The Paper Trail: September 9, 2025

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The Paper Trail

Announcements

How to: Write a Request Letter: POGO’s virtual training on how to write a request letter will be held on Friday, September 12, at 12 noon EDT. This event is only open to staff in Congress, GAO, and CRS. Register HERE.

Top stories for September 9, 2025

A military approach to drug busts upends U.S. efforts and raises legal questions: The Trump administration has indicated more military strikes on drug targets could be coming, as it faces mounting questions about the legality of last week’s military strike on a vessel off Venezuela. The Pentagon has been silent about details of the strike, such as what service carried it out, what weapons were used, and how it was determined that the vessel was operated by Tren de Aragua or carrying drugs. (Konstantin Toropin and Joshua Goodman, Military.com)

🔎 See Also: Top Biden-era official warns U.S. could stumble into “disastrous” intervention in Venezuela (Tom Phillips, The Guardian)

Chief justice allows Trump to fire a Democratic FTC commissioner for now: Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts didn’t offer a reason for the ruling, but it signals that the high court may be inclined to overturn the lower court ruling that FTC Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter’s removal was illegal. (Justin Jouvenal, Washington Post)

Whistleblower complaints detail tension over vaccines at NIH: Two prominent federal government scientists claim they were removed from leadership positions at the NIH after objecting to the administration’s efforts to undermine vaccines, flout court orders, withhold research money, and politicize the grant-making process. The scientists described a “hostility” toward vaccines that has taken hold in the upper echelons of the NIH. (Benjamin Mueller, New York Times)

FEMA’s staffing shortages have hindered past disaster recovery efforts, GAO says. Now the agency has even fewer workers: GAO found that FEMA has reassigned employees working on ongoing disaster recovery to respond to new disasters and deployed staffers to perform jobs they’re not trained to do. (Sean Michael Newhouse, Government Executive)

Shortly after laying off hundreds, State hires new class of foreign service staff: Less than 10 weeks after the State Department laid off hundreds of foreign service officers, citing bureaucratic bloat, it’s beginning to bring nearly 100 new ones on. A laid-off staffer called the approach “totally inefficient and the definition of wasteful government spending.” (Eric Katz, Defense One)

Senator’s visit to spy agency was canceled after Laura Loomer complained: Last week, the Pentagon canceled a classified visit to the Virginia headquarters of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency by Senator Mark Warner after far-right conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer complained. Loomer, who isn’t employed by the government and doesn’t hold a security clearance, said she was told of the classified visit by a person inside the intelligence community. (Julian E. Barnes, Robert Draper, and Robert Jimison, New York Times)

Analysis: Executive overreach could shut down the government: So-called “pocket rescissions” could be the final blow to an already-dysfunctional appropriations process. (Faith Williams, Project On Government Oversight)

Trump’s pick for Federal Reserve plans to keep his White House job while on Fed: Federal Reserve board of governors nominee Stephen Miran, a senior White House economic adviser, said that he doesn’t plan to resign from the Trump administration if confirmed — an unusual arrangement that raises concerns about the central bank’s independence. (Andrew Ackerman, Washington Post)

Trump Administration quietly seeks to build national voter roll: The DOJ’s effort to establish a national voting database has elicited concerns among voting rights experts because it’s led by Trump and allies who still refuse to acknowledge Joe Biden fairly won the 2020 election. It also raises worries that those same officials could use the data to try to discredit future election results. (Devlin Barrett and Nick Corasaniti, New York Times)

Trump will host G20 summit in 2026 at his Doral resort: President Trump said he would host next year’s Group of 20 summit at the Trump National Doral golf club, ignoring the glaring ethical concerns that led him to drop a similar idea during his first term. (Erica L. Green and Chris Cameron, New York Times)

Analysis: It’s finally time to ban congressional stock trading: The effort to ban congressional stock trading has gained momentum recently. Prominent figures from both political parties, including President Trump, have weighed in with support for a ban. (Dylan Hedtler-Gaudette, Project On Government Oversight)

🔎 See Also: Rep. Luna’s investment in a donor’s energy firm illustrates potential limits of a stock trading ban (Scott Wong, NBC News)

Elon Musk & DOGE

The untold saga of what happened when DOGE stormed Social Security: Social Security officials said they welcomed DOGE — the agency needs a technological overhaul — only to see DOGE ignore them and prioritize quick, often empty, wins. (Eli Hager, ProPublica)

Weaponization of the Government

Justice Dept. opens criminal inquiry into Lisa Cook, elevating Trump’s claims: The DOJ opened a mortgage fraud investigation into Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook. The move was instigated by Ed Martin, a Trump loyalist with little prosecutorial experience who leads the department’s weaponization task force. (Glenn Thrush, Devlin Barrett, and Tony Romm, New York Times)

