The Paper Trail: September 23, 2025

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The Paper Trail

Top stories for September 23, 2025

Democrats open inquiries into handling of Homan investigation: House and Senate Democrats opened investigations into the Trump administration’s decision to close a criminal inquiry into Trump border czar Tom Homan that began after he was recorded in September 2024 accepting a bag with $50,000 in cash in exchange for helping undercover FBI agents posing as businessmen obtain government contracts. Homan caught the attention of the FBI after a target of a counterintelligence investigation suggested in 2023 that a $1 million payment to Homan could lead to lucrative federal contracts (Michael Gold, New York Times)

SEC drops efforts to recoup funds from Trump clemency recipients: The SEC dropped enforcement cases that could have led to hundreds of millions of dollars in penalties for three men who were convicted of fraud but were granted clemency by President Trump. The three men — Devon Archer, Trevor Milton, and Carlos Watson — also won’t face restrictions on their ability to work in securities-related positions. (Kenneth P. Vogel, New York Times)

Supreme Court allows Trump to fire FTC commissioner: In an emergency order, a divided court allowed President Trump, for now, to fire Rebecca Kelly Slaughter, a signal that a majority of the court is ready to revisit a 90-year-old precedent that limits the president’s ability to fire top officials at independent agencies. (Abbie VanSickle and Ann E. Marimow, New York Times)

DOJ deletes study showing domestic terrorists are most often right wing: Following Charlie Kirk’s assassination and the Trump administration’s promise to go after the “radical left,” the DOJ removed from its website a study finding that white supremacist and far-right violence “continues to outpace all other types of terrorism and domestic violent extremism” in the U.S. (Emanuel Maiberg, 404 Media)

🔎 See Also: Right-wing extremist violence is more frequent and more deadly than left-wing violence — what the data shows (Art Jipson and Paul J. Becker, The Conversation)

Chaos inside FEMA as death threats distract from hurricane response: As Hurricanes Helene and Milton last year sparked a torrent of online conspiracies, FEMA officials faced harassment and death threats, according to documents obtained via FOIA. The documents show how disaster-related misinformation hampers the government’s emergency response, sucks up internal resources, and puts staff at risk. (Zahra Hirji, Davey Alba, and Jason Leopold, Bloomberg)

🔎 See Also: Watchdog agency says Trump violated law for sixth time in withholding FEMA funds (Jennifer Shutt, News From The States)

Trump appointees roll back enforcement of fair housing laws: Internal communications and other documents show efforts by the administration to limit enforcement of the Fair Housing Act, the landmark civil rights law that prohibits discrimination in housing. Employees in HUD’s fair housing office said it has become nearly impossible to do their jobs. (Debra Kamin, New York Times)

EPA tells some scientists to stop publishing studies, employees say: Staff from the EPA’s Office of Water were recently summoned to a town hall meeting and instructed to halt work on most ongoing research papers. An EPA spokesperson denied that political appointees had ordered a review of research papers. (Amudalat Ajasa and Hannah Natanson, Washington Post)

A DHS data hub exposed sensitive intel to thousands of unauthorized users: From March to May 2023, a DHS online platform used to share sensitive intelligence information among DHS, the FBI, the National Counterterrorism Center, local law enforcement, and intelligence fusion centers across the U.S. was misconfigured, accidentally exposing the data to the tens of thousands of people who use the platform. (Andy Greenberg, Wired)

National parks remove signs about climate, slavery and Japanese detention: The National Park Service removed signs at national parks that refer to climate change, slavery, the detention of Japanese Americans during World War II, and conflicts with Native Americans. (Jake Spring, Washington Post)

Education Dept. partners with conservative groups for civics programming: The Education Department will partner with dozens of conservative organizations to present educational programming about patriotism, liberty, and what it described as American values, as part of the observation of America’s 250th anniversary next year. The department said the coalition won’t receive federal funding, although the government will help coordinate activities and may host meetings and events. (Justine McDaniel and Laura Meckler, Washington Post)

White House official doubling as ethics czar sparks concern: Members of Congress and a former ethics czar worry that senior White House official Eric Ueland’s concurrent role leading the Office of Government Ethics will compromise that office’s work. (Julienne McClure and Neil Gordon, Project On Government Oversight)

Tiffany Trump cruised on an oil mogul’s yacht as her father-in-law talked oil deals: Massad Boulos traveled to Libya in July as the State Department’s senior Africa adviser, talked to energy executives and government leaders, and announced deals to ramp up oil and gas production. Boulos is the father-in-law of President Trump’s daughter Tiffany, who, at the same time, was cruising the French Riviera on a superyacht owned by a major broker of Libyan oil. (Jo Becker et al., New York Times)

Weaponization of the Government

Trump demands that Bondi move “now” to prosecute foes: President Trump in a social media post this weekend called on Attorney General Pam Bondi to move quickly to prosecute former FBI Director James Comey, Senator Adam Schiff, and New York Attorney General Letitia James. (Alan Feuer et al., New York Times)

