Biden officials spent their final months in power lining up their next paychecks.
A watchdog group just exposed how they pulled it off.
And they discovered just how Biden officials used taxpayer money to set themselves up for cushy new jobs.
Biden Energy Officials Negotiated Jobs While Controlling The Grant Money
David Turk served as Biden's Deputy Energy Secretary until January 2025 when he landed a "distinguished visiting fellow" position at Columbia University.¹
But emails obtained by the Functional Government Initiative reveal Turk was meeting with Columbia staff and arranging his future employment throughout 2024 while still controlling Department of Energy grant decisions.²
Turk scheduled meetings with Jason Bordoff, the founding director of Columbia's Center on Global Energy Policy, on February 5 and March 8, 2024.³
Bordoff invited Turk to Columbia's "annual invitation-only" Global Energy Summit in April 2024 – hosted by the same center where Turk now works.⁴
Then in July 2024, Turk emailed Bordoff about the DOE's AI work: "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."⁵
Get this: Turk told Bordoff the DOE would be "eager and happy to learn more about all that you and your team are up to."⁶
Translation: "I control millions in grant money and I'd love to give some to you."
Two months later in September 2024, the Department of Energy announced Columbia was selected for a $68 million AI initiative.⁷
Columbia got $450,000 for the AI project.⁸
Turk got his distinguished fellowship at Columbia.
You think that's a coincidence? Please.
Another Biden Official Ran The Same Scam At Michigan
Shalanda Baker directed the Department of Energy's Office of Energy Justice and Equity under Biden.
She's now employed at the University of Michigan as "first vice provost for sustainability and climate action."⁹
On March 8, 2024, Susan Fancy from Michigan's Global CO2 Initiative contacted Baker requesting "support from DOE for clean energy and carbon management-related community engagement research."¹⁰
Fancy wanted "DOE investment in multi-disciplinary, multi-stakeholder research and conversations" about "social justice" and "energy justice."¹¹
That's every woke buzzword packed into one sentence.
Fancy told Baker she was "grateful for your efforts to be sure that climate imperialism does not take hold."¹²
Climate imperialism. That's what passes for serious academic discourse at elite universities now.
Six weeks later on April 23, 2024, Michigan's provost office contacted Baker about a job.¹³
By June 2024, Michigan announced Baker as their new vice provost.¹⁴
Baker claims she "disclosed her pending employment negotiations at the time" in accordance with policy.¹⁵
But disclosing it doesn't make it any less corrupt.
This Is How The Swamp Really Works
Here's what fires me up about this story.
These weren't low-level bureaucrats padding their resumes. Turk was the Deputy Energy Secretary. Baker ran an entire office at DOE.
They controlled which universities got millions in federal grants.
And those same universities offered them prestigious six-figure positions.
"It never hurts for job seekers to have access to grant money and government research," Roderick Law from the Functional Government Initiative told the Daily Caller News Foundation. "Call it an attractive value-add."¹⁶
Call it what it really is – legalized bribery.
Turk spent a year courting Columbia. Attending their exclusive invitation-only summits. Scheduling private meetings. Discussing DOE initiatives that just happened to align with Columbia's research priorities.
Then Columbia applied for DOE grants. And got $450,000.
Then Turk left the DOE and landed at Columbia as a "distinguished visiting fellow."
The timeline doesn't lie.
Baker's situation is even more brazen. Michigan requested DOE funding for "social justice" and "energy justice" research in March. By April, they were offering her a job. By June, she had it.¹⁴
Universities weren't hiring these people for their academic credentials. They were buying access to the next round of federal grants.
Wait, it gets worse.
Former Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm joined the board of a major utility company that received millions from the DOE while she ran the agency.¹⁸
Biden's Justice Department officials who weaponized the agency against Trump landed cushy university jobs too.
This isn't a few bad apples. This is how the entire system works.
The Functional Government Initiative had to file Freedom of Information Act requests to expose this. That's the only reason anyone knows.¹⁷
Turk refused to comment. Columbia refused to comment. Michigan refused to comment. The DOE refused to comment.¹⁹
They all know exactly what this looks like.
Because here's the real scam: It's technically legal.
Baker claims she disclosed her employment negotiations "in accordance with policy."¹⁵ Great. She disclosed it. That doesn't make it any less corrupt.
Officials disclosed they were job hunting. Universities competed for grants through official channels. Everyone followed the letter of the law.
But the American people aren't stupid. We see what happened.
Biden officials spent their final year in power arranging soft landings in academia. They attended private summits. They scheduled meetings with university administrators. They discussed research priorities.
Then those same universities applied for DOE grants worth millions.
Then those universities hired the DOE officials who approved their grants.
Every. Single. Time.
The universities that got federal money just happened to be the ones offering jobs to the officials controlling that money.
That's not following proper procedures. That's a protection racket dressed up in academic robes.
¹ Daily Caller News Foundation, "EXCLUSIVE: Biden Officials Who Landed Cushy Gigs In Academia Were In Talks While Still In Power," Daily Caller, January 5, 2026.
² Ibid.
³ Ibid.
⁴ Ibid.
⁵ Ibid.
⁶ Ibid.
⁷ Ibid.
⁸ Ibid.
⁹ Ibid.
¹⁰ Ibid.
¹¹ Ibid.
¹² Ibid.
¹³ Ibid.
¹⁴ Ibid.
¹⁵ Ibid.
¹⁶ Ibid.
¹⁷ Ibid.
¹⁸ Ibid.
¹⁹ Ibid.
