Published: Thursday, January 21, 2021 Department of Energy headquarters. Photo credit: Francis Chung/E&E News Department of Energy headquarters in Washington. Francis Chung/E&E News A small number of Trump loyalists at the Department of Energy got plum overseas posts following rule changes to reward political appointees. Historically, the department has sent civil servants to cities around the globe for two- to three-year appointments to carry out U.S. energy policy goals like nuclear nonproliferation, security of energy resources and technology transfer. Five sources, who asked not to be identified to talk about internal agency matters, said the Trump administration in 2019 upended the charter of the Overseas Presence Advisory Board so political appointees could take those overseas assignments.