The Paper Trail: December 2, 2025

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The Paper Trail

Announcements

Join the Congressional Management Foundation (CMF) on Thursday, December 4, at 12:00 noon EST in 2247 Rayburn House Office Building for From Article I to Action: A Panel on Congressional Oversight. This panel will break down the essentials of congressional oversight — equipping participants with practical insights to strengthen their oversight work and support Congress’s responsibility to ensure laws, taxpayer dollars, and executive actions align with legislative intent. Register HERE.

Join the Office of the Whistleblower Ombuds on Thursday, December 11, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. EST in the Longworth Cafeteria for their last pop-up tabling event of the year. This is a great opportunity to pick up the Office’s latest resources and ask questions about their new interactive training: Protecting Whistleblower Information: A Deep Dive. This training is available to House staff through the Congressional Staff Academy.

Join POGO and Jenner & Block on Thursday, December 11, from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. EST in the Members’ Dining Room at the U.S. Capitol to celebrate the release of an updated 2025 edition of When Congress Comes Calling, a handbook on congressional oversight and investigations for federal staff and private practitioners, with updates to reflect the changed legal and political landscape since the last edition was released in 2017. Register HERE.

Top stories for December 2, 2025

Noem confirms she approved deportation flights despite court order: Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said that she instructed officials to carry out the deportation and transferring of Venezuelan detainees to El Salvador despite a court order in March halting the flights. (Sophia Vento, The Hill)

Appeals court says Alina Habba is unlawful U.S. attorney: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit affirmed a lower court’s ruling that Alina Habba is serving unlawfully as the U.S. attorney in New Jersey. The state’s federal courts have been operating in limbo since Habba’s elevation to the post, slowing certain types of criminal cases and halting some grand jury proceedings. (Jonah E. Bromwich and Tracey Tully, New York Times)

Times analysis finds errors in Trump’s Supreme Court filing that calls for National Guard in Chicago: The administration made erroneous claims to the Supreme Court, mischaracterizing the responsiveness of local police and the actions of protesters in a filing asking the justices to sign off on the deployment of National Guard troops to Chicago. (Devon Lum et al., New York Times)

🔎 See Also: Despite Supreme Court wins, elite DOJ unit has seen mass turnover (Abbie VanSickle and Ann E. Marimow, New York Times)

Trump social media post claims to void Biden orders: President Trump declared on social media Friday that he “terminated” all laws, pardons, and still-in-effect executive orders that former President Biden signed with an autopen, although it wasn’t immediately clear how that would be implemented or whether it would be legal. (Jennifer Shutt, News From The States)

Fired employees say government won’t rehire them after shutdown: Dozens of former GSA workers accuse the administration of breaking the law in refusing to reinstate them. The government argues that about 200 laid off GSA workers aren’t covered by a law that reversed layoffs occurring during the lapse in federal spending that began on October 1. (Eileen Sullivan, New York Times)

Trump’s disregard of presidential transition requirements shows need for reform, experts argue: A new report found that the Trump transition team’s refusal of certain assistance reduced time for agencies to prepare for a new administration and created ethics and security concerns. (Sean Michael Newhouse, Government Executive)

Treasury investigating whether Minnesota welfare money went to Somali terror group al Shabaab, Bessent says: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent cited a recent report that alleged millions of dollars from Minnesota state welfare programs had ultimately landed in the hands of the terror group Al-Shabaab. Minnesota has been racked by allegations of large-scale fraud in the state’s public assistance programs. (Joe Walsh, CBS News)

Silicon Valley’s man in the White House is benefiting himself and his friends: David Sacks, the Trump administration’s AI and crypto czar, has helped formulate policies that aid his Silicon Valley friends and his own tech investments. Sacks’ designation as a “special government employee” allows him to serve in government while working in private industry. (Cecilia Kang et al., New York Times)

White House Ballroom

Inside Trump’s push to make the White House ballroom as big as possible: The size of the project isn’t the only issue raising alarms. President Trump also told people working on the ballroom that they don’t need to follow permitting, zoning, or code requirements. (Luke Broadwater, New York Times)

🔎 See Also: Trump wants a bigger White House ballroom. His architect disagrees (Jonathan Edwards and Dan Diamond, Washington Post)

Weaponization of the Government

Democrats say the FBI is investigating them over their video about illegal orders: The six Democratic members of Congress who recorded a video informing troops that they could refuse illegal orders said last week that they were being investigated by the FBI’s counterterrorism division. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, in a letter to the Department of the Navy, requested a briefing on the status of the DOD’s inquiry into Sen. Mark Kelly by December 10. (Greg Jaffe, New York Times)

🔎 See Also: Hegseth conscripts the Pentagon for Trump’s “retribution campaign” (Noah Robertson, Tara Copp, and Sarah Ellison, Washington Post)

Northwestern agrees to a deal with Trump administration: Northwestern University will pay $75 million to regain its research funding and end investigations into antisemitism on campus. The school also agreed to revise all policies, protocols, and public-facing materials on hormonal interventions and transgender surgeries for children at its Feinberg School of Medicine. (Michael C. Bender, New York Times)

The War on “Narcoterrorists”

• Military Times: A List of U.S. Military Strikes Against Alleged Drug-Carrying Vessels
• The Intercept: How Many People Has the U.S. Killed in Boat Strikes?