🔎 See Also: Trump is accusing foes with multiple mortgages of fraud. Records show 3 of his cabinet members have them (Robert Faturechi, Justin Elliott, and Alex Mierjeski, ProPublica)

Epstein Files

House committee releases more Epstein documents, including “birthday book”: The House Oversight Committee released hundreds of pages of documents it received from Jeffrey Epstein’s estate, including a redacted version of a sexually explicit “birthday book” containing a suggestive picture and note allegedly drawn by President Trump. (Kadia Goba and Katie Tarrant, Washington Post)

In undercover video, staffer claims DOJ will hide Republican names in Epstein files: Joseph Schnitt, acting deputy chief of the DOJ’s Office of Enforcement Operations, was caught on video saying that the department would redact Republican names from its investigative files on Jeffrey Epstein and “leave all the liberal, Democratic people in those files.” He also said that Ghislaine Maxwell was recently moved to a lower-security prison “to keep her mouth shut.” (Arthur Delaney, HuffPost)

DOJ says names of two associates Epstein wired $100k and $250k to should stay secret: The DOJ asked a federal judge to deny a request from NBC News to unseal the names of two associates who received large payments from Jeffrey Epstein in 2018. As part of a plea deal Epstein received in Florida in 2008, federal prosecutors promised not to prosecute the two individuals. (Tom Winter, NBC News)

Reproductive Freedom

States face off ferociously over abortion shield laws: Texas and New York are at the leading edge of an escalating states’ rights battle over the mailing of abortion pills to patients in states with bans. (Pam Belluck, New York Times)

Middle East Conflicts

Democrats blast state department for lack of “basic oversight” of controversial Gaza food organization: Democratic senators asked Secretary of State Marco Rubio and U.S. ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee for details about the financing and oversight of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation amid concerns over rising death tolls near aid sites, the group’s apparent coordination with the Israeli army, and its reported use of private military contractors linked to intelligence operations. (Andrew Roth, The Guardian)

Defense and Veterans Affairs

Pentagon-funded research aided Chinese military, House GOP report says: According to a report by House Republicans on the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, the Pentagon funded hundreds of projects done in collaboration with universities in China and institutes linked to that nation’s defense industry, including many blacklisted by the U.S. government for working with the Chinese military. (Didi Tang and Collin Binkley, Military Times)

Pentagon cuts back F-35 upgrades to slow schedule slips: “The F-35 remains critical to our national defense, as well as that of our partners and allies, and is expected to retain critical roles for decades to come,” according to a GAO report. “After nearly 20 years of aircraft production, however, the F-35 program continues to overpromise and underdeliver.” (Stephen Losey, Military Times)

Army’s M7 rifle will get fewer independent and real-world tests, watchdog warns: The Army’s new generational replacement for the M4-style rifles that infantry soldiers have carried into battle for nearly 50 years will receive less independent and real-world testing after it was taken off a Pentagon oversight list. The new M7 rifle came under heavy criticism from an Army captain who called it a “tactically outdated service rifle” with a “mechanically unsound design.” (Patty Nieberg, Task & Purpose)

That’s not a real soldier: Campaign warns troops, families of AI scams: As computer-generated fraud becomes easier to create and spread, advocates worry the military community will become an even more attractive target for scammers. (Leo Shane III, Military Times)

Business and Finance

Trump Administration halts IRS crackdown on major tax shelters: The Treasury Department is rolling back efforts to shut down tax avoidance strategies used by America’s biggest multinational companies and wealthiest people. The IRS is even turning on its own staff involved in anti-tax-shelter work. (Jesse Drucker, New York Times)

Google avoids harshest penalties in landmark search monopoly ruling: U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta ruled last week that Google must hand over its search results and some data to competitors but doesn’t need to sell off its Chrome web browser. Mehta also put restrictions on payments Google uses to ensure its search engine gets prime placement in web browsers and on smartphones. The decision fell short of the remedies proposed by the DOJ. (David McCabe, New York Times)

Ticketmaster just locked you in a new legal prison: Ticketmaster recently inserted language into its user agreement that steers customer lawsuits into a corporate-friendly private justice system, just months after a federal court ruled the company’s use of such arbitration processes was illegal. (Luke Goldstein, The Lever)

Tech

“Unrestrained” Chinese cyberattackers may have stolen data from almost every American: Experts and officials concluded that the yearslong Salt Typhoon attack may have stolen information from nearly every American, and the stolen data could allow Chinese intelligence services to exploit global communication networks to track targets in the U.S. and dozens of other countries. (Adam Goldman, New York Times)

U.S. tech companies enabled the surveillance and detention of hundreds of thousands in China: Across China, tens of thousands of people tagged as troublemakers are trapped in a digital cage, barred from leaving their province and sometimes even their homes by the world’s largest digital surveillance apparatus. Most of this technology came from American companies. (Dake Kang and Yael Grauer, Associated Press)

