Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., is leading the group calling for an investigation. Sait Serkan Gurbuz / AP
Senators Seek Probe of Potential Civil Service Violations by Trump’s Transition Team
Lawmakers ask for accountability for anyone "coercing" feds for "partisan purposes."
Several Democratic senators are asking for an independent investigation into President-elect Trump’s transition team, alleging it may have violated civil service laws with its probe into the activities of Energy Department employees.
Led by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., nine Democrats asked the Office of Special Counsel to launch the investigation into a questionnaire the transition team sent to the Energy Department. The document requested the names of employees who worked on certain climate change issues and scientists who attended specific conferences. Blumenthal said the questionnaire represented an “apparent attempt to retaliate or discriminate against federal employees.”
“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 in their letter to Special Counsel Carolyn Lerner.
The transition team has disavowed the questionnaire, saying the individual who sent it was not authorized to do so and has been “properly counseled.” Blumenthal called that response “opaque” and said it only increased the need for an investigation. For its part, the Energy Department has said it has no plans to comply with the requests from Trump’s team regarding the names of specific individuals. Trump has since named former Gov. Rick Perry, R-Texas, as his Energy secretary nominee. Perry, during his first campaign for president, said he would eliminate the department altogether.
Nick Schwellenbach, an OSC spokesman, said the agency has received the letter and is preparing a response.
The questionnaire made requests that “appear to have violated long standing federal laws designed to protect civil servants against coercion for partisan purposes,” the senators wrote. Specifically, the lawmakers said the Trump transition team may have violated merit system principles as spelled out in the 1978 Civil Service Reform Act. The law applies to federal employees; transition team members are not government employees.
In addition to an investigation, the senators requested OSC “publicly communicate” to Congress “clear guidance” on the agency’s policies for what would cause an investigation into retaliation or discrimination against career federal employees for “implementing the policies of any previous administration.” The senators asked for a response by Friday.