The Paper Trail: September 30, 2025

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The Paper Trail

Top stories for September 30, 2025

Reductions in force could make bad situation worse for federal contractors during government shutdown: The Trump administration’s threat of mass layoffs if Congress doesn’t reach a government funding agreement today could make it harder for federal contractors to get guidance about operating under a shutdown and access to necessary government facilities and personnel. (Sean Michael Newhouse, Government Executive)

🔎 See Also: From crisis to crisis: How Congress struggles to fund the government (Lazaro Gamio, New York Times)

Judge finds Trump violated law in firing inspectors general, but allows dismissal to stand: U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes found that President Trump broke the law in firing nearly 20 inspectors general early in his term but declined to order their reinstatement because they couldn’t show irreparable harm. (Rebecca Beitsch, The Hill)

Trump administration moves to defund inspector general watchdog group: The administration plans to end funding for the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE), an oversight group that helps IGs root out waste, fraud, and abuse in the federal government and federal programs. (Meryl Kornfield, Washington Post)

Analysis: Trump is getting closer to having an “infinite money pit”: If the president takes over the Federal Reserve, he’ll have extraordinary power to reward his friends and destroy his enemies. (Rogé Karma, The Atlantic)

Billions in taxpayer dollars have become virtually untraceable: Across federal agencies, the Trump administration has repeatedly challenged Congress’ power of the purse and redirected funds to programs aligned with Trump’s agenda. As a result, billions in federal funds have become virtually untraceable. (Anna Kramer and Mark Alfred, NOTUS)

🔎 See Also: Trump budget office is hiding federal spending information, ethics nonprofit alleges (Sean Michael Newhouse, Government Executive)

Trump-tied lobbyists’ clients keep winning no-bid ICE contracts: Ballard Partners, a lobbying shop with deep ties to Trumpworld, is helping surveillance tech firms land lucrative contracts in the administration’s immigration crackdown. (Nick Schwellenbach and Russ Choma, Project On Government Oversight)

🔎 See Also: How surveillance firms use “democracy” as a cover for serving ICE and Trump (Joseph Cox, 404 Media)

Here’s how much the Trump kids have made because of the presidency: Trump family members who never had significant fortunes of their own — Eric, Don Jr., Barron, and Melania — have quickly accumulated hundreds of millions of dollars. All told, the family (including the president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner) is now worth an estimated $10 billion, nearly doubling its net worth since last year’s election. (Dan Alexander and Kyle Khan-Mullins, Forbes)

🔎 See Also: Jared Kushner, Saudi Arabia, more backers to buy EA in $55B deal. What this means for gamers (Greta Cross, USA Today)

Trump’s border czar involved in detention contract talks despite recusal: White House border czar Tom Homan worked to move immigration detention contracts through the Department of Defense despite pledging to recuse from anything having to do with government contracts. Tens of billions of dollars in contracts could go to Homan’s former consulting clients. (Fola Akinnibi, Rachel Adams-Heard, and Sophie Alexander, Bloomberg)

Where Mideast envoy pitched peace, his son pitched investors: As Steve Witkoff, President Trump’s envoy to the Middle East, conducted cease-fire negotiations between Israel and Hamas this year, his son Alex was soliciting billions of dollars from some of the same governments that were involved in the peace talks. Steve Witkoff and his other son, Zach, already face ethics questions surrounding their cryptocurrency venture with the Trump family. (Debra Kamin and Bradley Hope, New York Times)

Weaponization of the Government

Ex-FBI Director James Comey indicted on criminal charges stemming from 2020 testimony: Comey faces one count of making false statements and one count of obstruction of justice in connection with his testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee. The move came days after the top federal prosecutor in the district cast doubt on the evidence, only to be forced out by the president and replaced with one of Trump's former defense attorneys. (Carrie Johnson, NPR)

🔎 See Also: Trump pledges that others will be indicted after Comey (Annie Linskey and Meridith McGraw, Wall Street Journal)

Trump calls for Microsoft to fire former Biden official Lisa Monaco: President Trump called for Microsoft to fire Lisa Monaco, former President Biden’s No. 2 DOJ official, who was recently appointed as the company’s chief of global affairs. “She is a menace to U.S. National Security, especially given the major contracts that Microsoft has with the United States Government,” Trump posted on social media. (Sarah Fortinsky, The Hill)

