--- title: Donald Trump Transition Says Energy Questions Not Authorized description: Donald Trump's transition team said on Wednesday that a controversial questionnaire sent to the Department of Energy had not been authorized canonical: https://time.com/4602315/donald-trump-energy-questionnaire/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-12-14T17:30:01.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-13T14:35:13.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump's Transition Says Controversial Climate Questionnaire Wasn’t Authorized og:description: The questionnaire had asked for the names of employees who worked on climate change issues og:url: https://time.com/4602315/donald-trump-energy-questionnaire/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blted828a2948c1b9a4/6988b2f8f887dc6fade987f4/trump9.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4614 og:image:height: 2595 og:image:alt: Republican presidential-elect Donald Trump USA Thank You Tour 2016 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump's Transition Says Controversial Climate Questionnaire Wasn’t Authorized twitter:description: The questionnaire had asked for the names of employees who worked on climate change issues twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blted828a2948c1b9a4/6988b2f8f887dc6fade987f4/trump9.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Donald Trump's Transition Team Says Controversial Climate Questionnaire Wasn’t Authorized > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=00070a3c-ed5a-451a-86de-49f65f1a17ba&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Donald Trump's Staff Picks [Watch (HLS stream): Donald Trump's Staff Picks](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/hxBwlUGs.m3u8) (1:53)  _Published 2016-11-13. Donald Trump’s campaign manager Kellyanne Conway is headed to the White House, where she’ll serve as counselor to the president._  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Updated: Dec 13, 2023 2:35 PM UTCPublished: Dec 14, 2016 5:30 PM UTC  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Updated: Dec 13, 2023 2:35 PM UTCPublished: Dec 14, 2016 5:30 PM UTC [Donald Trump](http://time.com/time-person-of-the-year-2016-donald-trump-choice/?xid=homepage&pcd=hp-magmod)’s transition team said on Wednesday that a controversial questionnaire sent to [the Department of Energy](http://time.com/time-person-of-the-year-2016-donald-trump-choice/?xid=homepage&pcd=hp-magmod) asking for the names of staffers working on climate change had not been authorized. “The questionnaire was not authorized or part of our standard protocol. The person who sent it has been properly counseled,” the transition team said in an emailed statement. The questionnaire, first reported by [Bloomberg](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-12-09/trump-team-s-memo-hints-at-broad-shake-up-of-u-s-energy-policy) last week, asked the Department of Energy to provide names of employees who attended U.N. climate conferences and worked on an initiative to measure the social cost of carbon dioxide emissions. The questionnaire raised concerns within the agency’s ranks that the nascent Trump Administration might try to purge the department of staffers who worked on global-warming issues. “What was disturbing was what seemed to be targeting of career service employees,” said Jonathan Levy, a former deputy chief of staff at the department. “The people at the Department of Energy are the most important asset at the department, and they’re incredibly talented.” Trump has signaled that he intends to keep a campaign promise to roll back the environmental regulations put in place under President Obama. His choice to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, has [sued the agency](http://time.com/4594238/donald-trump-scott-pruitt-epa/?iid=sr-link1) on multiple occasions to block climate regulations. His Secretary of State nominee Rex Tillerson is the CEO of ExxonMobil and an [opponent](http://time.com/4598499/rex-tillerson-donald-trump-exxon-mobil-climate-change/) of many policies to address climate change. And his pick to lead the Department of Energy, former Texas governor Rick Perry, has questioned the scientific consensus of climate change. ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] Americans have had enough. [ INAUDIBLE ] [ MUSIC ] [ CROSSTALK ] [ BLANK_AUDIO ] We don't really believe there is a functional conservative party in this country. We surely don't think the Republican Party is that. 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