The Paper Trail: October 21, 2025

Treasury’s War on Terror Against the Left; DHS’s $51M Self-Deportation Ad Campaign; Beware Crypto ATMs; And More.

October 21, 2025

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The Paper Trail

Government Shutdown

Trump to pay ICE and border agents amid shutdown as other federal workers go unpaid: Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the more than 70,000 law enforcement officers across DHS will be paid this week via a “supercheck” covering pay for all hours worked during the shutdown and the next pay period. The administration also said it will pay military troops and FBI agents. (The Guardian)

🔎 See Also: Trump is opting some of the government out of the shutdown (Jacob Bogage, Riley Beggin, and Perry Stein, Washington Post)

The government shutdown is putting a renewed spotlight on the cracks in the U.S. aviation system: Experts and union leaders say the disruptions are a stark reminder that the aviation system is already stretched thin by chronic understaffing and outdated technology and warn that the cracks in the system could rapidly deepen the longer the shutdown lasts. (Rio Yamat, Military.com)

🔎 See Also: Trump administration hunts for ways to pay air traffic controllers (Sophia Cai, Chris Marquette, and Meredith Lee Hill, Politico)

Trump administration decimates birth control office in layoffs: The administration targeted for layoffs a federal office that oversees a $300 million family planning program, raising fears that it is effectively ending an initiative that provides contraception, testing, and infertility care for millions of low-income women. (Caroline Kitchener, New York Times)

Other Shutdown News:

→ The shutdown isn’t hitting everyone equally. Politics and geography may help explain why

→ Court blocks more federal layoffs ordered during shutdown

→ States warn SNAP benefits may stop in November if government shutdown continues

→ Trump administration puts 1,400 nuclear staffers on furlough

→ As they go unpaid, Capitol Police are a daily reminder for lawmakers of shutdown pain

→ Social Security cost-of-living increase announcement delayed by government shutdown

→ CMS holds some telehealth doctor pay due to shutdown

Weaponization of the Government

Big talk: Treasury Secretary declares new War on Terror against the Left: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced last week that his department is launching a War on Terror-style campaign against progressive nonprofits, adding that the Department has “started to compile lists, put together networks.” (Josh Kovensky, Talking Points Memo)

🔎 See Also: Trump team plans IRS overhaul to enable pursuit of left-leaning groups (Brian Schwartz, Richard Rubin, and Joel Schectman, Wall Street Journal)

🔎 See Also: The lawyers who gave up big money to fight Trump (Matthew Wollin, The New Republic)

All but two universities decline a Trump offer of preferential funding: Seven of the nine universities that the White House approached about a plan to steer more federal money toward schools aligned with President Trump’s priorities refused to endorse the proposal. An eighth, Vanderbilt University, signaled that it had reservations about it. Only one school, the University of Texas, suggested it might sign on. (Alan Blinder, New York Times)

The War on “Narcoterrorists”

Officials, locals undercut Trump claims about Venezuela drug boats: Trump says the military is blowing up boats carrying deadly fentanyl to the U.S. Experts say the route under attack isn’t ordinarily used to traffic fentanyl, and the drugs typically trafficked along that route are bound for West Africa and Europe. (Terrence McCoy, Ana Vanessa Herrero, and Samantha Schmidt, Washington Post)

U.S. military strike on boat in Caribbean targeted Colombians signaling broader campaign against drug groups: At least one military strike in the Caribbean over the last two months targeted Colombian nationals on a boat that had left from Colombia, suggesting that the administration’s campaign against suspected narcotics trafficking groups in region is wider than previously believed. (Natasha Bertrand and Zachary Cohen, CNN)

🔎 See Also: Colombia’s leader accuses U.S. of murder, prompting Trump to halt aid (Simon Romero, Genevieve Glatsky, and Zolan Kanno-Youngs, New York Times)

Trump administration authorizes covert CIA action in Venezuela: The administration secretly authorized the CIA to conduct covert action in Venezuela, with the end goal of driving from power the country’s president, Nicolás Maduro. President Trump also said he’s considering strikes on Venezuelan territory. (Julian E. Barnes and Tyler Pager, New York Times)

Elon Musk & DOGE

He accused DOGE of risking Social Security data. It cost him his career: Former Social Security Administration chief data officer Charles Borges filed a whistleblower complaint alleging DOGE copied a mainframe database containing the personal information of hundreds of millions of Americans and uploaded it to a vulnerable cloud server. (Meryl Kornfield and Hannah Natanson, Washington Post)

Analysis: Security clearance secrecy faces new scrutiny after Elon Musk disclosures: A federal judge’s order to release some details of Elon Musk’s security clearances was a notable moment in the law of oversight and security clearance accountability. The government often resists disclosing security clearance records under both FOIA and the Privacy Act. But in this case, the court refused to accept those arguments because of Musk’s public statements regarding drug use, NASA’s imposition of random drug testing, and his contacts with foreign leaders. (Lindy Kyzer, Government Executive)

