Civil servant awards get DOGE’d - POLITICO

The Partnership for Public Service’s four honorees this year are: 

Gharun Lacy, Department of State, for finding and stopping a cyberattack by Chinese-tied hackers on the department’s email accounts. 

James Szykman, EPA, for working with NASA on its satellite to track and address air pollution. 

Jill Frisch, formerly of the IRA, for litigating cases against multinational companies that led to the recovery of billions of tax dollars. 

Ransom Baldwin, Curtis Van Tassell and Paul VanRaden, Department of Agriculture, for using DNA research and genetic testing to change dairy cattle breeding, resulting in better milk production and animal health...

 https://www.politico.com/news/2026/05/05/federal-workforce-doge-awards-00906586

 

GOP holdouts not giving up on amendments to Section 702 extension - Live Updates - POLITICO

Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio) is seeking consideration of an amendment to the bill reauthorizing Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, that would prevent data brokers from selling information to the federal government, according to text of the provision obtained exclusively by POLITICO...

 https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2026/04/14/congress/gop-holdouts-not-giving-up-on-amendments-to-section-702-extension-00871419

As the Federal Government Rushes Toward AI, Here Are Three Cautionary Tales — ProPublica

I’ve studied how the federal government has handled — and mishandled — this transition over the past two decades, and my reporting offers some cautionary tales and valuable lessons as policymakers encourage the use of AI and federal agencies adopt the technology.

 https://www.propublica.org/article/federal-government-ai-cautionary-tales

 

Here's What They're NOT TELLING YOU! About the SAVE act.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/z0ip6NrX_9w

 

Understanding the federal government’s influence on student debt - The Washington Post

As the Clinton administration and others found out when they sought to bypass corrupt middlemen by lending directly to students, the loan system proved too big to dismantle. When the middlemen overreached, the lending companies and proprietary schools could declare bankruptcy to escape some creditors, but student borrowers could not. They were stuck. That is, until very recently, when President Joe Biden announced the cancellation of millions of loans — though his latest plans have been blocked by the courts…

https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2024/09/10/burdened-student-debt-crisis-review-liebenthal/

A Trump judge could shut down the federal government in Texas v. Garland - Vox

But the case is a window into Paxton's broader litigation strategy, where he frequently raises weak legal arguments undercutting federal policies before right-wing judges that he has personally chosen because of their ideology. And these judges often do sow chaos throughout the government, which can last months or longer, before a higher court steps in...

https://www.vox.com/politics/2023/2/26/23611826/texas-trump-judge-hendrix-government-shutdown-proxy-voting-omnibus-supreme-court

‘Chaos at the highest levels’: Governors seethe as Trump hinders their ability to buy COVID-19 supplies – Raw Story

President Donald Trump has pushed responsibility for buying medical supplies onto individual governors — but these governors say that the president’s actions are hindering their ability to buy badly needed equipment. Politico reports that governors still say that they are engaging in destructive bidding wars for supplies — and are even having supplies that they do order scooped up by the federal government without explanation.
https://www.rawstory.com/2020/04/chaos-at-the-highest-levels-governors-seethe-as-trump-hinders-their-ability-to-buy-covid-19-supplies/

Crises Like Coronavirus Are Why US Federal Government Exists | Time

The United States currently faces an unprecedented crisis caused by the international pandemic. The nation has the largest number of COVID-19 cases in the world and the numbers are rising exponentially. Many governors have led the offensive against the novel coronavirus in their own states, including notably California’s Gavin Newsom, Ohio’s Mike DeWine, New York’s Andrew Cuomo and Maryland’s Larry Hogan. They have pulled out all the stops acquiring protective gear for medical workers, purchasing ventilators for patients and ordering strict shelter-in-place measures to slow the spread of the virus.
https://time.com/5815477/founders-constitution-pandemic/

Illinois governor fires back after Trump says states were unprepared: He 'does not understand the word federal' | TheHill

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) slammed President Trump early Sunday, saying after the president suggested states should have prepared their own stockpiles of equipment ahead of the coronavirus pandemic that Trump does not understand the word "federal." “The president does not understand the word federal. Federal Emergency Management Agency. We have a state Emergency Management Agency, but if he were right, why would we ever need a Federal Emergency Management Agency?” Pritzker said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “It’s because individual states can't possibly do what the federal government can do.”
https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/491219-illinois-gov-fires-back-after-trump-says-states-were-unprepared-he

