Guest essay by Eric Worrall
According to Scientific American, The US Department of Energy has refused a request from President-elect Trump’s Energy Department Transition Team for information about what their people do on their work time.
Energy Department Refuses Trump’s Request for Names on Climate Change
Trump’s transition team asked for the names of people who have worked on climate change and the professional society memberships of lab workers.
By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Energy Department said on Tuesday it will not comply with a request from President-elect Donald Trump’s Energy Department transition team for the names of people who have worked on climate change and the professional society memberships of lab workers.
The response from the Energy Department could signal a rocky transition for the president-elect’s energy team and potential friction between the new leadership and the staffers who remain in place.
The memo sent to the Energy Department on Tuesday and reviewed by Reuters last week contains 74 questions including a request for a list of all department employees and contractors who attended the annual global climate talks hosted by the United Nations within the last five years.
Energy Department spokesman Eben Burnham-Snyder said Tuesday the department will not comply.
“Our career workforce, including our contractors and employees at our labs, comprise the backbone of (the Energy Department) and the important work our department does to benefit the American people,” Burnham-Snyder said.
“We are going to respect the professional and scientific integrity and independence of our employees at our labs and across our department,” he added. “We will be forthcoming with all publicly available information with the transition team. We will not be providing any individual names to the transition team.”
He added that the request “left many in our workforce unsettled.”
…
In my opinion this outrageous response is the very epitome of a government department which is out of control. Refusing to provide information to the new administration about what staff do with their work time, to me suggests the US Department of Energy believes they are a law unto themselves – they think they are above politicians and political cycles, and intend to continue wasting money on climate programmes, regardless of what the new Trump administration wants.
I say defund the lot of them. The few important roles they perform, such as overseeing the handling of nuclear material and nuclear waste, can be transferred to other departments.
Rick Perry will kick their ass and if they don’t do what he tells them he’ll just shoot them.
“How many DoE employees does it take to change a lightbulb?”
Well, after jan. 20th, I guess they have to call in an electrician……
Someone send them the countdown clock:
https://www.timeanddate.com/countdown/generic?p0=263&iso=20170120T00&msg=Time%20left%20until%20Obama%20leaves%20office%22
I watch this clock constantly. If there is any interference in the transition timetable, I’ll be the first to know.
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Many of these new managers are from industry where mergers and take overs are common. This approach is common to their experiences. Most Feds can see the writing on the walls of this request. The memo identifies the low hanging fruit for future action. It identifies the functions closely supporting the actual MISSION of the agency. It requires justification for those further from the core. It also requires them to identify the legal foundations for their existence. Failure to do so puts their organizations on a list of POTENTIALLY redundant or non-mission critical for future action.
Future actions can be benign such as a BUDGET FREEZE, which culls projects/personnel naturally. Or it can be active by targeted cuts of budget classes (how the funding is organized). Culling is the end goal and, these employees know what is coming.
Now, there is a rule in Public Administration classes which loosely states: “you are where you sit.” This means that when Perry is the head of an DOE his normal reaction will shift to organizational defense from killing it. A perfectly normal reaction, but it does not come without potential dramatic peripheral mission shifts. DOE is not dead.
The DOE mission statement: “The mission of the Energy Department is to ensure America’s security and prosperity by addressing its energy, environmental and nuclear challenges through transformative science and technology solutions.” http://energy.gov/mission There is ample room in that statement to focus efforts, especially on PROSPERITY.
That’s ok. A non-response is a response. They’ve got less than 45 days until they can’t get away with that anymore – and they know it.
As many senior DoD officials, flag officers, and O6s have discovered over the years, travel vouchers are forever. In 90 days, or so, all will be revealed.
It’s the nature of the letter that amuses me. Their response was impertinent and a mistake. A skilled, career bureaucrat would have deflected it saying they needed more time to gather data. Some out going political appointee wrote that when they should be busy selling their house and finding a new job.
The DOE refuses to answer questions from the incoming Trump administration, a Limerick.
Department of Energy fights,
scared Perry will turn out the lights.
For it will not admit
what it does, and won’t quit.
Its chutzpah is reaching new heights. https://lenbilen.com/2016/12/14/the-doe-refuses-to-answer-questions-from-the-incoming-trump-administration-a-limerick/
Q: Which part of the Constitution authorizes the Federal government to establish a “Department of Energy”?
A: No part of the Constitution authorizes such a thing and as the 10th Amendment clearly states the Federal government has no such power.
End the DOE (and all the other unconstitutional power grabbing agencies)
To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.