DOJ sues protesters accused of interfering with Jewish event at synagogue: The DOJ filed a civil lawsuit against protesters who they allege threatened and intimidated worshipers outside a synagogue in New Jersey in November. The lawsuit was brought under a law which has historically been used to charge people who block access to abortion clinics. (Perry Stein, Washington Post)

FBI fires agents photographed kneeling during 2020 George Floyd protests: The FBI fired a group of agents — possibly as many as 20 — who were photographed kneeling with protesters in Washington during the 2020 racial justice protests. (Jeremy Roebuck, Washington Post)

Justice Dept. official pushes prosecutors to investigate George Soros’s foundation: Senior DOJ official Aakash Singh instructed more than a half dozen U.S. attorney’s offices to draft plans to investigate a group funded by George Soros, the billionaire Democratic donor whom President Trump has demanded be thrown in jail. The directive lists possible charges prosecutors could file, ranging from arson to material support of terrorism. (Devlin Barrett, New York Times)

HHS looks to block Harvard from federal funding: HHS said it’s referring Harvard for suspension and debarment proceedings because of alleged inaction on campus antisemitism. The move comes after a judge ruled the administration should restore billions of dollars it withheld from Harvard. That money recently began to flow back to the university. (Lexi Lonas Cochran, The Hill)

U.S. threatens to bar foreigners over remarks about Charlie Kirk: The State Department said it will pull visas and deport people who celebrate or joke about Charlie Kirk’s murder. The day after Kirk was killed, Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau asked his followers on X to send him examples of people “praising, rationalizing, or making light of the event.” (Jack Nicas, New York Times)

The War on “Narcoterrorists”

Stephen Miller takes leading role in strikes on alleged Venezuelan drug boats: White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller is playing a leading role in directing U.S. strikes on suspected Venezuelan drug boats, at times superseding the authority of Secretary of State and National Security Adviser Marco Rubio. (Hugo Lowell, The Guardian)

Elon Musk & DOGE

Democratic report: DOGE is risking Americans’ data by operating outside federal law: A report released by Sen. Gary Peters found DOGE personnel jeopardized the security of Americans’ personal information by uploading sensitive government data into cloud environments without the necessary safeguards or oversight. The report also noted the data could be used in ways that “serve to benefit DOGE employees and the private companies with which many maintain strong ties.” (Edward Graham and Natalie Alms, Nextgov/FCW)

Trump administration rehires hundreds of federal employees laid off by DOGE: The GSA gave hundreds of federal employees who lost their jobs in DOGE’s cost-cutting blitz until the end of last week to accept or decline reinstatement. Those who accepted must report for duty on October 6 after what amounts to a seven-month paid vacation, during which time the GSA racked up high costs staying in properties whose leases it had slated for termination or were allowed to expire. (CNN)

The story of DOGE, as told by federal workers: The true scope of DOGE’s attack on the government remains unknown. While there is no reason to think it achieved meaningful cost savings or operational efficiencies, the ramifications of building a master database to track immigrants are just beginning to be felt, and its cadre of Musk protégés and tech entrepreneurs remain embedded throughout the executive branch. (Zoë Schiffer et al., Wired)

Epstein Files

Musk, Bannon and Thiel named in new Epstein estate documents: New files turned over to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee from the estate of Jeffrey Epstein suggest Epstein had social ties with Elon Musk, Bill Gates, tech billionaire Peter Thiel, and conservative political strategist Steve Bannon. (Hailey Fuchs, Politico)

The network: Jeffrey Epstein’s private emails show the support and advice the disgraced financier got in his “hour of terror”: Emails from Epstein’s personal Yahoo account provide new details about his relationships that were less public but nevertheless crucial to him, especially once he became the target of criminal investigations. They include past and future White House officials, a top Hollywood publicist, a former child-exploitation prosecutor, and noted academics. (Max Abelson et al., Bloomberg)

Natural Disasters

National Weather Service at “breaking point” as storm approaches: The Trump administration’s cuts to the National Weather Service — where nearly 600 workers, or about 1 in every 7, have left through firings, resignations, or retirements — are pushing the agency to its limits. (Hannah Natanson and Brady Dennis, Washington Post)

Arduous and unequal: The fight to get FEMA housing assistance after Helene: In some North Carolina counties recovering from Hurricane Helene, homeowners with the highest incomes received two to three times as much FEMA housing assistance as lower-income ones. (Jennifer Berry Hawes and Ren Larson, ProPublica)

