The Paper Trail: January 28, 2025

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Top stories for January 28, 2025

New Schedule F guidance shows the Trump White House is rearing for a fight: OMB will bypass the regulatory process to implement Schedule F (now called Schedule Policy/Career), a controversial plan to strip tens of thousands of federal workers of their civil service protections. Acting OPM Director Charles Ezell claims the president has the constitutional authority to unilaterally rescind regulations governing federal employees. (Erich Wagner, Government Executive)

🔎 See Also: Loyalty tests and MAGA checks: Inside the Trump White House’s intense screening of job-seekers (Matthew Lee, Aamer Madhani, and Jill Colvin, Associated Press)

Trump defends ousting at least 15 independent inspectors general in late-night purge: The White House on Friday night moved to oust the inspectors general of nearly every Cabinet-level agency in an unprecedented attempted purge that could clear the way for Trump to install loyalists in these watchdog posts. The move appeared to violate federal law, which requires Congress to receive 30 days’ notice of any intent to fire a Senate-confirmed IG. (David Nakamura, Lisa Rein, and Matt Viser, Washington Post)

🔎 See Also: Trump IG firings leave in doubt future of oversight (Rebecca Beitsch, The Hill)

Trump administration moves swiftly to shake up top career Justice Dept. ranks: Senior DOJ officials were transferred to areas outside their expertise, including a newly created task force focused on going after sanctuary cities. The environmental division was ordered to freeze enforcement efforts. Top officials overseeing the immigration court system were fired. (Devlin Barrett, Karen Zraick, and Charlie Savage, New York Times)

Top USAID career staff placed on immediate leave: The order appears to affect nearly every career staffer who holds a top leadership role at the agency — around 60 officials — and leaves many offices entirely devoid of senior non-political leadership. (Nahal Toosi, Daniel Lippman, and Robbie Gramer, Politico)

Trump administration directs widespread pause of federal loans and grants: A memo issued last night by acting OMB director Matthew Vaeth directs federal agencies to temporarily pause “all activities related to obligation or disbursement of all Federal financial assistance.” The memo states that it shouldn’t be “construed” to impact Social Security or Medicare or “assistance provided directly to individuals.” (Brett Samuels, The Hill)

🔎 See Also: Trump’s move to freeze Biden-approved funding draws howls from Democrats (Aris Folley and Rachel Frazin, The Hill)

🔎 See Also: State Department issues immediate, widespread pause on foreign aid(Robbie Gramer, Nahal Toosi, and Eric Bazail-Eimil, Politico)

“A fantastic guy:” Trump again welcomes Saudi Arabia’s leader. Is that a problem? President Trump’s first call with a foreign head of state since taking office was with Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, a country with which Trump and his family have current and pending business deals worth potentially billions of dollars. (Josh Meyer, USA Today)

Insurrection

Justice Department fires officials who investigated Trump and launches “special project” into January 6 cases: The DOJ fired more than a dozen officials who worked on the criminal investigations into Donald Trump, while the interim U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C., launched an investigation into prosecutors who brought obstruction charges against some January 6 rioters that were later overturned by the Supreme Court. (Hannah Rabinowitz, Katelyn Polantz, and Paula Reid, CNN)

Trump pardoned the January 6 convicts. Now his DOJ is wiping evidence of rioters’ crimes from the internet: The DOJ removed from its website a searchable database detailing the vast array of criminal charges and successful convictions of January 6 rioters. Also taken offline were a compendium of wanted January 6 suspects and information about the unsolved case of pipe bombs found outside the headquarters for the Republican and Democratic national committees. (Donie O'Sullivan and Katelyn Polantz, CNN)

🔎 See Also: Man pardoned in Jan. 6 riot is fatally shot by sheriff’s deputy during traffic stop (Michael Levenson, New York Times)

🔎 See Also: Trump pardoned a Jan. 6 rioter. Now he’s “at large” for a crime (Brandi Buchman, HuffPost)

Defense and Veterans Affairs

Trump signs executive orders for military, focusing on transgender service members, COVID, diversity: President Trump directed the Pentagon to determine a policy for transgender service members within 30 days. While it doesn’t immediately ban transgender service members, the order states that the DOD’s policy for troop readiness is “inconsistent with the medical, surgical, and mental health constraints on individuals with gender dysphoria.” (Kathryn Watson, Eleanor Watson, and Sara Cook, CBS News)

Trump order blocks families of U.S. troops from leaving Afghanistan: An estimated 200 family members of U.S. troops are stuck in Afghanistan and blocked from relocating to the U.S. due to a new executive order. (Riley Ceder, Military Times)

🔎 See Also: Afghans who helped the U.S. are in dangerous limbo after Trump's order on refugees (Diaa Hadid and Juliana Kim, NPR)

Problems with Tricare contract transition “actively harming” military, lawmaker tells Pentagon: Rep. Marilyn Strickland is concerned that the Defense Health Agency’s lack of oversight of TriWest Healthcare Alliance is hurting military readiness. She said she has heard from dozens of constituents who have been frustrated by poor communications and the process of getting medical care. (Patricia Kime, Military.com)

