The Dept. of Energy’s #NeverTweet moment

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Mar 24, 2022 View in browser   By Daniel Lippman, Alex Thompson and Max Tani Presented by Welcome to POLITICO's West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration. With help from Allie Bice.  Send tips | Subscribe here | Email Alex | Email Max It started with a tweet. Last February, the Energy Department's new press secretary KEVIN LIAO, who previously worked in California politics, tweeted an oblique joke about L.A. City Council Member KEVIN DE LEON bungling the pledge of allegiance. Not everyone found it funny. The Energy Department's chief of staff, TARAK SHAH, received unhappy calls from California congressional offices and White House officials, according to a person familiar with the matter. Rep. JIMMY GOMEZ (D-Calif.) tweeted that, "Unprofessional tweets reflect on your bosses." Rep. RO KHANNA (D-Calif.) also tweeted that many in the state's delegation "expect better." Rep. NORMA TORRES (D-Calif.) seconded Khanna and said Liao should stop the "childish attacks." Shah was furious. As punishment, he made Liao deliver a presentation to the dozens of new political appointees about social media best practices on a weekly call with all politicals, according to three former Energy Department officials. Several people on the call were stunned by the discipline, believing it was designed to publicly humiliate Liao in front of his new colleagues. The incident, which hasn't been previously reported, prompted an internal complaint to the department's White House liaison CAROLINE GREY about Shah, four former DOE officials told West Wing Playbook. Liao declined to comment. It was the first of several conversations staff had with Grey over the course of the past 14 months in which they raised concerns about the work environment Shah had created. Shah is far from the first — and certainly won't be the last — boss in politics to be accused of being too tough on subordinates. But his actions sparked internal debates about workplace culture and conduct. They also were emblematic of what has become an, at times, bumpy first year for the Department of Energy. Several senior department officials have departed the administration or moved to other agencies. Some left in part because of Shah's management style, according to three former Energy Department officials. The department has taken on historic significance under President JOE BIDEN, who has tasked it with helping spearhead major parts of his climate change agenda and with helping confront energy crises stemming from Russia's invasion of Ukraine. By and large, environmental activists have been pleased with the department's leadership. "My general impression of the Department of Energy is there are a lot of talented people working there and that Secretary [JENNIFER] GRANHOLM is a singular force and probably the best climate advocate climate advocate President Biden has," JAMAL RAAD, the cofounder of Evergreen Action, told West Wing Playbook. But there has also been personnel churn at high levels. The departures include JENNIFER KROPKE, the director of energy jobs, who was heading up a new office within the department that Secretary Granholm had tasked with a "whole-of-government approach" to ensure government funding is directed to energy jobs that are high-paying. Since she departed in September, Kropke, who cited "family" needs in her departure note, has not been replaced. Other departures include deputy chief of staff YAHAIRA LOPEZ; the chief of staff for the office of science, TANYA DAS; the chief of staff for the office of fossil energy and carbon management, SHUCHI TALATI, who's leaving tomorrow; and several others. The churn continued last week when Shah himself announced his departure. Asked about the complaints and the incident with Liao, Shah said in a statement: "I take my responsibility seriously to build and lead an inclusive, diverse, and respectful team that is held to the highest standards of public service." A White House spokesperson said that only five of 90 political appointees at DOE — about 6 percent — have left since Jan. 2021, although several more are now detailed to other parts of the administration. Asked for comment, the Energy Department pointed us to Granholm's all-staff email last week in which she wrote: "It's hard to have imagined a better person by my side than Tarak during this first historic year. So much of the innovative work this agency has accomplished in the past year has originated with him — and as a result, DOE is positioned for success not only in the near term but in the decades to come." TEXT US — Are you ANDY RABENS, director for global engagement and multilateral diplomacy at the National Security Council? We want to hear from you (we'll keep you anonymous).  MEA CULPA: Yesterday, we misspelled KIRSTEN ALLEN's first name as "Kristen." We feel dumb about the error. We also said that CNN's DANIEL DALE hadn't written any Biden-focused fact checks since January. That wasn't quite accurate: Though it didn't appear on this author page, Dale led CNN's fact checking team during the State of the Union earlier this month. Or if you think we missed something in today's edition, let us know and we may include it tomorrow.  Email us at westwingtips@politico.com or you can text/Signal/Wickr/WhatsApp Alex at 8183240098 or Max at 7143455427. A message from Facebook: We're making investments in safety and security—and seeing results Facebook has invested $13 billion over the last 5 years to help keep you safe. Over the last several months, we've taken action on: •62 million pieces of explicit adult content •51.7 million pieces of violent and graphic content See how we're working to help you connect safely.   