As Texas flooded, key staff say FEMA’s leader could not be reached: Current and former officials say acting FEMA administrator David Richardson is often inaccessible, especially on evenings and weekends. (Brianna Sacks, Washington Post)

Kristi Noem fast-tracked millions in disaster aid to Florida tourist attraction after campaign donor intervened: The Homeland Security secretary expedited more than $11 million in federal aid to rebuild a historic pier in Naples, Florida, after she was contacted by a major campaign donor. (Joshua Kaplan, Justin Elliott, and Alex Mierjeski, ProPublica)

🔎 See Also: Kristi Noem is the face of Trump’s police state. Corey Lewandowski is the muscle. Who really runs DHS? (Ben Terris, New York)

Insurrection

YouTube agrees to pay Trump $24 million to settle lawsuit over Jan. 6 suspension: YouTube will pay $24.5 million to settle President Trump’s lawsuit claiming he was the victim of censorship when the site suspended his account following the insurrection. YouTube parent company Google will dedicate $22 million of the settlement toward the construction of a ballroom in the White House. The remaining money will be given to other plaintiffs, including the American Conservative Union and author Naomi Wolf, who was suspended from multiple social media platforms for sharing unfounded theories about COVID vaccines. (Bobby Allyn, NPR)

Police Misconduct

Analysis: Supreme Court allows unconstitutional racial profiling: The Supreme Court’s recent “shadow docket” decision allowing federal officers to detain people solely based on their skin color, speaking Spanish, or working in low wage jobs threatens to enable more profiling and violent arrests in cities where ICE is cracking down. (Katherine Hawkins, The Constitution Project at POGO)

🔎 See Also: Feds march into downtown Chicago; top border agent says people are arrested based on “how they look” (Chip Mitchell et al., Chicago Sun-Times)

The DHS has been quietly harvesting DNA from Americans for years: Between 2020 and 2024, Customs and Border Protection harvested the DNA of nearly 2,000 U.S. citizens, including minors, and fed the samples into an FBI crime database. The program apparently ran outside the bounds of statute and oversight. (Dell Cameron, Ars Technica)

Defense and Veterans Affairs

Oregon sues Trump administration over order to deploy troops in Portland: Oregon filed a lawsuit Sunday seeking to block President Trump’s plan to send National Guard members to Portland after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered the deployment of 200 of the state’s troops for 60 days. (Mariana Alfaro and Dan Lamothe, Washington Post)

Hegseth’s mystery meeting in Quantico could cost millions, require unprecedented security: The Pentagon isn’t dropping hints about why it ordered its highest-level officers from around the world to report to the Marine base for today’s 8 a.m. meeting, which will likely cost taxpayers millions of dollars and create security challenges at home and abroad. Adding further confusion is the increasingly likely government shutdown. (Cybele Mayes-Osterman, USA Today)

🔎 See Also: Military leaders voice concern over Hegseth’s new Pentagon strategy (Noah Robertson et al., Washington Post)

More troops suspended pending investigations into Kirk-related posts: More than a dozen service members have been suspended or relieved of duties for social media activity related to Charlie Kirk’s death. However, prosecutions for social media posts under Article 134 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which serves as a catch-all for a variety of offenses, could prove challenging. (Carla Babb, Military Times)

Senate Democrats demand cost estimate for Department of War renaming: Senators asked the Congressional Budget Office to come up with a price tag for adopting the new name, including updating titles, forms and communications, procuring new signage, branding and ceremonial materials, redesigning websites, updating digital infrastructure, and anticipated “downstream costs.” (Svetlana Shkolnikova, Stars and Stripes)

Hegseth terminates women’s advisory group, slams “divisive agenda”: The Pentagon plans to terminate a 75-year-old advisory committee serving female service members, citing a “divisive” and harmful agenda — days after a previous memo established plans for reactivating it. (Hope Hodge Seck, Military Times)

Business and Finance

A broad wave of firings followed Charlie Kirk’s assassination: Nearly 150 people in a wide range of occupations have been fired, suspended, reassigned, or forced to resign for statements they made about Charlie Kirk. (Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs and Bernard Mokam, New York Times)

Trump’s pharma tariffs would spare richest drugmakers while punishing some small ones: The details of the president’s proposed 100% tariff on imported brand-name drugs aren’t clear. But many big pharmaceutical companies could qualify for exemptions. (Rebecca Robbins, New York Times)

