Top Democrats on Capitol Hill are raising concerns about the Trump transition team's push to identify Department of Energy (DOE) employees who have worked on climate change issues.

In a Wednesday letter to Vice President-elect Mike Pence Michael (Mike) Richard PenceThe Hill's 12:30 Report: Ginsburg lies in repose Buttigieg stands in as Pence for Harris's debate practice Trump argues full Supreme Court needed to settle potential election disputes MORE, top Democrats on the House Oversight and Energy committees called the inquiry "troubling," saying it could pose an “ideological 'litmus test' to career civil servants.”

“We are concerned that these efforts to single out particular Department employees involved in efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions may be an attempt to target DOE employees whose scientific views on climate change differ from those of the incoming Trump administration,” Democratic Reps. Frank Pallone (N.J.) and Elijah Cummings (Md.) wrote.

The letter comes after Trump’s tradition team asked the DOE for a list of employees who have worked on climate change issues during the Obama administration, including the Paris climate deal and carbon emissions accounting.

Democrats want a copy of the letter the transition team sent to the department seeking names of employees who have worked on climate change as well as other communications between Trump officials and federal agencies related to work employees might have done under President Obama.

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Energy officials said Tuesday they would not comply with that request, saying in a statement, “We are going to respect the professional and scientific integrity and independence of our employees at our labs and across our department.”

Trump’s team backed away from the inquiry on Wednesday.

"The questionnaire was not authorized or part of our standard protocol. The person who sent it has been properly counseled," a Trump transition official told CNN.

Democrats fear the effort will endanger DOE employees whose work on climate change may go against the beliefs of Trump, who has called global warming a hoax created by China.

“These unprecedented questions suggest the incoming administration may be preparing to take arbitrary action against civil servants and government contractors simply because they worked, at the request of the Obama administration, on issues pertaining to climate change,” Sen. Maria Cantwell Maria Elaine CantwellHillicon Valley: Zuckerberg acknowledges failure to take down Kenosha military group despite warnings | Election officials push back against concerns over mail-in voting, drop boxes Bipartisan senators call for investigation of popular fertility app The Hill's Coronavirus Report: Mike Roman says 3M on track to deliver 2 billion respirators globally and 1 billion in US by end of year; US, Pfizer agree to 100M doses of COVID-19 vaccine that will be free to Americans MORE (Wash.), the ranking Democrat on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, wrote in a Tuesday letter to Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz Ernest Jeffrey MonizOVERNIGHT ENERGY: Dems press Trump consumer safety nominee on chemical issues | Lawmakers weigh how to help struggling energy industry | 180 Democrats ask House leadership for clean energy assistance Lawmakers weigh how to help struggling energy industry The Hill's Coronavirus Report: Surgeon General stresses need to invest much more in public health infrastructure, during and after COVID-19; Fauci hopeful vaccine could be deployed in December MORE.

“The potential ramifications are chilling.”

The White House supported the Energy Department’s decision on Wednesday.

“Our principle — and this is a principle that presidents in both parties have long abided by — is that we should observe the protections that are in place that ensure that career civil servants are evaluated based on merit and not on politics,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest said.

—This post was updated at 12:24 p.m.