A former Trump official who led a high-profile grid study in 2017 on coal and nuclear closures, an ex-staffer of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), and oil and gas leaders are among the new employees at the Department of Energy, underscoring the links between the administration, fossil fuel industries and conservative think tanks.
Travis Fisher, an advocate of free-market principles, is listed in DOE’s registry as working in the Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response. A DOE staffer confirmed that Fisher has been in the building and “engaging” on policy related to grid reliability.
Fisher’s return comes as a document viewed by POLITICO’s E&E News shows DOE has approximately 100 political appointees outside of its nuclear weapons division, including former Capitol Hill staffers, top lobbyists and ex-White House officials.
The list of employees obtained by a Freedom of Information Act request shows that many remaining chief of staff and top adviser positions have been filled in the past two months, adding to top leadership roles that were publicly announced. The new employees are in some of DOE’s largest offices and could influence where the department is headed on renewables, nuclear, and oil and gas policy, according to analysts.
