Ignoring urgently needed reforms in favor of fruitlessly trying to find evidence of fraud, DOGE descended on the Social Security Administration “thinking it should work like a McDonald’s,” the agency’s former acting chief reveals to ProPublica.
https://www.propublica.org/article/inside-doge-social-security-takeover-leland-dudek?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post
government
#Connecticut DMV Committee Expands Study of Towing Law to Help Low-Income Residents Get Their #Cars Back
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The working group was created as part of a towing reform law passed in response to a ProPublica and Connecticut Mirror investigation into towing practices in the state.
NEW: Programs for #Students With Hearing and Vision Loss Harmed by Trump’s Anti-Diversity Push
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Federal funding for organizations that help students with hearing and vision loss across eight states will stop at the end of the month, according to letters sent by a top #Education Dept. official and obtained by ProPublica.
We Investigated How Oil Companies Take Millions From Mineral Owners. Now, Some Lawmakers Push for Change.
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For years, North Dakota legislators rejected proposals to protect mineral owners from oil and gas companies withholding their earnings. “Something has to be done,” one lawmaker now says.
https://www.propublica.org/article/north-dakota-lawmakers-oil-gas-royalty-proposals?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post
Senators Demand Names of Foreign Drugmakers Skirting FDA Import Bans
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Citing a recent ProPublica investigation, Rick Scott, R-Fla., and Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., said they had “urgent concerns” about the agency’s oversight of foreign drugmakers and whether medications coming into the U.S. are safe.
https://www.propublica.org/article/senators-letter-fda-drug-import-bans?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post
ProPublica and Other News Organizations Fight to Unseal Texas AG Ken Paxton’s Divorce Records
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A group of eight state and national media organizations are arguing that the records are of public interest, especially in light of Paxton’s bid for a U.S. Senate seat.
https://www.propublica.org/article/ken-paxton-divorce-case-records-unseal?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post
Amid Rise of RFK Jr., Officials Waver on Drinking Water Fluoridation — Even in the State Where It Started
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As federal agencies review their guidance on fluoridation and the nation’s top health official calls fluoride “industrial waste,” state and local governments are pulling back on the practice, upending a decadeslong public health success story.
https://www.propublica.org/article/fluoride-drinking-water-rfk-jr-michigan-cdc-hhs?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post
#News #Health #RFKJr #PublicHealth #Michigan #Water #Government
Spotted on the DC metro 👀
Are you or were you a federal worker? Do you know someone who is?
We're here to listen. You can reach us at propublica.org/tips or 917-512-0201 on Signal.
The video I filmed of an ICE agent shoving a woman to the ground at 26 Federal Plaza, a New York City immigration courthouse, went viral.
Then, in a rare move, the government publicly reprimanded the officer, calling his actions “unacceptable.”
https://www.propublica.org/article/ice-officer-shoves-woman-till-eckert?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post
#News #ICE #Government #NewYorkCity #NYC #Immigration #Court #Video
A previously undisclosed State Department report and interviews reveal accusations that U.S. Ambassador Ronald D. Johnson shielded Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele from U.S. and Salvadoran law enforcement.
https://www.propublica.org/article/ambassador-ronald-johnson-nayib-bukele-trump-el-salvador?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post
🇦🇹 Austria's Armed Forces have replaced MS Office with LibreOffice on 16,000+ workstations 📄
This shift began in 2020 to avoid mandatory cloud reliance ☁️
Their goal? Digital sovereignty—not cost saving 🔒
They even contributed 5+ person-years of code 🛠️
EU trend toward open-source grows 🇪🇺
🔗 https://news.itsfoss.com/austrian-forces-ditch-microsoft-office/
#TechNews #LibreOffice #Linux #OpenSource #Privacy #FOSS #Security #Europe #EU #Microsoft #Cloud #DigitalSovereignty #Government #Defense #Innovation #Technology
Edited 103d ago
Our reporter visited a potential source’s home, where he introduced himself as a reporter and they had a pleasant conversation.