Meta suppressed research on child safety, employees say: Meta publicly committed to making child safety a top priority across its platforms. But current and former employees allege Meta suppressed research that might have illuminated potential safety risks to children and teens on the company’s virtual reality devices and apps. (Jon Swaine and Naomi Nix, Washington Post)

🔎 See Also: Whistleblower sues Meta over claims of WhatsApp security flaws (Cecelia Kang, New York Times)

Health Care

“If I live to 25, I’ve lived a good life”: Wildland firefighters inhale poisons that are linked to more than a dozen kinds of cancer. Many are falling gravely ill, and some are dying at young ages. But when these firefighters get sick, they don’t all receive the same help: The laws that protect government workers don’t extend to contractors. (Hannah Dreier, New York Times)

Trump’s Medicaid cuts will hurt children’s hospitals: Children’s hospitals stand to lose billions of dollars in revenue under the president’s tax and spending law, under which about 7.5 million Americans will lose Medicaid coverage by 2034. (Phil Galewitz, NPR)

ICYMI

Immigration and Border Security:

→ Supreme Court lifts limits on immigration raids in the Los Angeles area

→ ICE launches “Operation Midway Blitz” targeting immigrants in Chicago

→ Trump administration investigates Medicaid spending on immigrants in blue states

→ Trump administration targets financial relief for undocumented students

→ Riots and abuse troubled these former prisons. ICE plans to reopen them

→ Report: Federal agencies have deployed nearly 33,000 employees to assist ICE

→ ICE obtains access to Israeli-made spyware that can hack phones and encrypted apps

→ Immigration detentions of military family members spark lawmaker probe

Other News:

→ Scientists denounce Trump administration’s climate report

→ Alarm after FBI arrests U.S. Army veteran for “conspiracy” over protest against ICE

→ Navy reverses demotion of Rep. Ronny Jackson

→ Appeals court denies Trump effort to toss $83 million judgment in E. Jean Carroll case

→ Congressman’s brother lands no-bid contract to train DHS snipers

→ How a top secret SEAL team 6 mission into North Korea fell apart

Hot Docs

🔥📃 GAO - Border Security: DHS Needs to Better Plan for and Oversee Future Facilities for Short-term Custody. GAO-25-107346 (PDF)

🔥📃 GAO - Disaster Assistance High-Risk Series: Federal Response Workforce Readiness. GAO-25-108598 (PDF)

🔥📃 GAO - F-35 Joint Strike Fighter: Actions Needed to Address Late Deliveries and Improve Future Development. GAO-25-107632 (PDF)

🔥📃 GAO - Defense Budget: DOD Should Address All Statutory Elements for Unfunded Priorities. GAO-25-107581 (PDF)

🔥📃 GAO - Other Transaction Agreements: Improved Contracting Data Would Help DOD Assess Effectiveness. GAO-25-107546 (PDF)

Nominations & Appointments

Nominations

• Rear Adm. Heidi Berg - Commander, U.S. Fleet Cyber Command, Navy Space Command and 10th Fleet
• Lt. Gen. Michele Bredenkamp - Director, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
• Tammy Bruce - Deputy U.S. Representative to the United Nations
• Brent Christensen - Ambassador, Bangladesh
• Laura DiBella - Commissioner, Federal Maritime Commission
• Sergio Gor - Ambassador, India
• Steven Haines - Assistant Secretary of Commerce
• Stephanie Hallett - Ambassador, Bahrain
• Robert Harvey - Commissioner, Federal Maritime Commission
• George Holding - U.S. Director of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
• James Holtsnider - Ambassador, Jordan
• Sriprakash Kothari - Assistant Secretary of the Treasury
• William Long - Ambassador, Iceland
• Jennifer Lee Mascott - Judge, U.S. Circuit Judge for the Third Circuit
• Ryan McCormack - Under Secretary of Transportation for Policy
• Peter Metzger - Assistant Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis, Department of the Treasury
• Brian David Miller - U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania
• Stephen Miran - Member, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
• Trent Morse - Member, Board of Directors of the Metropolitan Washington Airports
• Stephen F. Rickard - Judge, Superior Court of the District of Columbia
• Joshua Simmons - General Counsel, Central Intelligence Agency
• Elana S. Suttenberg - Judge, Superior Court of the District of Columbia
• John Cuong Truong - Judge, Superior Court of the District of Columbia

• Christopher Yeaw - Assistant Secretary of State (Arms Control, Nonproliferation, and Stability)

Withdrawals

• Christopher Gilbert - U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Virginia
• Terrence Gorman - Chairman of the Board of Veterans’ Appeals
• Jennifer Lee Mascott - General Counsel, Department of Education
• Penny Schwinn - Deputy Secretary of Education