The Paper Trail: October 14, 2025

Federal Judges Blame SCOTUS for “Judicial Crisis”; Government Shutdown Ravages HHS; Did Qatari Money Drive Gaza Ceasefire?; And More.

October 14, 2025

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Announcements

How to: Plan a Hearing: POGO’s virtual training on how to plan a hearing will be held on Friday, October 17, at 12 noon EDT. This event is only open to staff in Congress, GAO, and CRS. Register HERE.

Government Shutdown

Layoffs, a “coding error,” chaos: Trump admin ravages the health dept.: Of the reported 4,000 terminations since the shutdown, about 1,100 to 1,200 were among HHS employees. Sources describe a major gutting of the CDC in particular, despite the rescinding of some terminations on Saturday. (Beth Mole, Ars Technica)

How the shutdown is making the air traffic controller shortage worse and leading to flight delays: The shutdown is deepening the FAA’s long-standing controller shortage, straining an already overextended workforce and disrupting air travel nationwide. (Brian Strzempkowski, Government Executive)

🔎 See Also: Airports say they won’t air Kristi Noem shutdown video at TSA checkpoints (Shannon Najmabadi and Aaron Gregg, Washington Post)

Organ transplant network oversight stalled due to shutdown: HHS ordered the federal organ procurement and transplant network to halt many operations until the shutdown is over. While patients will still be able to receive and donate organs, many compliance and policy development activities will stop. (Maya Goldman, Axios)

For homes by the water, closing just got more complicated: When the government shut down, so did the federal flood insurance program, forcing some buyers into the costly private market. (Rukmini Callimachi, New York Times)

Other Shutdown News:

→ Pentagon will pay military troops, Trump says, shifting $8B

→ Troops request assistance at “unprecedented” rate as shutdown persists

Weaponization of the Government

James indictment mirrors her civil case against Trump in miniature: The DOJ’s criminal case against New York Attorney General Letitia James echoes the civil fraud case she brought against Trump — albeit at a scale so small that most federal prosecutors would never deign to pursue it. (Jonah E. Bromwich and Devlin Barrett, New York Times)

🔎 See Also: Watchdog group seeks probe of Comey, Letitia James cases (Scott MacFarlane, CBS News)

🔎 See Also: Senior prosecutor removed as Lindsey Halligan reshapes key U.S. attorney’s office (Kristen Holmes and Katelyn Polantz, CNN)

Trump offers all colleges preferential funding plan rejected by MIT: The administration invited all U.S. colleges to participate in a compact that would grant preferential federal funding in return for commitments to specific policy changes like DEI bans. Colleges that reject the deal may face investigations into compliance with federal laws and could potentially see their research funding reduced. (Liam Knox, Bloomberg)

The War on “Narcoterrorists”

Drug smugglers change supply routes to evade U.S. warships: With the Trump administration flooding the Caribbean with military assets, traffickers are finding other ways to transport drugs. Smugglers are increasingly using cargo vessels in the Caribbean to hide contraband. There has also been a surge in air flights from South America dropping bales of drugs at sea. (Frances Robles, New York Times)

Elon Musk & DOGE

Elon Musk’s Boring Co. accused of nearly 800 environmental violations on Las Vegas project: Nevada state regulators accused The Boring Company of violating environmental regulations nearly 800 times in the last two years as it digs a tunnel network beneath Las Vegas for a Tesla-powered “people mover.” The state could’ve fined the company more than $3 million, but regulators knocked the penalty down to $242,800. (Anjeanette Damon and Dayvid Figler, ProPublica)

U.S. launches probe into nearly 2.9 million Tesla cars over crashes linked to self-driving system: NHTSA has received reports of 58 safety violations linked to Tesla vehicles with its Full Self-Driving system. Those incidents include more than a dozen crashes and fires and 23 injuries. (Anne Marie D. Lee, CBS News)

🔎 See Also: NY Times wins lawsuit to obtain Elon Musk’s government security info (Sarah K. Burris, Raw Story)

Epstein Files

Bill and Hillary Clinton delay depositions in House Oversight panel’s Jeffrey Epstein probe: The Clintons were subpoenaed in August by House Oversight Chairman James Comer as part of the panel’s review of the federal government’s probe into Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. (Victor Nava, New York Post)

Reproductive Freedom

The EPA followed up on an unusual request about abortion pills: Senior EPA officials directed scientists over the summer to assess whether the government could develop methods for detecting traces of the abortion drug mifepristone in wastewater — a practice sought by anti-abortion activists. (Caroline Kitchener and Coral Davenport, New York Times)

Middle East Conflicts

Did Qatari money drive Trump’s push for Gaza ceasefire? The notion that President Trump’s recent push toward a ceasefire in Gaza may have been motivated in large part by his campaign to win a Nobel Peace Prize is well-documented. Less discussed is Trump’s close relationship with Qatar — a Gulf state ally where he, his family, and his friends have significant financial ties. (Jonah Valdez, The Intercept)

