The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has laid off about 1,200 to 2,000 workers at the Department of Energy, including employees at a power grid office, the nuclear security administration and the loans office, three sources familiar with the matter said on Friday.

Democratic lawmakers also said the layoffs include workers at national labs and hydroelectric plants, and Cold War legacy nuclear sites that pose safety risks. The DOE has about 14,000 federal employees and 95,000 contractors.

The Biden administration closed on a more than $6.5 billion loan to electric vehicle manufacturer Rivian. The move comes after some questioned whether the deal announced on Tuesday, Jan. 14, could get done before the Trump administration takes over.

The closure on Thursday, Jan. 16, comes just days before President-elect Donald Trump, who has vowed to scale back on climate-related spending, is inaugurated on Monday, Jan. 20.

Wright is a fossil fuel executive, and at the confirmation hearing, he pledged to support all forms of "reliable" energy – including solar, wind, nuclear and geothermal.

But Wright's past social media posts drew controversy. In a 2023 Linkedin post he wrote, "The hype over wildfires is just hype to justify more impoverishment from bad government policies."

The Biden administration announced on Tuesday that it would sell off one million barrels of gasoline over the coming weeks from a strategic reserve in the Northeast, a move it said was designed to keep gasoline prices in check for consumers ahead of the July 4 holiday.

President Joe Biden's administration will sell nearly 1 million barrels of gasoline in the U.S.-managed stockpile in northeastern states as required by law, the Department of Energy said on Tuesday, effectively closing the near decade-old reserve.

The department created the Northeast Gasoline Supply Reserve in 2014 after Superstorm Sandy left motorists scrambling for fuel. But storing refined fuel is costlier than storing crude oil, so closing the reserve was included in U.S funding legislation signed in March by Biden, a Democrat.

The Biden administration announced Tuesday that it will sell off 1 million barrels of gasoline held in case of emergencies — with the Energy Department explicitly citing an interest in keeping gas prices low over the summer driving season ahead of the November election.

The fuel will be released from the Northeast Gasoline Supply Reserve, a component of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve that was established in 2014 after Superstorm Sandy disrupted gasoline supplies in the New York City area.

President Biden jolted the energy and climate worlds by pausing liquefied natural gas export approvals, and in doing so stirred up several political and business risks ahead of the 2024 election.

The big picture: The Energy Department announced on Friday it would freeze new permits as officials reassess the climate, energy security and market effects.

Why it matters: The decision has already become part of Trump vs. Biden, the sequel. On Friday, the former president and presumptive GOP nominee released a statement bashing the decision.

A study from Cornell University released last November suggested that LNG is worse for the climate than coal. Little did anyone know at the time that this study would put the U.S. federal government in a dilemma at a time when the country leads the world in LNG exports.

The nature of the dilemma is of the sort that could put a quick end to that leadership. Either that or cost the Democrats some votes from environmentalists.