Labor Secretary Asserts: Trump Team Violated Law with Agency Inquiries

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According to Labor Secretary Tom Perez, the Trump transition team has broken the law by inquiring into the Energy Department and the State Department.

According to Perez, “Those questions have no place in a transition. That is illegal.” Perez discussed the inquiries in an interview with CBS Radio News Friday. The inquiries appear to have violated the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978.

In December Trump’s team asked the Energy Department for a list of employees who have worked on climate change issues in President Obama’s administration. The agency did not comply with the request. 

​Last week, the Trump transition team requested reports from the State Department about “gender-related staffing, programming and funding.”

Democratic senators have called for an investigation into the Trump transition letter to the Energy Department. They told the independent Office of Special Counsel that the letter seems to violate federal laws protecting civil service workers from partisan coercion.

The article in The Hill can be found here.  http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/311895-perez-trump-transition-agency-inquiries-illegal

The link to the CBS News interview can be found here.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/labor-secretary-tom-perez-trump-transition-probes-illegal/

The link to the article in The Hill about senators calling for an investigation can be found here.
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/310808-dems-push-for-investigation-into-trump-teams-energy-letter​