Weekly Spotlight: A Grand American Tour
“Operation Midway Blitz” is reportedly being wound down — but the administration is already eyeing its next targets.
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ABUSING POWER AND RIGHTS
Greg Bovino’s grand American tour
“Operation Midway Blitz” is reportedly being wound down — but the administration is already eyeing its next targets. Greg Bovino, the Border Patrol official who has led the violent and aggressive crackdown in Chicago (and Los Angeles before it) will be “taking it on the road” to Charlotte, North Carolina, and New Orleans, Louisiana, next, according to current and former officials. In Chicago, Bovino violated a federal court order restricting the use of tear gas against demonstrators — and was even caught in a blatant lie about it. POGO has long held concerns about Customs and Border Protection's use of excessive force and a lack of accountability for agents’ abuses. Bovino’s reign in Los Angeles and Chicago has made that especially apparent.
- The Supreme Court is still considering whether to allow the Trump administration to deploy the National Guard in Illinois — whatever it decides will have ramifications in every state. In a new filing to the Supreme Court, the Justice Department argued that the president has final say over the Guard and that “the courts must grant extraordinary deference” to the president on the matter.
- If National Guard troops can be deployed on a president’s whim alongside an unaccountable force of federal agents, we could see both turn into personal police forces for the president, threatening your constitutional rights.
POGO INVESTIGATIONS DESK
Under Greg Bovino, Border Patrol agents used force more than anywhere else in the agency
U.S. Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino, center, pictured with border patrol agents at an immigrant processing center in Broadview, Illinois, September 27, 2025. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Border Patrol agents in the El Centro Sector have reported using force on other people more than three times as many times as they have faced assaults — a ratio higher than anywhere else in the agency — according to federal data. Read the breaking investigation on pogo.org.
- Check out the coverage of our investigation in Migrant Insider and The Daily Beast.
CHECKS AND (IM)BALANCES
Impasse over
After well over a month, the federal government reopened after members of Congress reached a deal to fund the government through Jan. 30, 2026. The deal does include some small wins for accountability. The resolution reverses any firings that were carried out during the shutdown, and it prevents further reductions in force through January 30, 2026. The deal also ensures the GAO will retain the same level of funding it had last year as well as its authority to sue for impoundments, both of which were under threat by the House appropriations bill earlier this year. By doing so, Congress is protecting one of its most critical oversight and accountability mechanisms.
- For a refresher on how we ended up in this shutdown in the first place, read POGO’s Faith Williams’ analysis. (hint: it’s executive overreach).
- Read More: The Power Grab That Embodies Trumpism (The New York Times)
FOLLOW THE MONEY
Pentagon spending back in the spotlight
(Illustration: Ren Velez / POGO)
With the federal government reopened and the House back in Washington, DC, we’re expecting lawmakers in the House to pick back up with the annual defense policy bill. POGO has been pushing lawmakers all year to include crucial reforms in the legislation, like giving service members the right to repair their equipment. We’ll now enter the final sprint to make sure those provisions make it into the final bill so that we can ultimately see the Pentagon spend its dollars a bit more wisely.
- But across the river at the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has announced some acquisition reforms that could exacerbate waste and reduce much needed accountability in the weapons building process.
- Deep dive: Learn more about how the right to repair will reduce waste and improve military readiness.
