The Paper Trail: May 30, 2025
Trump’s Clemency Spree; FEMA at “High Risk” ahead of 2025 Hurricane Season; MAHA Report Rife with Errors; And More.
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The Paper Trail
Announcements
Making the Most of Your Resources: Working with GAO: POGO’s virtual training on working with GAO will be Friday, June 13 at 12 noon. This event is only open to staff in Congress, GAO, and CRS. Register HERE.
The Office of the Whistleblower Ombuds is hosting a pop-up tabling event on June 4 from 12:30 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. in the Rayburn Cafeteria. Stop by and pick up their latest guides, get your questions answered, and learn more about how you can become certified in the office’s Working with Whistleblowers Curriculum.
Top stories for May 30, 2025
FEMA at “high risk” of disrupting life-saving" disaster relief, per internal memo: An internal memo last week warned FEMA leadership that the agency is at “high risk” of not properly functioning because of “significant personnel losses in advance of the 2025 Hurricane Season.” (Marisa Kabas, The Handbasket)
“The federal government is gone”: Under Trump, the fight against extremist violence is left up to the states: As the Trump administration guts the DHS’s Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships, the main federal office dedicated to preventing domestic terrorism, and redirects counterterrorism personnel and funds, states say they’re now largely on their own in addressing the threat of extremist violence. (Hannah Allam, ProPublica)
🔎 See Also: DHS says it won’t eliminate oversight offices but is still pursuing layoffs (Sean Michael Newhouse, Government Executive)
Death, sexual violence and human trafficking: Fallout from U.S. aid withdrawal hits the world’s most fragile locations: American diplomats in at least two countries have recently delivered internal reports to Washington that reflect a grim new reality taking hold abroad: The sudden withdrawal of foreign aid is bringing about the violence and chaos that many had warned would come. (Brett Murphy and Anna Maria Barry-Jester, ProPublica)
OPM “merit” hiring plan includes bipartisan reforms, politicized new test: Federal job applicants will soon be quizzed about their patriotism and their favorite Trump administration policies as part of the OPM’s new hiring process. OPM also directed agencies to stop collecting data on the demographic makeup of their workforces. (Erich Wagner, Government Executive)
DOJ cutting American Bar Association access to judicial nominees: Attorney General Pam Bondi told the ABA that the Trump administration would no longer cooperate with the organization’s vetting process for judicial nominees. Of Trump’s 264 judicial nominees, the ABA rated 10 as “not qualified.” That stands in contrast with other recent administrations, which had at most three unqualified picks. (Rebecca Beitsch, The Hill)
Trump oversight picks include scandal-hit ex-lawmaker, antiabortion lawyer: After firing inspectors general at 19 agencies, President Trump has named six replacements in recent weeks, including three with clearly partisan backgrounds. Two of those have controversial histories and two have ties to the agency they would be responsible for investigating. (Meryl Kornfield and Lisa Rein, Washington Post)
🔎 See Also: Trump nominates a former far-right podcast host to head an ethics watchdog (Andy Newman, New York Times)
Trump’s clemency spree extends to ex-gangster, artist, former congressmen: President Trump this week extended pardons and commutations to over two dozen people whose crimes included firearm violations, tax evasion, money laundering, and extortion. (Emily Davies, Washington Post)
🔎 See Also: Trump pardoned tax cheat after mother attended $1 million dinner (Kenneth P. Vogel, New York Times)
House Democrat launches investigation of Trump’s meme coin dinner: Since the coin’s debut, Trump-affiliated businesses have received $312 million from crypto sales and $43 million in total fees. At the same time, the White House is pursuing policies that could increase the value of cryptocurrencies. (Cat Zakrzewski, Washington Post)
Trump’s border czar earned consulting fees from immigrant detention firm: Tom Homan, who is leading the administration’s deportation effort, recently earned consulting fees from a division of the GEO Group, one of two companies that operates the vast majority of immigrant detention facilities in the U.S. (Douglas MacMillan and Aaron Schaffer, Washington Post)
Elon Musk & DOGE
A disillusioned Musk, distanced from Trump, says he’s exiting Washington: Elon Musk officially confirmed on Wednesday that his stint as a government employee is coming to an end. (Tyler Pager et al., New York Times)
🔎 See Also: Another top Musk lieutenant appears to be leaving DOGE (Zoë Schiffer, Wired)
Judge lets four more DOGE employees access Treasury payment systems: U.S. District Judge Jeannette Vargas gave DOGE members access to U.S. Treasury systems containing sensitive information after the government provided assurance that the members met training and vetting requirements. (Jon Brodkin, Ars Technica)