POTUS PUZZLER From the University of Virginia's Miller Center Which president's wife fainted when she heard he had accepted his party's nomination for president? (Answer at the bottom.) The Oval TRUMP 2024 — As Biden said in Brussels today that a DONALD TRUMP 2024 candidacy doesn't worry him. "In the next election, I'd be very fortunate if I had that same man running against me," he told reporters. As Biden said in December to ABC News that former President Trump's candidacy would make him more likely to run for re-election. "Why would I not run against Donald Trump? He's the nominee, that increases the prospect of running." Read more from Brussels by CHRIS CADELAGO, JONATHAN LEMIRE and SAMUEL BENSON. WHERE'S THE BEEF?: As West Wing Playbook readers know, there was some brief friction between U.S. Trade Representative KATHERINE TAI and U.S. Ambassador to Japan RAHM EMANUEL. But the duo are feeling confident about the Biden administration's recent trade wins in Japan. Early this morning, the U.S. embassy in Tokyo released a statement touting an agreement to limit imports on U.S. exported beef, which represents a large and growing portion of the country's red meat, and has been the subject of intense focus by U.S. beef producers. And there was plenty of praise to go around. "This agreement is a great win for our two countries that ensures American farmers and ranchers can continue to meet Japan's growing demand for high-quality U.S. beef," Tai said. "I especially want to thank Ambassador Rahm Emanuel for his fierce determination to get this deal done." WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE WANTS YOU TO READ: New jobs-related numbers. On Thursday, the Department of Labor reported that new unemployment claims last week fell by 28,000 to 187,000, the lowest number of new jobless claims since 1969. Top White House officials were quick to tout the figure, which chief of staff RON KLAIN sarcastically remarked would certainly get as much coverage as negative economic figures like rising inflation. WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE DOESN'T WANT YOU TO READ: The Washington Post reported today that the U.S. is seeing a major rise in migrants at the border, just as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is weighing lifting an order that allowed the U.S. to rapidly deport some undocumented immigrants crossing into the U.S. over concerns about the spread of Covid. If the CDC decides not to renew the order, known as Title 42, it could result in what the Post said was "an even larger influx" of migrants entering the country. SPRINGTIME IS HERE: The White House will host its spring garden tours, where participants will be able to check out the White House gardens and South Grounds, on April 9th and 10th, it announced Thursday. The White House Easter Egg roll is also a go, and will take place on the South Lawn April 18th.   SUBSCRIBE TO NATIONAL SECURITY DAILY : Keep up with the latest critical developments from Ukraine and across Europe in our daily newsletter, National Security Daily. The Russian invasion of Ukraine could disrupt the established world order and result in a refugee crisis, increased cyberattacks, rising energy costs and additional disruption to global supply chains. Go inside the top national security and foreign-policymaking shops for insight on the global threats faced by the U.S. and its allies and what actions world leaders are taking to address them. Subscribe today.     Agenda Setting PUTTING MOSCOW ON BLAST — DALEEP SINGH, the Biden administration's deputy national security adviser for international economics, criticized the Kremlin for partially reopening the Moscow stock exchange following a month's hiatus, our NAHAL TOOSI reports. Singh called the reopening "a charade" and "a Potemkin market opening," adding that "Russia has made clear they are going to pour government resources into artificially propping up the shares of companies that are trading. This is not a real market and not a sustainable model — which only underscores Russia's isolation from the global financial system."     What We're Reading In America's No. 1 inflation hotspot, Democrats face restive voters (WSJ's John McCormick) Biden administration drafting order to invoke Defense Production Act for green energy storage technology (The Intercept's Nausicaa Renner, Austin Ahlman) Where's Joe The president is in Brussels today, where he participated in a family photo with G-7 leaders, a G-7 meeting and delivered remarks. Aides in attendance included Secretary of State ANTONY BLINKEN, national security adviser JAKE SULLIVAN and deputy national security adviser for international economics DALEEP SINGH, among others. Biden also held a bilateral meeting with European Council President CHARLES MICHEL and delivered remarks at the European Council summit. Following the summit, he held a news conference. Where's Kamala Harris delivered virtual remarks at an event commemorating the one-year anniversary of Biden's executive order on promoting access to voting.   DON'T MISS CONGRESS MINUTES: Need to follow the action on Capitol Hill blow-by-blow? Check out Minutes, POLITICO's new platform that delivers the latest exclusives, twists and much more in real time. Get it on your desktop or download the POLITICO mobile app for iOS or Android. CHECK OUT CONGRESS MINUTES HERE.     The Oppo Book AMANDA SLOAT, NSC's senior director for European affairs, didn't exactly intend on launching a career in international relations. She told the Las Vegas Sun back in 2018 that she "really had no interest in foreign policy." "But I went on a study abroad program to the U.K. between my junior and senior year of college, and we spent a month in London and a week in Edinburgh," Sloat added. "I fell in love with the city of Edinburgh, got very interested in British politics." We too fell in love with foreign policy, and British politics in particular, but only after watching Season 3 of The Crown. POTUS PUZZLER ANSWER FRANKLIN PIERCE's wife, JANE, did not welcome the prospect of returning to Washington, where Pierce had served as a senator from 1837 to 1842. Before the 1852 Democratic party convention, Pierce had assured Jane that he was not seeking the nomination; when she received the news that he had accepted it, she fainted — and later accused him of lying about his political aspirations. For more on Pierce and his presidency, visit millercenter.org. A CALL OUT — Think you have a more difficult trivia question? Send us your best question on the presidents with a citation and we may feature it. Edited by Sam Stein A message from Facebook: We're making investments in safety and security—and seeing results Facebook has invested $13 billion over the last 5 years to help keep you safe. Over the last several months, we've taken action on: •62 million pieces of explicit adult content •51.7 million pieces of violent and graphic content See how we're working to help you connect safely.     Follow us on Twitter Alex Thompson @AlexThomp Maxwell Tani @maxwelltani Allie Bice @alliebice   Follow us

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