The Paper Trail: October 4, 2024

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The Paper Trail

Top stories for October 4, 2024

Nearly all homes in counties hardest hit by Helene lack national flood insurance: Only a tiny fraction of households in the areas hit hardest by Hurricane Helene had flood insurance. Available government disaster aid is largely intended to provide for temporary shelter, food, and water — not to rebuild homes. (Kevin Crowe, Shannon Osaka, and Molly Hennessy-Fiske, Washington Post)

🔎 See Also: How the North Carolina legislature left homes vulnerable to Helene (Christopher Flavelle, New York Times)

🔎 See Also: Mayorkas warns of funding shortfall for rest of hurricane season (Zach Montague, New York Times)

Who will care for Americans left behind by climate migration? Researchers estimate tens of millions of Americans will eventually move away from extreme heat and drought, storms, and wildfires. It will leave behind large swaths of coastal and other vulnerable land where seniors and the poor are very likely to disproportionately remain. (Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica)

An exodus of agents left the Secret Service unprepared for 2024: Punishing hours, dilapidated facilities, and an ill-conceived retiree program left the Secret Service without the personnel it needed in a year of threats and violence. (Eric Lipton and David A. Fahrenthold, New York Times)

Russia-paid influencers, trolls step up efforts to influence U.S. election: Russia’s attempts to influence the election in favor of Donald Trump are accelerating, adding to a sea of misinformation about immigration and Vice President Kamala Harris despite U.S. efforts to blunt the onslaught with indictments, web domain seizures, and public warnings. (Joseph Menn, Washington Post)

🔎 See Also: Justice Department takes action against Russian hacking group (Miranda Nazzaro, The Hill)

Trump still declining federal transition services even as second deadline passes: Both campaigns faced a Tuesday deadline to move into a new stage of the quadrennial transition planning, but Donald Trump’s team is still weighing its options on how or whether to formally work with the government in that process. Its wavering has the potential to hold up preparations for both he and Kamala Harris. (Eric Katz, Government Executive)

Have government employees mentioned climate change, voting or gender identity? The Heritage Foundation wants to know: The conservative think tank Heritage Foundation has filed thousands of FOIA requests over the past two years, clogging the pipeline at federal agencies in an apparent attempt to find government employees a potential Trump administration would want to fire. (Sharon Lerner and Andy Kroll, ProPublica)

Three Mile Island owner seeks taxpayer backing for Microsoft AI deal: Constellation Energy is pursuing a $1.6 billion federal loan guarantee to help finance its plan to restart the shuttered Three Mile Island nuclear plant and sell the electricity to Microsoft. The loan guarantee would allow Constellation to shift to taxpayers much of the risk of reopening the facility. (Evan Halper and Lisa Rein, Washington Post)

End of student loans grace period a potentially perilous time for borrowers: With the on-ramp period and a separate program known as Fresh Start ending and the SAVE plan on hold, student loan borrowers who are struggling to afford their monthly payments have fewer options to avoid going into default. (CBS News)

🔎 See Also: Biden administration can move forward with student loan forgiveness, federal judge rules (Annie Nova, CNBC)

Insurrection

Judge unseals new evidence in federal election case against Trump: In a court filing made public Wednesday, special counsel Jack Smith presented new evidence to make the case for why Donald Trump isn’t immune from prosecution for plotting to overturn the 2020 election. Judge Tanya Chutkan is now determining how much of Smith’s revised indictment can go forward. (Alan Feuer and Charlie Savage, New York Times)

🔎 See Also: The law school dean who quietly worked to overturn the election (Shawn Musgrave, The Intercept)

🔎 See Also: Tina Peters sentenced to 9 years behind bars in voting system data scheme (Ashleigh Fields, The Hill)

Inspectors General

DHS watchdog repeatedly misled Congress, federal probe finds: According to an investigation by the Integrity Committee, which examines misconduct claims against federal inspectors general, DHS IG Joseph Cuffari “engaged in conduct undermining the independence or integrity reasonably expected of his position.” The committee recommended the president take “appropriate action, up to and including removal” of Cuffari. (Nick Schwellenbach, Project On Government Oversight)