— Article I, Section 8 of the United States Constitution
The Department of Energy Organization Act of 1977 (Pub.L. 95–91, 91 Stat. 565, enacted August 4, 1977),
duh
Karl–you have made this same reply (duh) several times now, but have you actually read section 8, or all of article I??? Sec 8 contains a very limited list of what congress can do, and what you quote gives them the ability to make “necessary and proper laws” to carry out that limited list of duties. Very little is “vested” by the constitution. The constitution does not give congress, nor the executive the right, or ability to rule over, or regulate anything not specifically itemized–no matter what various legislatures have done over the years, and scotus has played along with. Atthemurf is entirely correct–the constitution would have never been ratified without the group of amendments commonly known as the bill of rights. The 10th amendment,. although generally ignored, is chief among them, giving to the states all power not specifically granted to the federal government. The constitution has been “interpreted” to death, but it is written in rather plain and straight forward English, and every interpretation that gives the USG any power other than what is written is just a matter of opinion that has no legal justification in what is (should be) our rule of law. Would be nice if we could return to a constitutional republic as intended without all this “interpretive” BS, but I doubt that is possible. However, if Trump can succeed in cutting out a lot of unproductive fat from the system, so much the better for us all.
jvcstone–What you are overlooking is perhaps the most mischevious Supreme Court decision since the Slaughterhouse Cases undoing most of reconstruction, Wickard v. Filburn. It interprets the commerce clause to allow regulation of essentially all “commerce”, which includes damn near evverything. Rud Isvan is much more learned on the law, so perhaps he will comment on this thread.
Give them enough rope…….
Remember Capone was arrested on tax evasion charges.
Trump can’t fire someone just because of wrongheaded, biased studies and papers in a civil service situation; but insubordination…..?
Quite obviously the attempt to strike a noble, heroic pose by those rejecting the request are based upon the certainty that they will be replaced by the incoming administration – they realize that they are lapdogs who will no longer have a Federal govt master to pay them their obscene salaries. There is probably no need for the Trump guys to ask these people anything – there are records (which, if destroyed, could bring criminal charges against those noble fellows) and those records are public, taxpayer property, not the property of the rather ignorant fellows who are refusing to divulge them. They DO NOT belong to the Obama administration. I know these guys are stupid but I wonder if they realize the dangers they are subjecting themselves to? Loyalty to the end will play well for their future attractiveness as employees, as the Democratic Party needs all the look-no-evil, see-no-evil, hear-no-evil employees they can find. Loyalty trumps everything else for that org :
“Intelligence? We don’t need no stinking intelligence around here!”
I’m glad they feel unsettled, how many times have activist types called for (the few) honest scientists, teachers, journalists and politicians to be fired, to have their lives turned upside down for being justifiably sceptical. I sincerely hope the tables are turning, I want to see these disgraceful cowards suffering the same fate they would gladly inflict on others.
Did the request literally ask what they employees “do on their work time,” or did it specifically ask for individual names of people who participated in certain activities?
Y’know, you folks are really, really smart and I am never disappointed by the scientific content of this site’s comment sections. But you all continually disappoint me by deliberately spinning things in the same old time honored disingenuous fashion.
As Eddy Vedder once said, “If you hate something, don’t you do it, too.”
Going to UN-sponsored climate conferences would have been part of their official work-time, Christopher.
Maybe, but that wasn’t my point.
Asking broadly about the activities of a workforce is one thing, and asking specific questions about specific employees is a different thing. I have not a single problem with what the President-Elect did. My problem is with the way it was euphemistically presented. There is no need for that.
So much for Obama’s legacy of a “transparent” federal government.
I wish I had a job where I could tell my boss “none of your business what I do at work” and not get fired.
Until Jan 20, 2017, he’s not their boss, and legally has no authority to require they do anything.
Oh, this is gonna be fun. The more they stonewall, the guiltier they’ll look.
The FBI is going need a much larger budget cleaning out all of the rats nests.
Quite simple really.
The head of the Department is told to instruct his staff to supply the information. If he refuses he is moved sideways to another post and someone is appointed who will give such an instruction.
If Departmental staff now refuse to implement his instructions, then disciplinary proceedings must follow.
I think the easiest and quickest way to get lawfully fired from any job is a refusal to follow a lawful and reasonable request.
Energy Department spokesman Eben Burnham-Snyder has a BA in history from Wisconsin. His perspective on energy comes from what he gleaned while working for the Natural Resources Defense Council (prior to weaseling his way into a federal job under Obama). His perspective on communications (his job) comes from the same place.
One of his NRDC press releases from 10 years ago: “Last month the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), New York Attorney General Elliot Spitzer, and fourteen other states filed a suit demanding that DOE comply with the law and deliver the standards. According to NRDC, the new rules could save enough energy each year to meet the needs of up to 12 million American households, and avoid the need for dozens of new electric power plants.”
Seems very similar to current New York AG fiasco suit. It might be very interesting to take a look at Eben’s tie in with the AG’s in the current suit and see what he was up to with respect Exxon.
Sad part is that Eben will be able to walk right back to NRDC (or similar parasitic group) after he is forced out of the Fed trough; hell, NRDC probably still has a desk and computer in their offices that he has access to.
A good part of Washington DC was a literal swamp 300 years ago … they drained/filled it then. It became re-infested and transitioned to a figurative swamp. Draining the figurative swamp simply means that the current resident parasites will morph into scavengers, still picking away at whatever others try to create. Simply draining the swamp isn’t enough … need to find out what was lurking there and make sure it can’t return in any form.