Business and Finance

E.V. owners don’t pay gas taxes. So, many states are charging them fees: States are using higher registration fees for electric cars to make up for declining fuel taxes, but environmentalists and consumer groups say some of those fees appear to be punitive. (Jack Ewing, New York Times)

FCC chair helps ISPs and landlords make deals that renters can’t escape: FCC Chairman Brendan Carr dropped the previous administration’s proposal to ban arrangements in which tenants are required to pay for broadband, cable, and satellite service provided by a specific communications provider, even if they don’t want the service or would prefer to use another provider. (Jon Brodkin, Ars Technica)

Tech

Which L.A. fire victims get money on GoFundMe — and who gets left out? Since its launch in 2010, GoFundMe has established itself as the prevailing way for individuals to fundraise online. The platform, however, is also rife with inequality: A growing body of research has shown that GoFundMe fundraisers tend to favor white, wealthy, and highly educated people. (Jonah Valdez, The Intercept)

Health Care

CDC ordered to stop working with WHO immediately, upending expectations of an extended withdrawal: A CDC official ordered all agency staff who work with the World Health Organization to immediately stop their collaborations and “await further guidance.” Experts say the sudden stoppage would set back work on investigating and trying to stop growing public health threats including bird flu. (Mike Stobbe, Associated Press)

Insurers failed to comply with mental health coverage law, Department of Labor report finds: The U.S. Department of Labor found widespread noncompliance and violations of federal law in how health plans and insurers cover mental health care. The report also detailed the results of secret shopper surveys of more than 4,300 mental health providers and found an “alarming proportion” were “unresponsive or unreachable.” (Duaa Eldeib et al., ProPublica)

ICYMI

Immigration and Border Security:

→ What ending birthright citizenship could look like in the U.S.

→ Colombia agrees to accept deportation flights after Trump threatens tariffs

→ A Chicago school said ICE agents visited. It was the Secret Service

Other News:

→ Social Security boost may not come for more than a year for many Americans

→ CIA now says COVID most likely originated from a lab leak but has “low confidence” in its assessment

→ Rent rose by 20 percent across L.A. County after fires. That’s illegal

→ UnitedHealth confirms 190 million Americans affected by Change Healthcare data breach

→ TikTok-loaded phones are selling for thousands online after law prevents new downloads

→ What happened when America emptied its youth prisons

Upcoming Events

📌 Nomination of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to be Secretary of HHS. Senate Committee on Finance. Wednesday, January 29, 10:00 a.m., 215 Dirksen Senate Office Building.

📌 Nomination of Kelly Loeffler to be Administrator of SBA. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship. Wednesday, January 29, 2:30 p.m., 428A Russell Senate Office Building.

📌 Nomination of Daniel Driscoll to be Secretary of the Army. Senate Committee on Armed Services. Thursday, January 30, 9:30 a.m., G50 Dirksen Senate Office Building.

📌 Nomination of Kash Patel to be Director of the FBI. Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Thursday, January 30, 9:30 a.m., 216 Hart Senate Office Building.

📌 Nomination of Tulsi Gabbard to be Director of National Intelligence. Senate Committee on Intelligence. Thursday, January 30, 10:00 a.m., 106 Dirksen Senate Office Building.

📌 Nomination of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to be Secretary of HHS. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. Thursday, January 30, 10:00 a.m., 562 Dirksen Senate Office Building.

Hot Docs

🔥📃 Minority Staff of the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary: The Failure to Provide Adequate Care to Vulnerable Individuals in CBP Custody. January 24, 2025 (PDF)

Nominations & Appointments

Appointments

• Lea Bardon - Special Assistant to the President and Director of Cabinet Affairs
• Hailey Borden - Special Assistant to the President and Director of Business Outreach in the Office of Public Liaison
• Dan Boyle - White House Director of Research
• Thomas Bradbury - Associate Director for Policy
• Cami Connor - Associate Director for Agency Outreach
• Kush Desai - Deputy Press Secretary
• Kaelan Dorr - Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Communications Director
• Harrison Fields - Special Assistant to the President and Principal Deputy Press Secretary
• Alex Flemister - Director of Strategic Initiatives in the Office of Public Liaison
• Jim Goyer - Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of the Office of Public Liaison
• Dylan Johnson - Special Assistant to the President and Assistant Communications Director for Special Projects
• Ian Kelley - Special Assistant to the President and War Room Director
• Anna Kelly - Deputy Press Secretary
• Jacki Kotkiewicz - Policy Communications Director
• Sonny Joy Nelson - Special Assistant to the President and Media Affairs Director
• Charyssa Parent - Congressional Communications Director
• Lynne Patton - Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of Minority Outreach
• Johanna Persing - Cabinet Communications Director
• Alex Pfeiffer - Deputy Assistant to the President and Principal Deputy Communications Director
• Brette Powell - Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of the Office of Public Liaison
• Jake Schneider - Rapid Response Director

Pardons & Commutations

• Pardons of people convicted under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act