government

“The Intern in Charge”: Meet the 22-Year-Old Trump’s Team Picked to Lead Terrorism Prevention
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One year out of college and with no apparent national security expertise, Thomas Fugate is the Department of Homeland Security official tasked with overseeing the government’s main hub for combating violent extremism.
https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-dhs-thomas-fugate-cp3-terrorism-prevention?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

#News #DHS #Extremism #Trump #Security #Terrorism #Government

More than two years after ProPublica sued the Navy, the Department of Defense is mandating public notice of military preliminary hearings.

Legal experts say the new guidance still falls far short of what is required under federal law.

https://www.propublica.org/article/military-courts-access-navy-propublica-lawsuit?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

#News #Government #DOD #Navy #Military #Law

How Many Students Have Been Expelled Under Tennessee’s School Threats Law? There’s No Clear Answer.
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Tennessee gives public agencies wide latitude to refuse to release data. That made it challenging for our reporters to figure out just how many students were affected.

https://www.propublica.org/article/tennessee-school-threat-law-expulsions-data?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

#News #Tennessee #Government #Education #School #Students #Teaching

Vera Rubin Was a Pioneering Female Astronomer. Her Federal Bio Now Doesn’t Mention Efforts to Diversify Science.
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The edits to the webpage offer a glimpse into how far the Trump administration will go in refusing to acknowledge today’s inequalities as it purges federal initiatives promoting diversity, equity and inclusion.

https://www.propublica.org/article/vera-rubin-astronomer-dei-trump?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

#News #Government #DEI #Science #Astronomy #Space #Trump

Texas Lawmakers Pull Funding for Child Identification Kits Again After Newsrooms Report They Don’t Work
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For the second legislative session, lawmakers have withdrawn funding for a company selling kits that promise to help find missing kids after ProPublica and The Texas Tribune reported there’s no evidence to support that claim.
https://www.propublica.org/article/texas-child-id-kits-funding-pulled?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

#News #Texas #Law #Children #Safety #Budget #Government #Policy

We obtained records showing how a DOGE staffer with no medical experience used AI to identify which VA contracts to kill.

His tool concluded that more than a thousand deals were each worth $34 million, when in fact some were for as little as $35,000.
https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-doge-veterans-affairs-ai-contracts-health-care?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

#News #AI #DOGE #Veterans #Health #Healthcare #Government

"A private citizen with zero Constitutional authority is effectively seizing control of critical government functions. 🚨

The Constitution explicitly requires Senate confirmation for anyone wielding significant federal power — a requirement Musk has simply ignored"

https://www.techdirt.com/2025/01/31/elons-twitter-destruction-playbook-hits-the-us-government-and-its-even-more-dangerous/

Here’s a thread with links to articles about the #ElonMusk takeover of the US #government.

Is it a #coup? Will anyone stop it?

#Oligarchy #Politics #USPol #Musk #Trump #GOP #News #USA #US #USNews

ALT

Donald Trump’s choice to lead HUD has a history of voting against protections for poor tenants. And Trump’s choice to lead the IRS once pushed to abolish the agency entirely.

Revisit ProPublica’s reporting on some of Trump’s key appointees:
https://www.propublica.org/article/donald-trump-appointments-cabinet-propublica-reporting?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

#News #Trump #Government #Housing #Tax #Environment #Business #Health

Three Months After Missouri Voted to Make Abortion Legal, Access Is Still Being Blocked
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Reproductive rights are now enshrined in the state constitution, but Missouri’s main abortion provider is fighting legal hurdles to resume offering the procedure. Meanwhile, anti-abortion lawmakers strategize to prevent a return of abortion services.

https://www.propublica.org/article/missouri-abortion-ban-amendment-planned-parenthood-lawsuit?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

#News #Missouri #Abortion #Women #Health #Law #Government

Here is the beginning of the 3rd #thread on Elon Musk's takeover of the US government:

Elon Musk’s Demolition Crew
https://projects.propublica.org/elon-musk-doge-tracker/

"Musk’s team, known as the Dept of Govt Efficiency, has already thrown entire swaths of the federal #government & its programs into disarray — programs that serve millions of #Americans.

#Musk himself has made no secret of his intentions, saying that #DOGE is a “wood chipper for bureaucracy” and that he is “deleting” agencies."

#ElonMusk #Coup #Tech #US

ALT

The Department of Education Told Employees to End Support for Transgender Students
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The directive, which continues the Trump administration’s efforts to curb transgender rights, could end school-based mental health services and support for homeless students.

https://www.propublica.org/article/department-of-education-transgender-students-email?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

#News #Education #Trump #Trans #TransRights #Transgender #Students #Government

Memory-Holing Jan. 6: What Happens When You Try to Make History Vanish?
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The Trump administration’s decision to delete a DOJ database of cases against Capitol riot defendants places those who seek to preserve the historical record in direct opposition to their own government.

https://www.propublica.org/article/january-6-erasure-doj-database-trump-history?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

#News #Jan6 #History #DOJ #Government #Trump

By giving Elon Musk’s engineers access to USAID’s entire digital network, including personal information for thousands of employees, the Trump administration may have violated the Privacy Act of 1974, three experts told ProPublica.

