Biden Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm faces calls to resign over alleged ethics violations

AP Photo/Hiro Komae

A group of 15 nonprofits has formally called for the resignation of Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm in a letter sent to President Joe Biden on Tuesday.

The coalition, which claims to advocate for ethics and integrity in government, cites Granholm’s perceived failures to uphold her ethics obligations and the alleged unethical behavior of her subordinates, the Daily Wire reported.

The letter states that the request for Granholm's resignation is based on her repeated apparent violations of federal ethics laws and regulations, as well as the ethical and legal shortcomings of her subordinates. The group attributes these lapses to the poor example set by Granholm.

“We request the immediate resignation of Secretary Jennifer Granholm based not only on her actions – her repeated apparent violations of federal ethics laws and regulations – but also on the ethics failures and legal missteps of her subordinates resulting from her poor example,” the group wrote.

Granholm's ethics issues date back to her initial days as a member of Biden's cabinet. Early concerns arose when the Biden administration promoted the electric bus company Proterra while Granholm still held Proterra stock options, owing to her previous role on the company’s board, Politico reported. Granholm eventually sold her stock in Proterra for $1.6 million before an ethics deadline requiring the divestment. Notably, as a cabinet member, she was allowed to defer paying capital gains taxes on the proceeds of the sale.

Last year, Granholm paid $400 in late fees for failing to disclose up to $240,000 in stock sales in 2021. Though initially denying any legal wrongdoing, her aides later described the oversight as a clerical error. An Energy Department spokeswoman downplayed the matter, focusing instead on the urgency of addressing climate change.

“The planet is warming faster than ever, the cost and impact of extreme weather events are intensifying, and yet what some people are spending their time on is a $400 late fee that was already paid on a clerical oversight,” Energy Department spokeswoman Charisma Troiano said in a statement to Insider.

Granholm faced further scrutiny when she disclosed last month that her husband owned shares in Ford Motor Company, a detail she had not previously revealed. She claimed that she only became aware of the shares in May and that her husband sold them for $2,457.89 on May 15. In April, she had testified to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee that she did not own any individual stocks, later clarifying that she meant she did not own any conflicting stocks. Before her husband's stock sale, Granholm appeared in a video promoting electric vehicles where she drove an electric Ford Mustang, leading to concerns about her promoting the company.

Granholm has also been criticized for violating the Hatch Act, which restricts political speech by federal employees, during an interview with Marie Claire magazine in 2021. The U.S. Office of Special Counsel determined that Granholm had violated the Hatch Act but chose not to discipline her. Further violations could result in disciplinary action.