The Paper Trail: March 17, 2026

The Paper Trail

Top stories for March 17, 2026

How Trump’s Homeland Security pick, a prolific investor, got a lot wealthier in Congress: Senator Markwayne Mullin’s prolific stock trading — he invested $2.8 million in 31 companies on just one day in December — takes on new importance as the Senate considers his nomination to be Homeland Security secretary. Several companies in Mullin’s stock portfolio have large contracts with DHS. (Christopher Flavelle, Madeleine Ngo, and Georgia Gee, New York Times)

Unraveling the corporate ties to DHS’s “big, beautiful jet”: Kristi Noem is out as Homeland Security Secretary, but a luxury 737 she has traveled on remains in government hands. The plane has been quietly leased to DHS by a company linked to William Walters, a former State Department official who donated thousands of dollars to a pro-Noem political action committee. Walters owns a constellation of businesses that — despite a dearth of prior experience working for the government — won other lucrative DHS business over the last year. (Nick Schwellenbach and Dan Friedman, Project On Government Oversight)

Noem’s deputy director of ICE bought thousands of vehicles that officers can’t use: ICE’s former deputy director, Madison Sheahan, spent millions of dollars on 2,500 pick-up trucks and SUVs emblazoned with ICE’s name and logo. The agency is reluctant to have its officers drive these marked vehicles in public. (Anna Giaritelli, Washington Examiner)

After rookie ICE agent’s paperwork error, man is detained for days: A new ICE officer fresh out of an abbreviated basic training program made errors in paperwork that became the government’s justification for detaining a California man for days. The officer had received only one-third of the instruction time the agency once dedicated to teaching recruits how to fill out the paperwork. (Sarah Blaskey, Washington Post)

Homeland Security pushes for access to restricted federal database on child support, employment information for millions: DHS is seeking access to a trove of HHS data that is intended to support the collection of child support payments but could potentially be used for immigration enforcement purposes. (Priscilla Alvarez, CNN)

DHS ousts CBP privacy officers who questioned “illegal” orders: DHS removed multiple career Customs and Border Protection officials from their roles after they objected to orders to mislabel records about surveillance technologies and block their release under the Freedom of Information Act. (Dell Cameron, Wired)

🔎 See Also: Leaked documents show a Border Patrol remade in the image of Gregory Bovino (Daniel Boguslaw, The American Prospect)

Declassified report reveals NSA broke surveillance rules: Years after Edward Snowden’s shocking disclosures of sweeping domestic surveillance, the NSA continued to violate rules limiting the government’s ability to conduct warrantless searches of Americans’ electronic communications, according to a declassified inspector general report. The IG also found the NSA still didn’t have a system in place to prevent these violations. (Nick Schwellenbach, Project On Government Oversight)

With disputed legal maneuver, Trump tries to set policy without legislation: In a string of lawsuits, the Trump administration has reached settlements with Republican-led states, allowing the administration to do an end run around the legislative process and enact policies that will affect states and, in some cases, the whole country. (Zach Montague, New York Times)

DOJ to start hiring prosecutors directly out of law school: The DOJ suspended a policy requiring newly hired federal prosecutors to possess at least one year of experience practicing law, as U.S. attorneys’ offices struggle to find qualified replacements following mass departures. (Ben Penn, Bloomberg Law)

DOJ clears the way for government to hire technologists still connected to their private sector employers: The DOJ authorized the administration’s plan to allow employees from tech companies to work for the government while remaining employed by their companies and keeping their company stock. Ethics experts say the arrangement poses serious conflict of interest concerns. (Natalie Alms, Nextgov/FCW)

Did Trump cuts slow access to public records? We found 26 cases that say yes: Attorneys for at least 13 federal agencies and departments have stated in lawsuits that the past year’s federal workforce downsizing was the reason for failures to meet FOIA deadlines. (Nate Jones, Washington Post)