Bureau of Land Management ousts official who reportedly resisted DOGE: The reason for the removal of Michael “Mike” Nedd, a 30-year veteran of the Bureau of Land Management, wasn’t immediately clear. But it had been reported that Nedd instructed his office to ignore a May 2 directive from Stephanie Holmes, a former DOGE staffer who is now an acting official at Interior. (Maxine Joselow, Washington Post)
VA-based DOGE associate gets “the boot” after publicly discussing his work: Sahil Lavingia — an engineer, tech startup founder, and CEO of an e-commerce platform — was removed from the DOGE team after an interview was published in which he spoke about finding less inefficiencies at the VA than he expected. (Natalie Alms, Nextgov/FCW)
Weaponization of the Government
Paramount offers millions to Trump to end $20B “60 Minutes” suit & let Skydance merger go through: Paramount has reportedly offered $15 million to settle President Trump’s lawsuit over a “60 Minutes” interview with Kamala Harris, while Trump’s team wants $25 million and an apology from CBS News. Even though the lawsuit is widely seen as meritless, it comes as Paramount is seeking FCC approval of its merger with film company Skydance. (Dominic Patten, Jill Goldsmith, and Ted Johnson, Yahoo News)
🔎 See Also: Shari Redstone in “tough spot” as Paramount board fears settling with Trump will open Pandora’s box on bribery lawsuits (Charles Gasparino, New York Post)
Trump loses another battle in his war against elite law firms: U.S. District Judge Richard Leon struck down President Trump’s executive order targeting the law firm WilmerHale, ruling the order was unconstitutional. Judges have also rejected similarly punitive executive orders aimed at the firms Perkins Coie and Jenner & Block. (Zach Montague, New York Times)
Trump administration targets Harvard again, aims to end more federal contracts: The GSA directed agencies to cancel or redirect contracts with Harvard. The university currently holds about 30 federal contracts worth about $100 million. GSA’s directive cites a litany of concerns with Harvard related to racial discrimination and antisemitism. (Susan Svrluga, Washington Post)
🔎 See Also: Judge blocks Trump administration effort to ban foreign students at Harvard (Susan Svrluga, Washington Post)
NPR sues Trump over executive order cutting federal funding: NPR and three of its member stations sued President Trump over his executive order to cease their federal funding, arguing his order violates the First Amendment’s protections of speech and the press and steps on Congress’ authority. (Kevin Breuninger, NBC News)
Insurrection
Some judges reject DOJ claim that Jan. 6 pardons apply to other crimes: At least ten January 6 defendants accused of other crimes uncovered during investigation of January 6 offenses have invoked Trump’s pardon, and in seven of those cases federal prosecutors sided with the defendants. On four occasions, judges have said no. In four cases, judges granted prosecutors’ requests to dismiss charges. (Tom Jackman, Washington Post)
Police Misconduct
The U.S. is storing migrant children’s DNA in a criminal database: CBP has collected DNA samples from upwards of 133,000 migrant children and teenagers and uploaded the genetic data to a database that can be used by local, state, and federal law enforcement to track them if they commit crimes in the future. Experts worry that, without proper guardrails, this DNA dragnet could eventually be used for more extensive profiling. (Dhruv Mehrotra, Wired)
ICE taps into nationwide AI-enabled camera network, data shows: Data from a license plate scanning tool that is primarily marketed as a crime-fighting tool for small towns is being used by ICE, with the help of local and state police. (Jason Koebler and Joseph Cox, 404 Media)
Defense and Veteran Affairs
Navy secretary “appalled” by barracks conditions in Guam: Newly obtained photos reveal the deteriorating conditions inside the barracks at Andersen Air Force Base that prompted an uproar by Navy officials. "Anybody that’s been to Guam can tell you … if you’re living on base, you’re going to be in crappy quarters," said a U.S. Navy officer. (René Kladzyk, Project On Government Oversight)
White House stunned as Hegseth inquiry brings up illegal wiretap claims: The White House has lost confidence in a Pentagon leak investigation that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth used to justify firing three top aides last month, after advisers were told that the aides had supposedly been outed by an illegal warrantless wiretap. (Hugo Lowell, The Guardian)
See Also: Within Pete Hegseth’s divided inner circle, a “cold war” endures (Dan Lamothe, Washington Post)
Hegseth orders Pentagon’s testing office staff cut by more than half: The Pentagon’s Office of the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E) is in charge of validating weapons and platforms across the U.S. military. Critics say cutting the office’s staff may prevent it from providing adequate oversight. (Ellen Mitchell, The Hill)
