Documents acquired by the Functional Government Initiative (FGI), a watchdog organization, reveal that former Biden administration officials reached out to top universities while still in office and later secured significant positions there.
For instance, David Turk, the former Deputy Secretary of Energy, along with Shalanda Baker, a previous Secretary in the Department of Energy (DOE), engaged with university officials through emails. It appears that Turk joined the Center for Global Energy Policy (CGEP) at Columbia University as a “Specially Appointed Researcher.” According to the documents, he communicated and organized meetings with university representatives from February to October 2024 before making comments in January 2025. Columbia University later entered negotiations to receive a portion of a $68 million AI funding initiative, with the DOE committing $450,000 to the project.
As for Baker, she accepted the role of “first vice chancellor for sustainability and climate action” at the University of Michigan in June 2024, after being approached by faculty about the position while still at the DOE in April 2024.
Roderick Roe, a spokesperson for FGI, commented that there seems to be a persistent overlap between Biden’s climate-focused agencies and activist groups, indicating a potential entry point into prestigious academic roles. He noted that having access to grants and government-funded research can be advantageous for job candidates.
Baker asserted that she followed the policy, disclosing her employment discussions and referred inquiries to the DOE’s Office of General Counsel. Neither Turk, Columbia, the University of Michigan, nor the DOE responded to several requests for comments.
Interestingly, when Donald Trump returned to the White House, several Energy Department officials from the Biden era took on roles in established companies, including former Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, who joined boards of major power firms that benefited from DOE funds during her term.
Turk and Jason Bordoff, the founding director of Columbia’s CGEP, communicated about leveraging AI in the energy sector, with emails exchanged in early 2024. Turk expressed interest in Bordoff’s work in his correspondence.
The AI research grant opportunity that Columbia ultimately received was publicly announced in early 2024. Bordoff also invited Turk to an annual event related to the global energy summit in April 2024, which Turk had since been recognized as a “distinguished visiting scholar.”
The documents obtained didn’t include Turk’s response to that invitation. They also outlined a potential meeting regarding an event in September 2024.
Susan Fancy, an associate director at the University of Michigan’s Global CO2 Initiative, reached out to Baker to discuss potential DOE support for research on clean energy. She emphasized the need for the DOE to invest in multidisciplinary research addressing social and energy justice issues, expressing hope for significant social and economic benefits from such efforts.
Fancy praised Baker’s initiative in combating “climate imperialism,” though Baker’s response wasn’t included in the FOIA documents. Later, an assistant president at the University of Michigan arranged a discussion time concerning Baker’s role there.
FGI remarked that the Biden DOE seems to have facilitated the transition of political appointees into academic positions.
Neither Fancy nor Bordoff replied to multiple follow-up requests for comments.