Epstein Files

House releases new Epstein investigation documents, Alex Acosta interview: The new documents include call logs, including one showing two undated calls from someone listed as “Donald Trump”; schedules of meetings between Epstein and prominent figures in the arts, technology, and business; and the transcript of a House Oversight Committee interview with Alexander Acosta, the former U.S. labor secretary who served as the top federal prosecutor in South Florida when Epstein received a widely criticized plea deal. (Beth Reinhard et al., Washington Post)

🔎 See Also: Money, women and taxes: Jeffrey Epstein's fiery friendship with Wall Street titan Leon Black (Matthew Goldstein et al., New York Times)

Natural Disasters

Lack of weather data due to Trump’s budget cuts impacted forecast for deadly Alaska storm: The forecast for the recent storm that battered small communities in western Alaska was likely made worse by a lack of weather data triggered by the Trump administration’s cuts. Similar forecasting gaps are affecting some National Weather Service offices in the Lower 48. (Andrew Freedman, CNN)

🔎 See Also: Before Alaska flooding, EPA canceled $20 million flood protection grant (Maxine Joselow and Lisa Friedman, New York Times)

Insurrection

Jack Smith asked to testify before House Judiciary Committee: The request follows recent revelations that Smith’s probe obtained the phone records of several Republican lawmakers as part of his inquiry into Trump’s effort to subvert the 2020 election results. (Hailey Fuchs, Politico)

Russia-Ukraine War

Ukrainian officials meet with U.S. weapons manufacturers before Trump-Zelenskyy talks: The Ukrainian president’s office said the country’s cooperation with Lockheed Martin and Raytheon “continues to grow.” Meanwhile, Ukraine’s prime minister met with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to put the finishing touches on an agreement granting the U.S. access to Ukraine’s mineral resources. (Illia Novikov, Military.com)

Defense and Veterans Affairs

Analysis: Pentagon press restrictions – experts weigh in: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s new press restrictions are an abuse of power that pose a profound threat to freedom of the press and to the bond of trust between Americans and their military. Restricting reporters’ abilities to do their job will also make it easier for mistakes to be made, money to be wasted, and corruption to flourish. (Mark Thompson and Virginia Burger, Project On Government Oversight)

🔎 See Also: Pentagon press confronts new reality of Trump era: being banned from the Pentagon (Scott Nover, Washington Post)

🔎 See Also: Hegseth’s legal fixer at the center of Pentagon’s new media restrictions (Dan Lamothe, Washington Post)

Lawmakers press Pentagon on cuts to oversight of key missile defense programs: Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Donald Norcross raised concerns that the Pentagon’s weapons testing office has reduced the number of programs under its remit and will no longer provide oversight of several space and missile defense projects that could be part of the Golden Dome missile shield. (Valerie Insinna, Breaking Defense)

The war profiteers of Palo Alto: Silicon Valley’s high-tech military startups are closing in on a massive Pentagon payday after spending years pushing sensational, unverified claims of foreign threats, and despite concerns that many of these technologies lack comprehensive operating doctrines and will lead to cost overruns. (Freddy Brewster and Luke Goldstein, The Lever)

Family visit to Camp Pendleton ended with ICE deporting Marine’s dad: Marine Corps recruiters have long promoted enlistment as a path to stability for families without legal immigration status, but experts say those assurances have eroded amid the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. (Military Times)

JD Vance’s motorcade hit by shrapnel from Marine celebration: A 155-millimeter shell fired during a live demo at Camp Pendleton on Saturday for the Marine Corps’ 250th anniversary prematurely detonated, dropping fragments on the vice president’s motorcade on a nearby freeway. The Marines launched an investigation into the incident. (Julia Ornedo, Daily Beast)

Business and Finance

New English exam sidelines 6,000 truckers, testing U.S. supply chain: In May, the Transportation Department imposed a new English-proficiency requirement on commercial truck drivers. Analysts say there’s no correlation between English-proficiency and accidents, and industry leaders are concerned about a potential worker shortage if too many drivers are pulled from the roads. (Rachel Hatzipanagos, Washington Post)

Crypto crime scene: How the companies behind crypto ATMs profit as Americans lose millions: U.S. companies, which own and operate crypto ATMs around the country, profit from rampant fraud while doing too little to help stop it. The companies also make money by significantly marking up the price of cryptocurrency on transactions and often fail to refund money to fraud victims. (Curt Devine et al., CNN)

Tech

The day Amazon broke the Internet for millions of Americans: A glitch with an obscure Amazon database disrupted life yesterday for millions of Americans as core internet services failed to function. The episode was a reminder of the fragility of global connectivity and Amazon’s dominant role in managing online infrastructure. (Robert McMillan, Belle Lin, and Sean McLain, Wall Street Journal)

When face recognition doesn’t know your face is a face: As face recognition tech becomes more widespread, people with facial disfigurements — from birthmarks to craniofacial conditions — are finding it more difficult to access essential systems and services. (Matt Burgess, Wired)

