Senators Call for Investigation After Trump Transition Waves Off Reported Attempts to Discriminate Against Federal Employees

Press Release

Following reports that transition officials for President-elect Donald Trump requested information about civil service employees who have worked on certain climate change policies, prompting widespread outcry, U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) led a group of nine Senators in calling on the Office of Special Counsel to investigate the apparent attempt to retaliate or discriminate against federal employees. As the Senators wrote, "These requests appear to have violated long-standing federal laws designed to protect civil servants against coercion for partisan purposes."

Reports last week showed that the Trump transition team had submitted a questionnaire to the Department of Energy requesting "…a list of all Department of Energy employees or contractors who have attended any Interagency Working Group on the Social Cost of Carbon meetings" as well as a list of "Department employees or contractors who attended any of the Conference of the Parties (under the UNFCCC) in the last five years." Another question demands "a list of the top twenty salaried employees" at National Laboratories.

The Trump transition team's opaque response to concerns regarding the questionnaire -- indicating only that the staff member who made the request had been "properly counseled" -- only increases the need for an independent investigation to ensure that appropriate action is taken in response to any violations of federal law.

"We urge you to investigate whether this questionnaire, or any similar questionnaire being circulated by transition officials, violates federal law and to hold accountable those responsible," the Senators wrote. "We also ask that you publicly communicate to Congress clear guidance on the circumstances under which the Office of Special Counsel will investigate instances of retaliation or discrimination against career civil servants for implementing the policies of any previous administration."

The letter was signed by U.S. Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Cory A. Booker (D-NJ), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Christopher A. Coons (D-DE), and Patty Murray (D-WA).

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