White House says admiral ordered follow-up strike on alleged drug boat, insists attack was lawful: The White House said that Navy Vice Adm. Frank “Mitch” Bradley acted “within his authority and the law” when he ordered a second, follow-up strike on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean Sea in September, after he had been “authorized” to do so by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Hegseth claimed operations in the Caribbean are “lawful under both U.S. and international law.” (Aamer Madhani and Regina Garcia Cano, Associated Press)

🔎 See Also: Hegseth, with White House help, tries to distance himself from boat strike fallout (Noah Robertson and Tara Copp, Washington Post)

🔎 See Also: How the Trump administration’s account of Sept. 2 boat strike has evolved (Eleanor Watson, James LaPorta, and Joe Walsh, CBS News)

U.S. military documents indicate plans to keep troops in Caribbean through 2028: The U.S. is formulating plans to feed a massive military presence in the Caribbean almost to the end of President Trump’s term in office. (Sam Biddle and Nick Turse, The Intercept)

Elon Musk & DOGE

DOGE no longer has “centralized leadership” under White House tech team, personnel head says: DOGE no longer exists as a “centralized entity,” according to OPM Director Scott Kupor, but the office that housed DOGE, the U.S. DOGE Service (formerly known as the U.S. Digital Service), continues to work on government modernization projects, and DOGE’s cost-cutting principles “remain alive and well,” Kupor said. (Natalie Alms, Government Executive)

Natural Disasters

FEMA’s terrible, horrible, no good, very bad year: On its third acting administrator this year, FEMA has faced workforce cuts, leadership instability, and an uncertain future. A leaked draft report on suggested FEMA reforms supports preserving the agency and restoring it to a cabinet-level agency that reports directly to the president, rather than to DHS. (Rebecca Egan McCarthy, Government Executive)

Insurrection

Georgia prosecutor ends 2020 election interference case against Trump, allies: “There is no realistic prospect that a sitting President will be compelled to appear in Georgia to stand trial on the allegations in this indictment,” the prosecutor wrote in a court filing dismissing criminal charges against President Trump and others related to efforts to overturn the 2020 election. (Hannah Knowles, Washington Post)

Russia-Ukraine War

Make money not war: Trump’s real plan for peace in Ukraine: Three powerful businessmen — billionaire developer-turned-special envoy Steve Witkoff, Russian sovereign-wealth fund head Kirill Dmitriev, and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner — met in Miami Beach last month, ostensibly to draw up a plan to end the Russia-Ukraine war. But they were also privately charting a path to bring Russia’s $2 trillion economy in from the cold, with American businesses first in line to snag multibillion-dollar rare-earth and energy deals. (Drew Hinshaw et al., Wall Street Journal)

Defense and Veterans Affairs

Hazing, bullying reports up as Hegseth pushes for rougher training: According to a June report on the reporting and adjudication of hazing and bullying within the armed forces, overall numbers remain small, but the Marine Corps continues to be the greatest source of complaints among the services. It also found that data collection on accountability actions for those found to have perpetrated hazing behaviors is inconsistent. (Hope Hodge Seck, Military Times)

Foreign agents preying on disgruntled soldiers, Army intel chief warns: In the wake of the government shutdown that multiplied concerns about paycheck and job security, the Army’s head of intelligence warned soldiers of malicious efforts to contact and exploit them under the pretext of professional networking. (Hope Hodge Seck, Military Times)

🔎 See Also: Scams targeting veterans: How fraudsters exploit service and trust (Haley Fuller, Military.com)

Golden Dome: Space Force awards first space-based interceptor prototype contracts: The Space Force didn’t identify the winners, saying their names are “protected by enhanced security measures.” After the initial White House fanfare over the sprawling, multi-billion-dollar missile defense initiative, the Pentagon has clamped down on public discussion of the project. (Theresa Hitchens, Breaking Defense)

Lawmakers to VA: Use AI to help prevent veteran suicide: Recently, the VA has turned to AI for solutions to the suicide crisis, using the technology to identify veterans at risk. With the passing of the FY26 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs bill, VA’s opportunity to explore more AI options to help veterans has been opened. (Kevin Damask, Military.com)

Top gun traders: Stock bets and crypto culture take over the military: The recent crypto surge and meme-stock mania got a generation of troops hooked on investing. Financial advisers warn the good times won’t last; some service members have already suffered significant losses. (Konrad Putzier, Wall Street Journal)