Trump team now 'racing' to allow federal workers to work from home—after killing prior programs

We are now entering the crisis phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. It did not have to be that way, but the Trump team's preparedness delays appear to have damaged the U.S. response to the outbreak so severely, in the still-ongoing inability to test patients even in known outbreak centers, that we still have no idea what the true number of exposed and infected Americans truly is. This renders "containment" impossible. At the moment it seems likely that the path of the pandemic in America will be following that of Italy, where hospitals are overwhelmed, rather than the effective, test-heavy slow-and-contain strategy of South Korea. ....
https://www.dailykos.com/story/2020/3/11/1926531/-Trump-team-now-racing-to-allow-federal-workers-to-work-from-home-after-killing-prior-programs

President's power to can independent agency heads faces test - ABC News

A case being argued at the Supreme Court on Tuesday could threaten the structure of agencies that form an enormous swath of the federal government ....
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/presidents-power-independent-agency-heads-faces-test-69318857

How the Federal Government Undermines Prison Education - The Intercept

Access to education behind bars lowers the odds of recidivism by 48 percent. So why is there still a ban on Pell Grants for prisoners? ....
https://theintercept.com/2019/02/18/pell-grants-for-prisoners-education-behind-bars/

Tech firms step up to confront online threats. But some ask, what about the White House? - The Washington Post

Technology giants increasingly are casting themselves as defenders of online integrity as American democracy, yet again, comes under attack. A recent string of revelations from companies including Facebook, Microsoft and Google about foreign hacking and disinformation amount to a public answer to charges that the technology industry should have done more to thwart Russia’s online attacks in 2016.

But highly publicized moves by Facebook, Twitter, Microsoft and YouTube against Russian and Iranian online meddling have thrown into sharp relief the comparatively low-key response by the federal government. ....
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2018/08/24/tech-firms-step-up-confront-online-threats-some-ask-what-about-white-house/

How Trump's 'War' On The 'Deep State' Is Leading To The Dismantling Of Government (Terry Gross, Fresh Air)

New Yorker staff writer Evan Osnos says that hundreds of non-partisan civil servants, considered not loyal enough to the administration, have been marginalized or pushed out of government entirely.
Interview:
https://www.npr.org/2018/05/17/611922875/how-trump-s-war-on-the-deep-state-is-leading-to-the-dismantling-of-government

Why isn’t homelessness seen as a national crisis? -- Curbed

Cities call on the federal government to confront the growing numbers of homeless residents ....
https://www.curbed.com/2018/2/1/16956732/homelessness-hud-housing-mayors

These are the obscure Trump staffers who are systematically dismantling the federal government -- ThinkProgress.org

In August 2016, a day after then-presidential candidate Donald Trump announced some of his economic plans, he called in to Fox Business Network to discuss those plans with host Maria Bartiromo. In their conversation, Trump insisted his assault on government programs would not have any negative ramifications. ....
https://thinkprogress.org/donald-trump-secret-hatchet-team-e6504833c75d/

Does Trump Want to Reduce Crime or Cut Medicaid? He Can't Do Both -- Newsweek

The federal government wants to allow states to pursue work requirements for Medicaid. ....
http://www.newsweek.com/trump-crime-medicaid-healthcare-710075

A Congressional Watchdog Is Warning Washington to Prepare for Costly Climate Change -- TIME

The Government Accountability Office said climate change impacts could cost the federal government $35 billion per year by mid-century ....
http://time.com/4994494/us-climate-change-cost-gao-report/

Nurses returning from Puerto Rico accuse the federal government of leaving people to die - Vox

"We cannot be silent while millions of people continue to endure these conditions."...
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/10/26/16553748/puerto-rico-nurses-fema

8 Times Bernie Sanders Made a Total Fool of Ted Cruz During Their Town Hall Debate | Alternet

After failing miserably to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, Republicans have set their sights on tax reform, confident that if there's one thing the party can agree on, it's tax cuts for the rich. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin has even suggested the "markets may tank” should the government fail to provide financial relief for the people who need it least.

Against this backdrop, Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT) held a town hall Wednesday night to debate not just the benefit of tax reform, but the very function of federal government.....
https://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/8-times-bernie-sanders-made-total-fool-ted-cruz-during-their-town-hall-debate