🔎 See Also: A watchdog’s war on oversight (Nick Schwellenbach, Project On Government Oversight)

Political Misbehavior

Trump initially refused to give California wildfire aid because it’s a blue state, ex-aide says: Then-President Trump was flagrantly partisan at times in response to disasters, and on at least three occasions he hesitated to give disaster aid to areas he considered politically hostile or ordered special treatment for pro-Trump states. (Scott Waldman and Thomas Frank, E&E News)

Senate Democrats seek probe into DOJ investigation of Trump and Egypt: Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee asked the DOJ’s inspector general to investigate whether the Trump administration “interfered with and, ultimately, blocked” a criminal probe into allegations that the Egyptian government gave Donald Trump $10 million to boost his 2016 campaign. (Aaron C. Davis and Carol D. Leonnig, Washington Post)

Defense and Veterans Affairs

Trump downplays troop brain injuries from Iran attack as ‘headaches’: Pentagon officials said more than 100 U.S. troops were diagnosed with brain injuries following a missile attack at the Ain al-Asad base in Iraq in January 2020. (Leo Shane III, Military Times)

Tech

eBay listings for banned chemicals shielded by Section 230, judge rules: A federal judge ruled against the DOJ, finding that eBay didn’t violate environmental protection and public safety laws by allowing users to sell banned products. (Ashley Belanger, Ars Technica)

AI assistants are blabbing our embarrassing work secrets: Companies are putting AI features into their work products. But AI can’t read the room like humans can, and many users don’t stop to check settings on tools that record and share sensitive information. (Tatum Hunter and Danielle Abril, Washington Post)

Health Care

IV fluid supplies dwindle as Helene closes N.C. manufacturing plant: Hospitals across the country are facing disruptions in the availability of some sterile intravenous fluids, a reflection of the far-reaching consequences of Hurricane Helene and the resulting supply chain interruptions. (Sabrina Malhi and Lizette Ortega, Washington Post)

🔎 See Also: Hurricanes indirectly cause thousands of deaths for nearly 15 years after a storm, study finds (Sara Moniuszko, CBS News)

Watchdog cracking down on medical debt collectors: The CFPB cited illegal tactics debt collectors use when it comes to medical bills: double billing for services covered by insurance, collecting amounts that exceed federal or state caps, falsifying or exaggerating charges, collecting on unsubstantiated bills, and misrepresenting payment obligations and consumers’ ability to contest bills. (Joseph Choi, The Hill)

Condoms aren’t a fact of life for young Americans. They’re an afterthought: Fewer young people are having sex, but teens and young adults who are sexually active aren’t using condoms as regularly, if at all. People ages 15 to 24 made up half of new chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis cases in 2022. (Devna Bose, Associated Press)

ICYMI

Immigration and Border Security:

→ JD Vance explains immigrant deportation priorities if Trump is elected

→ Trump says he will remove TPS and deport Haitian migrants in Springfield

Other News:

→ Trust in U.S. Supreme Court continues to sink

→ SBA’s inspector general will serve double duty in acting Social Security role

→ Capitol police chief: New intel bureau is key as Congress threats rise

→ As fraud scandals erupt in Minnesota on Gov. Tim Walz’s watch, accountability is in short supply

→ Why legacy admissions bans have exploded in the U.S.

Because It’s Friday

Man sentenced to 6 months in prison for effort to create giant sheep hybrids: A Montana man was sentenced to six months in prison after his baaaffling attempt to breed giant sheep hybrids for captive hunting. (Lauren Irwin, The Hill)

Upcoming Events

📌 Zoom Webinar: Project 2025 and our System of Regulatory Safeguards. Coalition for Sensible Safeguards / Center for Progressive Reform. Wednesday, October 9, 3:00 p.m. ET.

Hot Docs

🔥📃 DHS OIG: CBP, ICE, and TSA Did Not Fully Assess Risks Associated with Releasing Noncitizens without Identification into the United States and Allowing Them to Travel on Domestic Flights (REDACTED). OIG-24-65 (PDF)