Former Biden officials corresponded with staff at top universities while still in positions of power and later secured plum roles at those institutions, according to documents first obtained by the Functional Government Initiative (FGI), a watchdog organization.
David Turk, former DOE Deputy Secretary, and Shalanda Baker, former Director of the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Energy Justice and Equity, had a history of communications and arranging meetings with their current employers while still in the Biden administration, emails reviewed by the Daily Caller News Foundation show.
Turk landed at Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs at its Center on Global Energy Policy (CGEP) as a “distinguished visiting fellow” in January 2025, after he was messaging and scheduling meetings with university staffers from February to October 2024, according to the documents. In September 2024, the DOE announced that Columbia University was selected to enter award negotiations for a portion of a $68 million AI initiative. The DOE then obligated $450,000 to Columbia for the AI project, according to USA Spending.gov and Columbia’s website.
The University of Michigan’s School of Environment and Sustainability (SEAS) announced Baker as the “first vice provost for sustainability and climate action” in June 2024 after faculty members reached out to discuss the position when she was still at the DOE in April 2024, the emails show.
“FGI and others have documented the ever-spinning revolving door between the Biden administration’s climate and environment focused agencies and offices and outside special interest activist groups,” Roderick Law, spokesman for FGI, told the DCNF. “It appears there was also a door to elite academia. It never hurts for job seekers to have access to grant money and government research. Call it an attractive value-add.”
Baker told the DCNF that, in accordance with policy, she disclosed her pending employment negotiations at the time and referred the DCNF to the DOE’s Office of the General Counsel. Turk, Columbia, the University of Michigan and the DOE did not respond to the DCNF’s multiple requests for comment.
DOE Biden Officials FOIA by audreystreb
Notably, several other DOE Biden officials landed cushy positions in “the swamp” as President Donald Trump returned to the White House, with the former Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm joining the board of a major utility company that received millions from the agency while she was at its helm.
Turk was arranging to meet Jason Bordoff, the founding director for Columbia’s CGEP, on Feb. 5 and March 8, 2024, and emailed about AI use in the energy sector on July 25, 2024, according to the documents.
Turk emailed Bordoff on July 25 that “we’re doing a ton of work in this space, including on projections of increased electricity demand from data centers / AI over the next several years, how this data center / AI electricity demand fits into what’s going on more broadly with electricity supply/demand, and how to channel dynamics in the most helpful way possible for national security, economic prosperity and clean energy goals. … We’d be eager and happy to learn more about all that you and your team are up to.”
Funding opportunities for the AI research grant Columbia later received were announced on February 13, 2024, according to DOE materials.
Bordoff also invited Turk to attend the April 2024 “annual invitation-only” Global Energy Summit at Columbia on February 15, 2024, the documents show. The invitation noted that the Summit was to be hosted by CGEP, under which Turk is now a “distinguished visiting fellow,” according to the website.
Turk’s response to the invitation was not a part of the documents obtained by the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
The two emailed about potentially meeting up in September 2024 for climate week, according to the documents.
Susan Fancy, associate director of the University of Michigan’s Global CO2 Initiative sent an email and a letter to Baker on March 8, 2024, requesting “support from DOE for clean energy and carbon management-related community engagement research,” the documents show.
Fancy also wanted “DOE investment in multi-disciplinary, multi-stakeholder research and conversations” about “social justice” and “energy justice,” adding that “numerous experts in communities and academia are ready to help address these issues … [and] their efforts will have substantial social, technical, and financial paybacks,” the emails show.
Fancy continued to tell Baker that she’s “grateful for your efforts to be sure that climate imperialism does not take hold,” according to the documents. Baker’s direct response to the email was not included in the FOIA findings.
Later, on April 23, 2024, the executive assistant of the University of Michigan’s provost sent an email to schedule a time to discuss a position for Baker at the school.
“It seems the Biden DOE was quite a springboard for political appointees to land in academia,” the FGI said in a statement Monday.
Fancy and Bordoff did not respond to the DCNF’s multiple requests for comment.
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