https://www.propublica.org/article/usaid-trump-musk-destruction-may-have-broken-law?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

#News #ElonMusk #Musk #DOGE #USAID #Government #Trump #Law

The Courts Blocked Trump’s Federal Funding Freeze. Agencies Are Withholding Money Anyway.
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Agencies continue to suspend funding, despite multiple court orders blocking the federal freeze. Experts say the Trump administration’s actions set the stage for challenges to Congress’ authority — and the limits of the presidency.

https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-administration-funding-freeze-workarounds?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

#News #Law #Trump #Congress #Government #USPolitics #Funding

President Donald Trump has given Elon Musk sweeping authority to overhaul the U.S. government bureaucracy and its operations around the globe.

ProPublica confirmed the identities and roles of more than 20 key people affiliated with Musk.

https://projects.propublica.org/elon-musk-doge-tracker/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

#News #Musk #ElonMusk #DOGE #Government #USPolitics

ProPublica has identified nine additional Musk-affiliated staffers. A former staffer at Boring Company now has an official role at DOGE in the Executive Office of the President. A former X employee now works in the General Services Administration.

https://www.propublica.org/article/elon-musk-doge-staffers-additional-names?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

#News #ElonMusk #DOGE #Government #USPolitics #Trump

The Trump Administration Keeps Citing an Untrue Stat as It Targets Federal Workers
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A “survey of our niche audience for our niche audience” was the source for the claim that only 6% of federal employees are working full time in their offices. The number isn’t true. Why do the Trump administration and elected officials keep relying on it?
https://www.propublica.org/article/federal-employees-work-from-home-trump-myth?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

#News #Trump #USPolitics #Government #Labor #WFH #Work

While Elon Musk and his underlings demand budget cuts and layoffs across the federal government, funding for the agency they operate — the Department of Government Efficiency — has soared to some $40 million, ProPublica found.

https://www.propublica.org/article/doge-trump-musk-funding-foia-congress-transparency?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

#News #DOGE #ElonMusk #Musk #Government #USPolitics

Public health teams are being gutted, imperiling work to safeguard organ donation and prevent maternal and infant death.

“We are hollowing out our government in a way that is going to hurt people and is going to get people killed.”
https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-federal-workers-public-health-hhs?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

#News #Trump #PublicHealth #Health #Government

Trump Vowed to Clean Up Washington, Then His Team Hired a Man Who Pushed a Scam the IRS Called the “Worst of the Worst”
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Frank Schuler was a leading promoter of a tax deduction derided as a scam by prosecutors, senators and the IRS. Now he’s a senior adviser to the General Services Administration, which manages the federal government’s property.

https://www.propublica.org/article/frank-schuler-gsa-doge-syndicated-conservation-easements-tax-scam?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

#News #Tax #Scam #Trump #IRS #Government #USPolitics

A $3.7 million Capitol Hill townhouse is the D.C. headquarters of a secretive political influence project.

It’s owned by a major GOP donor. But one of the most powerful men in the country recently moved in: House Speaker Mike Johnson.

https://www.propublica.org/article/mike-johnson-evangelical-pastor-steve-berger-roommates?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

#News #Congress #USPolitics #GOP #Government

Secretive D.C. Influence Project Appears to Be Running a Group House for Right-Wing Lawmakers
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Evangelical pastor Steve Berger’s political influence campaign operates out of his D.C. townhouse. In addition to House Speaker Mike Johnson living there, a prominent Trump ally, Rep. Andy Ogles, has the keys.
https://www.propublica.org/article/roommates-steve-berger-mike-johnson-andy-ogles-right-wing-influence-townhouse?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

#News #DC #GOP #Congress #Trump #USPolitics #Government

U.S. Housing Agency Considers Launching Crypto Experiment
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The Department of Housing and Urban Development, which oversees billions in aid and insures more than a trillion dollars in mortgages, is pondering using the blockchain and a stablecoin. One HUD official derided it as “monopoly money.”

https://www.propublica.org/article/hud-considers-crypto-blockchain-stablecoin-housing-urban-development?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

#News #Housing #Crypto #Government #USPolitics #Trump #Blockchain

A high-ranking NASA official warned his employees to “use discretion” in public when displaying badges or emblems that identify them as federal workers — part of an effort, the agency says, to protect its staff amid “stories of possible harassment.”

https://www.propublica.org/article/nasa-official-warns-staff-trump-harassment-federal-workers?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

#News #NASA #Space #Government #USPolitics #Trump

Two Transgender Girls, Six Federal Agencies. How Trump Is Trying to Pressure Maine Into Obedience.
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Maine said it wouldn’t break state law to follow President Donald Trump’s order barring transgender girls from playing girls’ sports. Then came a barrage of investigations and threats targeting the state’s federal funding.

https://www.propublica.org/article/maine-trump-janet-mills-transgender-girls-sports-education-social-security?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

#News #Maine #Trump #Trans #Sports #Girls #USPolitics #Government #LGBTQ #TransRights