The Trump transition team disavowed requesting the info TODAY — and stated the person responsible is being counseled.
http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/14/politics/energy-department-litmus-test/
Message sent. Mission accomplished.
You do realize that not one job will be cut — don’t you?
Try and cut jobs and Senators and Congressman get concerned and then they don’t vote for the bill that is required to cut the jobs.
Will a few appointees not be re-appointed? Probably. Will there be any sweeping cuts? Nope
The purpose was to send notice that there was a new sheriff in town so get ready!
karl
such a naysayer
drain the swamp
My guess is almost nothing coming from CNN on the subject of Trump, OR Climate Change, is anything other than enabling propaganda. They’ve pretty much proved word isn’t even ‘bias’ anymore.
Since most of the DoE budget was and is for nuclear weapons, nuclear programs, and nuclear clean up from the Cold War, it will be rather easy to prune all the diseased (optional agenda) limbs off the agency with executive orders and budget proposals going forward.
Invest in the Federal labs for basic science and engineering. They are both very important. Scrap the diversions of political science agendas and noncompetitive renewable energy tech versions that do not compare to best of breed solar we already have. Those few company leaders no longer need ITCs but the massive lobby sphere makes everyone think rooftop solar is equal to the best utility scale and that both need the heavy ITC support. Wrong!
at 50 cents per watt ( you can get UL listed A panels on special for as low as 28 cents per watt) for solar panels — the 30% federal subsidy is nice to have but isn’t the driver regarding rooftop solar.
I’m not sure I agree that one of the missions of the NLs should be doing fundamental science other than some mega projects, like experimental HEP, accelerator-based analytical science and nuclear power/weapons-related R&D. Research universities should be doing truly fundamental research as the peer review and culling system may be more efficient there (please, don’t snicker; it’s all relative!)
I imagine they won’t be getting away with saying ‘no’ once Trump’s actually in office – assuming that they don’t find someway to RF us and overturn the election. I have not forgotten who’s still in power.
Such a request is likely a violation of the Privacy Act. The POTUS could allege improper activities or fraud, and then the OIG would come in and audit/investigate.
Aside from that — there is not really a conceivable proper reason for the request. DOE spends money on things it is allowed to.
‘there is not really a conceivable proper reason for the request.’
Of course there is. It’s called ‘Climategate’. And long supporting list of improprieties that suggest world policy is being dictated on the basis of a fraud.
Besides, Obama has shown us the way. Just do it. And then see if these government agencies – which as far as I’m concerned could simply cease to exist – feel like challenging an active and involved president.
Simple solution: if you can’t tell us what you’re doing, you’re fired.
Honestly, it’s like these people have never even heard of real jobs.
While you can’t directly fire the line GS folks, you most certainly can get a line slipped into the next budget revision that allows you to reorganize – which is bureaucratese for allowing the new Secretary to do whatever he wants to do. I can see a bunch of reorg auths in this year’s budget which will allow all agencies to downsize to the point where all Obama hires are let go. Of course they all have bumping privs based on seniority, but it is generally last in first out in these sorts of reorgs. The budget request can and should also have a line number of positions in it. Math on that number should be something along the lines of current workforce minus number of Obama hires.
Note that the reorg was last used to hammer the CIA for undermining Bush 43’s Iraq and Iran wars from 2004 – 2006. The CIA ended up being 2 – 3 layers down the food chain from where they were previously.
Finally, Trump is making noises about cutting benefits and pay for the GS federal employees. Like he doesn’t need another reason. Cheers –
No Congressman or Senator will vote for a bill that will result in large numbers of jobs being cut in their constituencies.
The majority of DC jobs are Appointee Level and SES positions — necessary to manage the workforce, and required by law.
Cut NASA — fat chance that gets past Senator Shelby/Sessions of AL
rinse repeat for almost every major Agency on the chopping block — they are overwhelmingly staffed outside the district — with Congressional support
Karl inaccurately thinks: “The majority of DC jobs are Appointee Level and SES positions — necessary to manage the workforce, and required by law.” No, the vast majority of the DC Fed work force is made up of (GS/GM 2 THRU 15) working level personnel. Appointees and SES level jobs are a minor part of the work force. BTW, those appointees and SES level jobs work under different rules, and are much easier fired/moved.
Sen. Sessions will be the new Attorney General, if his Senate colleagues confirm him.
IMO Sen. Shelby won’t care if NASA jobs are cut in NYC. Indeed, he’d probably be happy to get rid of Gavin Schmidt, the blogging Brit. Who blogs on the US taxpayers’ dime.
PS: Hard to have a more Southern name than Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III. Unless maybe Robert E. Lee Sessions III, aka Bobbie Lee Sessions, aka Bubba.
‘Constituencies’ is not represented by well-staffed government bureaucracies – those are the people that are supposed to serve constituencies. And it’s long past time these bloated offices are gutted. As well as a legislature that supports and enables it.
It’s also time to get past people that simply acquiesce to the status-quo.
The department cannot comply as the staff doesn’t do anything.
MSM says Request has been retracted.
Oops. Missed earlier post. Emily Latella moment.
Premature ejaculation?
LOL. Brilliant. 🙂