As Elon Musk exits government, Hegseth gives DOGE team more influence on Pentagon contracting: The defense secretary issued a memo this week empowering the DOGE team at the Pentagon to provide more input on unclassified contracts. (Jon Harper, DefenseScoop)
Hegseth, Collins promise fixes to post-military transition programs: The two cabinet secretaries didn’t specify what program changes or reforms may come from the review, but they lamented that "there has been a disconnect" between the departments for too long. (Leo Shane III, Military Times)
Business and Finance
Tesla’s great shareholder muzzling of 2025: Tesla’s regulatory win comes amid companies increasingly blocking shareholder resolutions thanks to new corporate-friendly legal guidance from the SEC allowing businesses to crack down on investor activism. (Freddy Brewster, The Lever)
SEC drops charges against Binance, closing major case: The case had been one of the most aggressive actions by federal regulators against a cryptocurrency firm; its dismissal signals a shift in how the government is approaching the industry. The DOJ has already shut down its cryptocurrency crime unit, and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission is expected to be led by a venture capitalist with ties to the industry. (Muhammad Zulhusni, The Block)
Health Care
White House MAHA report may have garbled science by using AI, experts say: Some of the citations in the White House’s “MAHA Report” on children’s health appear to have been generated using AI, resulting in the inclusion of garbled scientific references and nonexistent studies. (Lauren Weber and Caitlin Gilbert, Washington Post)
RFK Jr. ends COVID shot recommendation for healthy children, pregnant women: Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced Tuesday that his agency would no longer recommend the COVID vaccine for healthy pregnant women and healthy children — a rare move that bypasses the traditional system of vaccine recommendations from the CDC. (Rachel Roubein, Washington Post)
RFK Jr. threatens to bar government scientists from publishing in leading medical journals: According to the secretary, the New England Journal of Medicine, the Journal of the American Medical Association, and The Lancet are “corrupt” and publish studies funded by the pharmaceutical industry. (Chelsea Cirruzzo, Politico)
HHS cancels funding for Moderna to develop vaccines to combat bird flu: HHS is pulling millions of dollars it had committed to give Moderna to aid the effort to develop a bird flu vaccine. The department cited Moderna’s use of messenger RNA technology, which it said “remains under-tested.” (Rachel Roubein and Lena H. Sun, Washington Post)
ICYMI
Immigration and Border Security:
→ Judge blocks shutdown of Biden-era migrant entry programs
→ U.S. will “aggressively” revoke visas of Chinese students, Rubio says
→ Trump team pauses new student visa interviews as it weighs expanding social media vetting
→ Checks on migrant children by Homeland Security agents stir fear
→ These Venezuelans are in the U.S. legally, but a Supreme Court order on TPS is upending their lives
→ JD Vance’s campaign plane carried anti-immigrant rhetoric. Now it carries shackled deportees
Other News:
→ Top Democrats in Congress decry White House “lack of transparency” in spending plans
→ Supreme Court limits agency environmental reviews
→ Trump’s Air Force One deal with Qatar not final, despite U.S. claims
→ Tariff rulings inject new uncertainty into Trump trade strategy
→ Trump administration begins cracking down on federal employees’ use of leave for voting
→ U.S. looking into attempt to impersonate Trump chief of staff Susie Wiles
→ CIA interrogator said infamous black site looked “like a Nazi concentration camp”
→ Earth is likely to cross a key climate threshold in two years
Upcoming Events
📌 Safeguarding Procurement: Examining Fraud Risk Management in the Department of Defense. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform; Subcommittee on Government Operations. Wednesday, June 4, 10:00 a.m., 2247 Rayburn House Office Building.
Hot Docs
🔥📃 GAO - Priority Open Recommendations: Department of Housing and Urban Development | Department of Commerce | Social Security Administration
🔥📃 GAO - Nuclear Waste: An Integrated Disposal Plan Could Help DOE Complete Its Cleanup Mission and Save Billions. GAO-25-107109 (PDF)
Nominations & Appointments
Nominations
- Thomas March Bell - Inspector General, Department of Health and Human Services
- Emil Bove - Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
- Sean Buckley - Deputy United States Attorney, Southern District of New York)
- Paul Ingrassia - United States Special Counsel
- Cheryl Mason - Inspector General, Department of Veterans Affairs
Pardons & Commutations
- Kevin Eric Baisden
- Mark Bashaw
- James Callahan
- Julie Chrisley
- Todd Chrisley
- Lawrence Duran
- Kentrell Gaulden
- Michael Grimm
- Michael Harris
- Larry Hoover
- Jeremy Hutchinson
- James Kernan
- Marlene Kernan
- Tanner Mansell
- John Moore
- Marian Morgan
- John Rowland
- Alexander Sittenfeld
- Earl Smith
- Garnett Smith
- Edward Sotelo
- Joe Sotelo
- Charles Tanner
- Charles Scott
- Anabel Valenzuela
- Imaad Zuberi
