It would be funny in, say, an Austin Powers movie, but a mad, weekend-long race to rehire hundreds of recently fired security-cleared experts needed to keep America’s nuclear systems safe wasn’t a joke.

The Trump administration has halted the firings of hundreds of federal employees who were tasked with working on the nation’s nuclear weapons programs.

The US government is trying to rehire nuclear safety employees it had fired on Thursday, after concerns grew that their dismissal could jeopardise national security, US media reported. The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) workers were among hundreds of employees in the energy department who received termination letters.