🔎 See Also: U.S. announces it will allow Qatar to build an Air Force facility in Idaho (Natasha Bertrand, CNN)

Defense and Veterans Affairs

Poll: Most Americans say military should be apolitical and face only “external threats”: A new poll of 1,100 Americans found that nearly three-quarters of Democrats and about half of Republicans think the military should only be deployed to face “external threats.” (Drew F. Lawrence, Task & Purpose)

Hegseth’s sprawling hunt for Charlie Kirk critics spans nearly 300 investigations: The DOD has investigated nearly 300 employees — including service members, civilian workers, and contractors — for comments appearing online after last month’s shooting of Charlie Kirk. The ongoing inquiry has resulted so far in a smattering of disciplinary actions. (Noah Robertson and Tara Copp, Washington Post)

Hegseth sends goodbye emoji to news outlets protesting press policy: The Associated Press, Reuters, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Atlantic, CNN, and NPR all announced that their journalists won’t sign the Pentagon’s restrictive new press policy. Reporters have until today to sign or give up their press passes. Editors and journalists say they’ll continue to cover the U.S. military even without press credentials. (Ellen Mitchell, The Hill)

Navy cannibalizing materiel for spare parts, watchdog says: The GAO found that the Navy is scavenging for spare parts from grounded materiel in order to address maintenance needs. The report found the problem is caused by gaps in the DOD’s data rights for weapon systems that force Navy maintainers to rely on vendors for parts, which in turn can balloon maintenance timelines. (Riley Ceder, Navy Times)

DOD imposes burdensome rules, retaliation on home day cares, moms say: At bases around the country, military leaders are leaning on parents to open their own child-care homes that will offload pressure from understaffed on-base centers with long waitlists. Parents who do so are lured by the triple promise of making good money, working from home, and being their own bosses. But some say the rules and regulations, although well-meaning, are out of control. (Jennifer Brookland, Military Times)

Business and Finance

The investigation into what caused a deadly explosion at Tennessee plant could last for days. Here’s what we know: The Accurate Energetic Systems explosives manufacturing plant in Waverly, Tennessee, faced federal workplace safety fines several years ago. Prior to last week’s explosion, the company had reported 46 work-related injuries since 2016. (Alisha Ebrahimji and Isabel Rosales, CNN)

Analysis: The rules of investing are being loosened. Could it lead to the next 1929?: A stock boom fueled by a mania for AI and a new administration working to loosen regulations are creating a permissive spirit similar to the one that existed in the 1920s. (Andrew Ross Sorkin, New York Times)

Analysis: I tracked Amazon’s Prime Day prices. We’ve been played: The prices during Amazon’s “Prime Days” sales events aren’t always better: The prices of some items spike, while in other cases the “discounts” are the exact same price charged before the event. (Geoffrey A. Fowler, Washington Post)

Tech

How TikTok keeps its users scrolling for hours a day: TikTok is massive, fragmented, and opaque: Millions of Americans — a third of U.S. adults — are pulled into a nearly infinite variety of niche corners by a recommendation system that we don’t know much about, making it difficult to understand how the constant scroll affects people and how the app keeps users coming back. (Caitlin Gilbert et al., Washington Post)

Kentucky attorney general sues Roblox alleging a "playground for predators": Roblox users can bypass safety moderations to expose children to inappropriate content, including swastikas, hate speech, and graphic sexual imagery. Several lawsuits against the company allege exploitative practices aimed at children. (Lauren Fichten, CBS News)

Health Care

U.S. measles cases continue to climb, with outbreaks across the country: Nearly two months after a deadly measles outbreak in Texas was declared over, the highly contagious disease continues to spread across the country. All told, the CDC has confirmed 44 measles outbreaks in 41 states this year. The vast majority of cases were in people who were unvaccinated; 27% were children under the age of 5. (Maria Godoy, NPR)

Senators press Deloitte, other contractors on errors in Medicaid eligibility systems: Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee launched an inquiry into the companies hired to build eligibility systems for Medicaid, expressing concern that error-riddled technology and looming work requirements will cause Americans to lose Medicaid coverage. (Rachana Pradhan and Samantha Liss, KFF Health News)

Coal miners with black lung say they are “cast aside to die” under Trump: President Trump has been a cheerleader for coal miners. But the miners say his administration is failing to enforce limits on a workplace hazard that causes black lung disease. (Lisa Friedman, New York Times)

Prescription drug coverage options are shrinking for Medicare shoppers: Fewer choices may be on the menu again as Medicare patients shop for prescription coverage this fall. (Tom Murphy, Associated Press)