Trump officials pressuring federal prosecutors to bring criminal charges against NY AG Letitia James: Ed Martin, the head of the DOJ’s Weaponization Working Group, and Bill Pulte, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, are pressuring federal prosecutors in Virginia to bring charges against New York Attorney General Letitia James for mortgage fraud, despite investigators so far failing to find sufficient evidence supporting such charges. (Peter Charalambous, Katherine Faulders, and Alexander Mallin, ABC News)

🔎 See Also: U.S. attorney investigating two Trump foes departs amid pressure from president (Glenn Thrush et al., New York Times)

🔎 See Also: Treasury Secretary Bessent, like Fed governor, made contradictory mortgage pledges (Anthony Cormier and Zachary R Mider, Bloomberg)

Judge orders Trump administration to restore more than $500 million in research funds to UCLA: U.S. District Judge Rita Lin ordered the administration to restart the flow of $580 million in scientific research funding to UCLA. The administration froze the NIH grants in July, alleging the university improperly considers race in admissions and subjected Jewish students and faculty to abuse and discrimination during pro-Palestinian protests. (Eric He, Politico)

The War on “Narcoterrorists”

Draft bill would authorize Trump to wage drug trafficking war: Draft legislation circulating at the White House and on Capitol Hill would hand President Trump sweeping power to wage war against drug cartels he deems to be “terrorists,” as well as against any nation that harbor or aid them. (Charlie Savage and Robert Jimison, New York Times)

Pentagon lawyers raise concerns over Trump’s strikes on alleged drug boats: Military lawyers and other Defense Department officials are raising concerns about the legal implications of President Trump’s expanding military campaign against Latin American-based drug cartels, but they say they’re being ignored or deliberately sidelined. (Lara Seligman, Wall Street Journal)

Pentagon barred senior House staffers from briefing on Venezuela boat strike: Information about the planning, execution, and legal justification for the campaign against alleged “narcoterrorists” is being kept secret from senior congressional staffers. (Nick Turse, The Intercept)

Elon Musk & DOGE

DOGE caucus co-chair says the cost-cutting unit’s work will continue: Rep. Pete Sessions, the co-chair of the congressional DOGE caucus, said DOGE’s work is ongoing. “DOGE is an active component in the government. They meet on a regular basis,” Sessions said last week. Sessions said he’s zeroed in on fraudulent benefit payments. (Natalie Alms, Government Executive)

Trump admin says Social Security database wasn’t “leaked, hacked, or shared”: Social Security Administration Commissioner Frank Bisignano refuted a whistleblower’s claim that the DOGE team at SSA copied an agency database containing Americans’ personally identifiable information to an insecure cloud system. (Jon Brodkin, Ars Technica)

Elon Musk has criticized environmental regulations. His companies have been accused of sidestepping them: Musk considers environmental regulation a barrier to innovation. As he eyes a new flood control project in Houston, here’s what to know about some of his companies’ past projects that have faced scrutiny from regulators and environmental advocates. (Taylor Kate Brown, ProPublica)

Middle East Conflicts

Trump sanctions Palestinian human rights groups for doing their job. Anybody could be next: The Treasury Department’s recent sanctions against three Palestinian human rights organizations marked the first time the U.S. has levied sanctions against an organization specifically for its efforts to use lawful, peaceful tools of advocacy. (Sarah Leah Whitson, The Intercept)

“Amateur hour”: The man sending U.S. military contractors to Gaza: Since 2019, Jameson Govoni, the man now in charge of a private security force in Gaza, has registered a drink for ravers, pursued a CBD venture, sold a hangover preventative, and had a brush with the law. Govoni is now at the center of a controversial Israeli- and U.S.-backed food distribution scheme in Gaza that some say has become a catastrophe. (Noah Lanard, Mother Jones)

Police Misconduct

The FBI is coming for trans people: In the wake of the Charlie Kirk shooting, the FBI is reportedly planning to designate transgender people “nihilistic violent extremists.” (Robert McCoy, The New Republic)

Defense and Veterans Affairs

Trump troop deployment in U.S. climbs to 35,000 boots on the ground: Roughly 35,000 federal troops are currently deployed within the U.S. — a 75% increase since July. The true number, and the cost, may be markedly higher. (Nick Turse, The Intercept)

Pentagon demands journalists pledge to not obtain unauthorized material: The administration unveiled new restrictions on reporters covering the Defense Department, saying it will require them to pledge they won’t gather any information — even unclassified — that hasn’t been expressly authorized for release, and will revoke the press credentials of those who don’t obey. (Scott Nover, Washington Post)

At least 8 troops punished for social media comments about Charlie Kirk’s death: At least eight service members have been suspended from their jobs or investigated over comments they made on social media about Kirk’s killing. The social media posts of dozens of service members are being tracked by major conservative accounts and smaller military-focused ones. (Jeff Schogol and Matt White, Task & Purpose)

Defense Department delays cleanup of “forever chemicals” nationwide: The Pentagon has quietly delayed — by nearly a decade in some cases — cleanup of harmful "forever chemicals" (also known as PFAS) at nearly 140 military installations. A growing body of research has linked PFAS exposure to serious health concerns including certain types of cancer and child development and fertility issues. (Hiroko Tabuchi, New York Times)