The surveillance empire that tracked world leaders, a Vatican enemy, and maybe you: Operating from Indonesia, where permissive export laws have allowed its surveillance business to flourish, First Wap has quietly built a phone-tracking empire with a footprint extending from the Middle East to the U.S. The company’s untraceable tech has targeted politicians, journalists, celebrities, and activists around the globe. (Gabriel Geiger et al., Mother Jones)

Infrastructure

The Trump administration is using Biden-era clean energy funds to finance its coal agenda: The Energy Department is financing a $625 million investment in the coal industry with money that was originally appropriated for carbon capture programs and rural energy projects under the Biden-era Infrastructure Investments and Jobs Act. (Shifra Dayak, NOTUS)

Health Care

Errors in new Medicare plan portal mislead seniors on coverage: Ahead of the open enrollment period for Medicare Advantage plans that began last week, the Trump administration created a directory to help seniors look up which medical providers accept which insurance. But the portal frequently produces erroneous and conflicting information. (Dan Diamond and Akilah Johnson, Washington Post)

Private Medicare, Medicaid plans exaggerate in-network mental health options, watchdogs say: An inspector general probe found companies running private Medicare and Medicaid plans often overstate how many mental health providers are available in-network. (Tony Leys, KFF Health News)

Trump rattles vaccine experts over aluminum: The president’s call for the removal of aluminum from childhood inoculations worries experts, who say vaccines with small amounts of aluminum in them have a long track record of safety and are essential to generating lasting immunity from whooping cough, polio, and flu. (Christina Jewett, New York Times)

Unsafe amounts of lead found in some protein powders, report says: More than two-thirds of the 23 protein powders tested by Consumer Reports had unsafe or concerning amounts of lead. Unlike food products, the FDA doesn’t regulate protein powders before they’re sold to the public. (Kelly Kasulis Cho, Washington Post)

ICYMI

Immigration and Border Security:

→ We found that more than 170 U.S. citizens have been held by immigration agents. They’ve been kicked, dragged and detained for days

→ ICE detainees face greater risk from extreme heat than most prisoners

→ U.S. revokes six foreigners’ visas over social media comments criticizing Charlie Kirk

→ Trump considers overhaul of refugee system that would favor White people

→ The test for U.S. citizenship is about to get harder

→ House Democrats want answers on CISA reassignments to border security, immigration roles

→ Travel ban separates Cuban families, divides community loyal to Trump

→ Not so proud to be American — “fed up” expats renounce their citizenship

Other News:

→ DOJ whistleblower says he witnessed government officials undermining the rule of law

→ Judiciary Democrats launch watchdog website amid withheld funding from inspector general group

→ “I love Hitler”: Leaked messages expose Young Republicans’ racist chat

→ George Santos is already back on network TV

→ One of Trump’s library funds has mysteriously dissolved, but a lack of transparency keeps the public in the dark

→ State Department adviser charged with illegally storing classified documents

→ How Russell Vought became Trump’s shadow president

→ U.S. banks are hunting for collateral to back $20 billion Argentina bailout

On The Lighter Side

A CIA secret kept for 35 years is found in the Smithsonian’s vault: The solution to the final passage of Kryptos, the sculpture puzzle that sits in a courtyard at the CIA’s headquarters, had been unsolved since its unveiling in 1990. As the sculptor, Jim Sanborn, was in the final stages of auctioning off the solution last month, an amateur cryptographer and his friend found the solution among Sanborn’s papers at the Smithsonian’s Archives of American Art. (John Schwartz, New York Times)

The Army is buying 30 tons of powdered sugar to use in its smoke grenades: The Army is looking to buy 65,000 pounds of powdered sugar, a key ingredient in state fair funnel cakes and M18 smoke grenades. According to a retired Army ordnance disposal technician, 32.5 tons of powdered sugar will make “a metric sh–t ton” of grenades and smoke pots. (Patty Nieberg, Task & Purpose)

Source of UFO panic, drone mystery claims responsibility for frenzy: A private aerial contractor reportedly took responsibility for the swarms of mystery drones that wreaked havoc over New Jersey’s skies in November 2024. “You remember that big UFO scare in New Jersey last year? Well, that was us,” an employee of the unnamed company reportedly told the audience at an Army conference in August. (Julia Bonavita, Fox News)

Upcoming Events

WEBINAR: Rights Under Attack: DHS Violence Against Journalists, Observers, and Protestors. American Constitution Society and the Center for Media and Democracy. Wednesday, October 22, 3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. ET.

Hot Docs

🔥📃 Just Security: The “Presumption of Regularity” in Trump Administration Litigation. October 15, 2025

Nominations & Appointments

Nominations

William J. Crain - Judge, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana
Alexander Van Hook - Judge, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana

Withdrawals

Jennifer Wicks McNamara - Ambassador, Vietnam

Pardons & Commutations

George Santos