The Department of Energy told employees that documents Doge used to evaluate grants from the agency should be marked as “legal privileges” to prevent disclosure of them under the Freedom of Information Act.
Doge has provided the agency with spreadsheets that will be completed by agency officials to determine grants and contracts that can be marked for termination or renegotiation. David R. Taggart, acting general counsel for the department. get By Axios.
The memorandum directs the political appointment to determine whether the grants and contracts are “effective” or “align with DOE policies and priorities.”
Taggart told agent officials that as Doge-related departments cut the “litigation environment” around it, it needs to be brief and consistent when filling out the spreadsheet.
According to the memo, incompetent corners are rarely immune. Even the DOE’s national laboratory system can be included, as each laboratory is managed by a contracted private company.
The U.S. Department of Energy’s standard contract contains language that allows the department to terminate the ruling if “no longer affects the program’s objectives or agent’s priorities.”
The memorandum also seems to give insight into how the layoffs may be formulated and suggests that once the spreadsheet leaves the Doe office, it may not be reviewed.
Officials are urged to be as granular as possible, as rewards are rewarded as group rewards “may ignore the nuances between underwriting contracts and grants, which can lead to termination of valid agreements or to maintain inefficient agreements.”
