Inquiries from Donald Trump’s transition team to federal agencies about their work on hot-button issues like climate change and 'violent extremism' -- and about the staffers involved -- have spurred questions over what the incoming administration has planned for those programs. His team, in the roughly seven weeks since the election, has posed such questions to the departments of Energy, State and Homeland Security. Critics of President-elect Trump have suggested the inquiries are a sign his administration intends to gut key programs and punish the staffers involved. Republican defenders, though, say these concerns are overblown.