A few days later, VA Secretary Doug Collins sent out a tweet that accused our reporter of trying to “stalk” the employee.
https://www.propublica.org/article/propublica-reaching-out-reporting-obstacles?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post
Trading on Tom Homan: Inside the Push to Cash in on the Trump Administration’s Deportation Campaign
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A Pennsylvania businessman who had Tom Homan on his payroll led companies to believe his connections to the future border czar could help advance their bids for government work, industry executives said.
https://www.propublica.org/article/tom-homan-border-czar-trump-mark-hall-charles-sowell?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post
Democratic and Republican lawmakers across the country tried to push through bills to tighten gift limits, toughen conflict-of-interest provisions or expand financial disclosure reporting requirements. But many of the measures were derailed.
#News #Ethics #Law #Government #Virginia #Texas #NewMexico #NorthDakota #Connecticut #Maine
PFNA can be found in drinking water systems that serve about 26 million people.
The EPA’s toxicity report on the forever chemical has sat in limbo for months, raising concerns that the Trump administration might change it or not release it at all.
https://www.propublica.org/article/epa-pfna-forever-chemical-report?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post
#News #Trump #EPA #Environment #Health #Safety #Water #Government
Ignoring urgently needed reforms in favor of fruitlessly trying to find evidence of fraud, DOGE descended on the Social Security Administration “thinking it should work like a McDonald’s,” the agency’s former acting chief told ProPublica.
One of our most-read investigations of 2025: https://www.propublica.org/article/inside-doge-social-security-takeover-leland-dudek?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post
#DOGE #SocialSecurity #Government #ElonMusk #USPolitics #Musk #News
Federal workers: If you were impacted by the Trump administration's just-announced mass layoffs, our reporters are here to listen.
We understand you may be taking a risk in contacting us, and we take your privacy seriously.
Here's how to get in touch securely 👇
https://www.propublica.org/tips/
In government records that have flown under the radar, President Trump’s EPA said it’s reconsidering whether the agency has the legal authority to update air pollution rules based on new scientific knowledge.
#News #Trump #Environment #Pollution #Government #Regulation #EPA
The death toll from flash floods in Indonesia’s North Sulawesi have risen to 16, with 3 people still unaccounted for. https://www.thestatesignal.com/death-toll-from-flash-floods-in-indonesias-north-sulawesi-at-16/
#thestatesignal #news #floods #weather #environment #climate #government #internationalnews #localnews #indonesia #flashfloods #sulawesi #breakingnews
From the wholesale gutting of federal agencies to the ongoing government shutdown, Russell Vought has drawn the road map for Trump’s second term. Vought has consolidated power to an extent that insiders say they feel like “he is the commander in chief.”
Trump’s DHS appointees have dismantled civil rights guardrails, protected agents’ anonymity and encouraged them to wear masks, threatened groups that stood in their way and overwhelmed challenges to their arrests.
Russell Vought is the architect of President Trump’s broader plan to fire civil servants, freeze government programs and dismantle entire agencies. Here are some key things to know about the D.C. insider who wants to take a hatchet to the federal government.
Elon Musk was the face of DOGE, but records show that Russ Vought, Trump’s budget chief, played a key role in guiding DOGE behind the scenes.
Tomorrow at 6 p.m. ET, head to Reddit to ask our reporter Andy Kroll about Vought’s influence over the Trump presidency: https://www.reddit.com/r/fednews/comments/1o8zj92/im_andy_kroll_a_propublica_reporter_i_just/
#RussellVought #Trump #ElonMusk #DOGE #WhiteHouse #Government #USPolitics #Reddit
Former Veterans Affairs workers: In August, we reported that the VA lost more than 600 doctors and nearly 2,000 nurses this year.
We know that for many of you, the decision to leave the VA could not have been easy. Here’s how you can share your story with us ⤵️
https://www.propublica.org/getinvolved/help-propublica-report-on-leaving-veterans-affairs
#Health #Medicine #Government #Healthcare #PublicHealth #Journalism
Six months after ICE apprehended 47 people, including nine kids, in Hays County, Tex., County Judge Ruben Becerra says DHS has ignored his attempts to get answers:
“We’re not told why they took them, and we’re not told where they took them. By definition, that’s a kidnapping.”
https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-dhs-ice-secret-police-civil-rights-unaccountable?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post
#News #USPolitics #Government #DHS #Immigration #ICE #Trump #Texas