Conservative organizations have filed large volumes of information requests for federal employees' emails in energy and environmental agencies, raising concerns among civil servants that these records could support potential job purges under a future Trump administration.
Robin Bravender reports for E&E News.
In short:
- Former Trump aides and conservative think tanks, including the America First Policy Institute and the Heritage Foundation, have filed records requests to access EPA and other agencies' emails, particularly targeting career civil servants.
- Critics argue that these requests intimidate federal employees, with some alleging the documents could be used to justify firing civil servants should Trump regain the presidency.
- The organizations say they aim to reveal alleged bureaucratic bias and governmental overreach, viewing their actions as a form of oversight.
Key quote:
“When you have people on a witch hunt that want to sift through thousands of emails to find a single word or sentence to spin … to fabricate conspiracy theories, that has to have a chilling effect.”
— Jeremy Symons, senior adviser at the Environmental Protection Network
Why this matters:
Federal employees serve critical roles in implementing environmental protections and targeting their internal communications could disrupt the agencies' work. Concerns over partisan motives in these requests highlight potential risks to government operations, transparency and employee morale.
Read more: Heritage Foundation targets federal agencies with a flood of FOIA requests
