Opening Remarks in Hearing to Examine Counterintelligence Risks at National Labs

“Last week the Trump Administration laid off 1,800 DOE employees. Many of our Nation’s top experts in fields essential to our economic and national security, such as critical and emerging technologies and nuclear safety, were let go,” Ranking Member Heinrich said. “President Trump is doing EXACTLY what our adversaries want. They aren’t losing their best experts, but we are. This is a national security threat that will have lasting impacts for decades to come.”

To increase our economic and national security, Ranking Member Heinrich highlighted the importance of maintaining an open environment to support scientific research and technological innovation while protecting ourselves against interference and exploitation from adversaries at home and abroad.

“The threat of foreign espionage is becoming increasingly more complex and dangerous, and we must adapt as a result…On the one hand, we must recognize and embrace that much of America’s science and technology expertise comes from abroad,” Ranking Member Heinrich continued. “The Department of Energy would not exist without the contributions of Enrico Fermi and Hans Bethe – two immigrants from World War II adversarial nations – to the Manhattan project. So we must be sure that we have strong research security safeguards in place while ensuring we can be a home to the best and brightest from around the world.” 

Ranking Member Heinrich’s full remarks as prepared for delivery are below.

Thank you, Chairman Lee.

And thank you to our expert panel of witnesses for coming to speak with us today.

As Ranking Member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and Member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, counterintelligence at our national labs is a matter that I take very seriously.

But first, I want to discuss another counterintelligence risk.

Last week the Trump Administration laid off 1,800 DOE employees.

Many of our Nation’s top experts in fields essential to our economic and national security, such as critical and emerging technologies and nuclear safety, were let go. 

These employees had top security clearances and were dismissed without following legal protocol to end their clearances.

The Trump administration is now trying to reverse course and reinstate some of these employees. But why would they want to go back after they’ve been fired? Our best experts have lost trust in the U.S. Government.

President Trump is doing EXACTLY what our adversaries want. They aren’t losing their best experts, but we are. This is a national security threat that will have lasting impacts for decades to come.

I sent a letter to the President urging the administration to halt these mass firings and I would encourage my colleagues to do the same.

Turning back to research security at our DOE national labs. This is a sensitive issue.

We want to avoid telegraphing to our adversaries details on the research our labs are doing and what security protocols our national labs take to protect it. We don’t want to give our adversaries a blueprint of any vulnerabilities.

This is why we have always discussed this issue in a classified setting, and, quite frankly, I’m disappointed to read some of the witness testimony to which we cannot appropriately respond in this venue. 

But we are here today, so let us all do our best to take care with how we have this discussion in this public setting.

Additionally, as no one on this panel is currently at DOE or any of the national labs, I think it is important that we be briefed by DOE and its Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence about how it is implementing recently passed legislation before using this hearing, or any hearing, as impetus for future legislation. 

Most people think about the Department of Energy for its Manhattan Project beginnings or work advancing energy technologies. But DOE does more than just nuclear weapons and energy.

The Department is also the largest supporter of physical scientific research in the Federal government—conducting research and developing technologies across a range of fields from artificial intelligence to vaccine development to astrophysics. 

The United States has been able to accomplish breakthroughs in space exploration, supercomputing, and the Human Genome Project, because of the work at the National Laboratories. 

We’ve been able to accomplish so much, and be the first to do so, in part because of the counterintelligence capabilities we possess that have kept our research safe and secure. 

The fact that DOE’s counterintelligence office is under the umbrella of the intelligence community is a critical asset that we must leverage and continue to strengthen.

The threat of foreign espionage is becoming increasingly more complex and dangerous, and we must adapt as a result.

When scientists or students from other countries want to come and partake in our world-class research, we must take a serious look at the security risks involved, especially individuals from countries we’ve deemed a national security concern.

On the one hand, we must recognize and embrace that much of America’s science and technology expertise comes from abroad. 

Immigrants founded or co-founded nearly half of top startups in the U.S., and international students earn 60% of our Computer Science doctorates.

And between 1901 and 2023, immigrants have been awarded 36% of the Nobel Prizes won by Americans in chemistry, medicine, and physics.

The Department of Energy would not exist without the contributions of Enrico Fermi and Hans Bethe – two immigrants from World War II adversarial nations – to the Manhattan project.

So we must be sure that we have strong research security safeguards in place while ensuring we can be a home to the best and brightest from around the world.

Striking this balance between international cooperation in science and technology and our national security is not easy.

In the CHIPS & Science Act, and more recently in the Fiscal Year 2025 Intelligence Authorization Act, we authorized bipartisan and balanced research security improvements for the Department of Energy that strengthened their capabilities in this space.

So I look forward to hearing about how Congress can best support DOE’s efforts in safeguarding our research for the sake of our country’s national security. 

However, as we all know, not all threats come from foreign entities. Thorough background checks are required before ANY individual has access to sensitive information.  

 In the past few weeks, we have seen multiple instances of staffers from the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, gain access to information systems throughout the federal government.  

We have seen instances of staff being able to access federal payments systems at the Treasury Department, as well as try to access personal details of Americans at the Social Security Administration. 

Jay Tilden, the head of DOE’s Office of Intelligence even had to remind staff that DOGE employees could not have access to SCIFs without a clearance.  

All of this is certainly concerning. 

Along with my colleagues on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, I sent a letter to the White House demanding answers regarding DOGE operations and their seemingly unfettered access to sensitive information.

These are unprecedented risks to our national security and it is paramount that we address them immediately.

With that, I yield back.