Treasury plans survey on compliance costs tied to anti-money-laundering rules: The Treasury Department is planning to survey financial institutions about how much they spend complying with federal anti-money-laundering rules, as the administration gears up to scale back those rules. (Michael Stratford, Politico Pro)

Infrastructure

Democrats alarmed as Trump eyes weapons material to fuel nuclear reactors: The scramble to build new reactors to supply power to AI data centers may include the plutonium that plays a central role in the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile. It’s part of a broader push by the administration to convert tons of plutonium to civilian use, a plan that critics say would undermine the U.S. weapons program for the benefit of untested private companies. (Zack Colman, Politico)

Health Care

U.S. measles cases hit 1,514 on fresh outbreaks in Utah, Arizona: The surge in measles cases this year, which reached levels not seen since 1992, has alarmed public health experts. The CDC reported infections in 41 states, as childhood vaccination rates continue to decline. (Jessica Nix, Bloomberg)

Despite false claims, Trump funnels millions into credible autism research: Even as autism scientists took heart from the research projects recently awarded NIH funding, many of them remain wary of the wider body of autism research being pushed by the administration. (Benjamin Mueller, New York Times)

🔎 See Also: Harvard dean was paid $150,000 as an expert witness in Tylenol lawsuits (Rebecca Robbins and Azeen Ghorayshi, New York Times)

Trump’s USAID pause stranded lifesaving drugs. Children died waiting: In the first half of the year, hundreds of USAID shipments of antimalarial and HIV medical supplies arrived late at regional warehouses in dozens of countries. Many didn’t arrive at all. (Meg Kelly et al., Washington Post)

Doctors with troubled pasts are performing cosmetic surgeries tied to crippling pain and injury: Cosmetic surgery chains across the country promise “minimally invasive” operations to reshape their bodies. But lawsuits filed by injured patients allege surgeons lacked adequate training, had histories of malpractice lawsuits, or faced disciplinary action by state licensing boards. (Fred Schulte, KFF Health News)

ICYMI

Immigration and Border Security:

→ U.S. deports planeload of Iranians after deal with Tehran, officials say

→ CBP flew drones to help ICE 50 times in last year

→ “Unacceptable”: ICE officer relieved of duties after videos show him shoving woman to the ground

→ Videos of fatal ICE shooting in Chicago raise questions about DHS account

Other News:

→ Whistleblowers: Cuts at NASA started before Congress approved them

→ A diminished Social Security work force, and its customers, feel the strain

→ VA staffer accused of blindly approving over 85,000 disability claims

→ Judge in Luigi Mangione case warns Justice Department over out-of-court comments

→ Archives released too much of Mikie Sherrill’s military record to ally of her opponent in NJ governor’s race

On The Lighter Side

Statue of Trump and Epstein holding hands removed from National Mall: A statue of President Trump and Jeffrey Epstein holding hands was removed from the National Mall last week a day after it was placed there. The statue — 12 feet tall, spray-painted bronze, and titled “Best Friends Forever” — had a permit from the National Park Service to remain at its location for several more days. A U.S. Park Police spokesperson said the statue was removed “due to it not being in compliance with the permit.” (Joe Heim and Liam Bowman, Washington Post)

Trump demands investigation into escalator “triple sabotage” despite U.N. explanation: The U.N. said it launched a probe, although it already made clear that the escalator was likely stopped by a White House staffer. Trump claimed “triple sabotage at the UN”: the escalator issue and faults with his teleprompter and audio during his speech to the General Assembly. (Alexander Smith, NBC News)

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

🔥📃 GAO - Federal Spending Transparency: Actions Needed to Help Ensure Procurement Data Quality. GAO-25-107469 (PDF)

🔥📃 GAO - Status of Open GAO Recommendations to the Director of National Intelligence. GAO-25-108612 (PDF)

🔥📃 GAO - Persistent Chemicals: DOE Should Complete Efforts to Review PFAS Use. GAO-25-107809 (PDF)

🔥📃 Department of the Interior IG: The U.S. Department of the Interior Did Not Always Appropriately Classify and Approve Information Technology Purchases. 2024-ISP-031 (PDF)

🔥📃 Minority Staff of the Senate Committee On Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs: Unchecked and Unaccountable: How DOGE Jeopardizes Americans’ Data Without Regard for Law and Congress. September 25, 2025 (PDF)