Defense bill opens door to guns-for-hire at the border: A provision in the defense policy bill that passed the House could further expand the role of private contractors in border operations — this time under the watch of the DOD, which has a long history of wasteful, unaccountable spending on private vendors. (Katya Schwenk, The Lever)

Business and Finance

Repeat creepy meat problems at Boar’s Head plants draw congressional scrutiny: Members of Congress are skeptical that the Boar’s Head deli meat plant at the center of a deadly Listeria outbreak last year will be fit to reopen after recent inspections at three other Boar’s Head facilities turned up similarly alarming sanitation problems. (Beth Mole, Ars Technica)

U.S. asks judge to break up Google’s advertising technology monopoly: In April, U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema ruled that Google had monopolized the tools that websites use to sell ad space and the software that connects those publishers with markets looking to buy space. On Monday, Brinkema began hearing arguments from the government and the company over how to break up Google’s monopoly and is expected to issue a ruling in the coming months. (David McCabe and Cecilia Kang, New York Times)

Tech

Secret Service says it thwarted device network used to threaten U.S. officials: The Secret Service said it dismantled a massive network of electronic devices in the New York City area that it believes was used to threaten U.S. officials and was capable of cyberattacks that could knock out large sections of cellular communications. (Derek Hawkins, Washington Post)

Health Care

“Sick to my stomach”: Trump distorts facts on autism, Tylenol, and vaccines, scientists say: Autism experts at the CDC were neither consulted for the White House’s long-awaited autism announcement nor asked to review a draft of the findings and recommendations. Scientists say the announcement exaggerated links to Tylenol, misled on vaccines, and ignored decades of research. (Amy Maxmen, KFF Health News)

Vaccine panel that limited COVID shot scrutinized after chaotic meetings: Medical associations and scientific experts who watched the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices meetings last week panned the panel’s performance as the group reversed recommendations for COVID shots and a combined measles, mumps, rubella, and chicken pox vaccine. They said the members, selected by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., were unprepared, misunderstood or ignored key data, and highlighted flawed or inconclusive research. (David Ovalle, Rachel Roubein, and Lena H. Sun, Washington Post)

RFK pressured CDC to dismiss career scientists until they backed his views, ousted director says: At a Senate hearing, the former head of CDC and its chief medical officer derided Health Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. for compromising scientific integrity and injecting political goals into scientific work. Former CDC Director Susan Monarez said that Kennedy fired her because she refused to pre-accept decisions from the agency’s vaccine advisory panel and refused to accede to the secretary’s demand to fire career staff until they were all replaced by officials who would sign off on Kennedy’s preferred outcomes. (Eric Katz, Government Executive)

Trump ends annual report on U.S. hunger amid rising food insecurity: The Department of Agriculture is ending a decades-long effort to track food security at a time when many Americans are struggling to get proper nutrition. (Kelly Kasulis Cho, Washington Post)

Pharma’s $236 billion patent racket is about to fall off a cliff: Some pharmaceutical companies are nearing the end of multibillion-dollar patent windfalls as their exclusive rights to produce lifesaving medications expire. The patent cliff could spark a massive wave of drug industry mergers, potentially impacting innovation and research. (Veronica Riccobene, The Lever)

Whistleblower says U.S. organ transplants corrupted by greed and bias: An organ transplant industry veteran claims in a whistleblower lawsuit that the way the U.S. collects and distributes life-saving organs has been corrupted by greed, lax oversight, and methods designed to maximize payments from Medicare. (Peter Whoriskey, Washington Post)

ICYMI

Immigration and Border Security:

→ Trump’s mass deportations bring a new wave of family separations

→ 60 violations in 50 days: Inside ICE’s giant tent facility at Ft. Bliss

→ Trump’s $100,000 H-1B visa shock

→ They’ve won in court, but ICE is still detaining and trying to deport them

→ How an attempted ICE arrest turned deadly

Other News:

→ Why FCC chief Brendan Carr may be the most dangerous man in media

→ Marines’ shocking ties to pro-Russian neo-Nazis exposed after Raw Story sues Trump agency

→ Navy doctor fired after Hegseth, Libs of TikTok criticize her on X

→ Banks race to prove they’re not biased against conservatives

→ White House outlines a TikTok deal with a U.S. board

→ Judge rejects Trump’s New York Times lawsuit for being “decidedly improper and impermissible”

On The Lighter Side

U.S. bars Iran’s diplomats from shopping at Costco without permission: The State Department announced that diplomatic memberships in wholesale club stores is a “benefit” requiring U.S. government approval. The only country whose diplomats were specifically targeted is Iran. (Matthew Lee, The Hill)

Upcoming Events

📌 ZOOM EVENT: Letter to the Editor Training: Domestic Deployment. Project On Government Oversight. Tuesday, October 7, 8:00 p.m. EDT.

Hot Docs

🔥📃 DOD OIG: Audit of Reviews by Ethics Officials for Conflicts of Interest in Senior DoD Officials’ Public Financial Disclosures. DODIG-2025-156 (PDF)

🔥📃 GAO - Port Security: FEMA Should Improve Transparency of Grant Decisions. GAO-25-107587 (PDF)