Business and Finance

Hamas victims’ families sue Binance, accusing it of aiding terrorism: The families of 300 U.S. citizens hurt or killed in the October 7 attack on Israel sued Binance, claiming the cryptocurrency exchange aided Hamas and other terrorist and criminal groups by transferring more than $1 billion among accounts they controlled. (Stacy Cowley, New York Times)

USA Gymnastics and Olympic sports watchdog failed to stop coach’s sexual abuse, lawsuits allege: Lawsuits allege that a watchdog created by Congress to investigate misconduct in Olympic sports in the wake of the Larry Nassar sexual abuse scandal failed to stop abuse at an elite gymnastics academy in Iowa. (Ryan J. Foley and Eddie Pells, Associated Press)

Zillow removes climate risk scores from home listings: Zillow, the country’s largest real estate listings site, quietly removed a feature that showed the risks from extreme weather for more than one million home sale listings. Real estate agents complained the scores hurt sales and questioned their accuracy, while homeowners who protested the scores found there was no way to challenge them. (Claire Brown, New York Times)

Tech

A smartphone before age 12 could carry health risks, study says: Researchers found that children who had a smartphone by age 12 were at higher risk of depression, obesity, and insufficient sleep. (Catherine Pearson, New York Times)

Infrastructure

Kilowatts or connections? Trump’s favored nuclear start-ups soar to riches: In the age of President Trump’s promised nuclear revival, shareholders and backers of nuclear power companies see connections to the White House as the road to profitability. Trump-connected companies with untested business plans are brimming with cash infusions and winning federal regulators’ favor. (Evan Halper, Washington Post)

Health Care

Doctor critical of vaccines quietly appointed as CDC’s second in command: Dr. Ralph Abraham, who as Louisiana’s surgeon general ordered the state health department to stop promoting vaccinations, called COVID vaccines “dangerous,” and promoted discredited COVID treatments, was named principal deputy director at the CDC. His appointment wasn’t announced, and many CDC employees seemed unaware of it. (Apoorva Mandavilli, New York Times)

🔎See Also: RFK Jr. replaces chair of controversial vaccine advisory panel (Joseph Choi, The Hill)

Medicaid work rules exempt the “medically frail.” Deciding who qualifies is tricky: New federal rules will require more than 18 million Medicaid enrollees nationwide to show they’re working, volunteering, or going to school for 80 hours a month starting in 2027 to keep their coverage, unless they are deemed “medically frail.” But states lack sufficient federal guidance on how to define that term. (Samantha Liss and Sam Whitehead, KFF Health News)

The shocking crash that led one county to reckon with the dangers of e-bikes: Unregulated electric bicycles, also known as e-bikes, are a growing danger on American streets. E-bike injuries are far more serious than those sustained on conventional bikes. The risks are also greater for pedestrians. (David Darlington, New York Times Magazine)

ICYMI

Immigration and Border Security:

→ Noem says she met with Trump, recommended full travel ban

→ Gutting of key U.S. watchdog could pave way for grave immigration abuses, experts warn

→ Disappeared to a foreign prison: The Trump administration’s secretive immigration removals

→ Mother of White House press secretary’s nephew detained by ICE

→ DHS swept Chicago to get “the worst” criminals. Many have no record

Other News:

→ After service in CIA-trained unit, alleged National Guard shooter struggled to adapt in U.S.

→ Damning report labels FBI “rudderless ship” under Kash Patel — with him and Dan Bongino more concerned with building “personal résumés”

→ Schumer says bomb threats were emailed to his New York offices

→ Trump pardonee Juan Orlando Hernández flooded U.S. with cocaine

→ Marjorie Taylor Greene retirement launches speculation about congressional pensions

→ Commentary: Why America needs the GAO: DOGE done right

On The Lighter Side

Fort Bragg psychological warfare group posts chilling video. “We are everywhere”: A secretive U.S. Army unit that specializes in “using the power of the mind to persuade opinion and discourse” among the nation’s enemies released a recruitment video laced with strange images, subliminal messages, and hidden meanings. (Mark Price, Military.com)

Final pennies struck in U.S., including a 24-karat gold coin, heading to auction: If you want to ensure the addition of the last-ever pennies to your coin collection — including one that isn’t made with copper — you'll soon have your chance. (Addy Bink, The Hill)

Upcoming Events

📌 Impeachment: Holding Rogue Judges Accountable. Senate Judiciary Committee. Wednesday, December 3, 2:30 p.m., 226 Dirksen Senate Office Building.

📌 Protecting Our Children Online Against the Evolving Offender. Senate Judiciary Committee. Tuesday, December 9, 10:15 a.m., 216 Hart Senate Office Building.

Nominations & Appointments

Nominations

• Megan Blair Benton - Judge, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri
• James Bishop - U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of North Carolina
• Christopher Michael De Bono - Associate Judge, Superior Court of the District of Columbia
• Brian Charles Lea - Judge, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee
• Justin R. Olson - Judge, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana

Pardons & Commutations

• David Gentile
• Juan Orlando Hernández