EPA says it will slash workload after IG flags slashed workforce as overburdened: The EPA has shed too many employees to manage its large portfolio of grants, its inspector general found in a new report, and it hasn’t taken steps to plan for the new workload it took on under President Biden. The IG didn’t accept the agency’s rationale that it was slashing grants and the workload would therefore decrease commensurate with staffing cuts. (Eric Katz, Government Executive)

Democrats ask what happened to millions earmarked for Trump’s library: Congressional Democrats opened a probe into millions of dollars private companies pledged to President Trump’s planned presidential library, asking the leaders of ABC, Meta, Paramount, and X what happened to the money after the original fund was dissolved last year. (Dan Diamond and Aaron Schaffer, Washington Post)

Iran War

First 6 days of Iran war cost U.S. $11.3 billion, Pentagon says: The estimate excludes many costs tied to the military buildup. (Euan Ward et al., New York Times)

Trump administration underestimated Iran war’s impact on Strait of Hormuz: The Pentagon and National Security Council significantly underestimated Iran’s willingness to close the Strait of Hormuz in response to U.S. military strikes. (Zachary Cohen et al., CNN)

🔎 See Also: Democrats demand top Trump aides testify on Iran war decisions, planning (Ellen Mitchell, The Hill)

U.S. at fault in strike on school in Iran, preliminary inquiry says: An ongoing military investigation determined that the U.S. was responsible for a deadly Tomahawk missile strike on an Iranian elementary school, finding U.S. Central Command created the target coordinates for the strike using outdated intelligence data. (Julian E. Barnes et al., New York Times)

🔎 See Also: Senate Democrat links budget cuts to Iran school bombing (Alexander Bolton, The Hill)

Strikes on Iran damage cultural heritage sites, infuriating Iranians: U.S. and Israeli airstrikes have damaged revered historical and cultural icons and sites around Iran. (Farnaz Fassihi, New York Times)

Trump says Kushner helped convince him to go to war with Iran: President Trump said Jared Kushner was one of a handful of top advisers who convinced him to go to war with Iran. The disclosure raises questions about the role of Kushner, who is being paid tens of millions of dollars annually by Middle Eastern governments that lobbied Trump to attack Iran. (Judd Legum, Popular Information)

🔎 See Also: Jared Kushner solicits funds for his firm while working as Mideast envoy (Rob Copeland and Maureen Farrell, New York Times)

FCC chair threatens broadcasters over Iran war coverage: FCC Chair Brendan Carr threatened to revoke broadcasters’ licenses over coverage of the Iran war, after President Trump accused news outlets of misleading the American public. In a social media post, Carr warned the FCC would consider Iran war coverage when renewing broadcasters’ licenses. (Karissa Waddick, USA Today)

Insurrection

Election records handed over to the FBI in Maricopa County, Arizona, could be fatally flawed, experts say: Last week, when 2020 voting information from Maricopa County, Arizona, was handed over to the FBI, it might have seemed like a replay of the agency’s January raid in Fulton County, Georgia. But the evidence collected from Maricopa County is fundamentally different, in ways that election experts say threaten the accuracy and integrity of the investigation. (Jen Fifield, ProPublica)

The DOJ is giving guns back to felons, including one alleged fake elector: The DOJ is quietly pursuing a long-dormant program to restore gun rights to felons, including a man who was indicted for being a fake elector in 2020. (Jaclyn Diaz, NPR)

Police say Jan. 6 plaque is unlawfully hidden from public at U.S. Capitol: Police officers who defended the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, asked a federal judge to allow their lawsuit over the long-delayed installation of a plaque honoring their service to continue, arguing that its placement in a location largely hidden from the public continues to violate federal law. (Olivia George, Washington Post)

Alleged Capitol Hill pipe bomber argues charges should be tossed out under Trump pardons: Brian Cole Jr.’s lawyers argue that the charges against Cole, who pleaded not guilty, are “inextricably and demonstrably tethered” to the events of January 6, 2021, even though the bombs were allegedly planted a day earlier. (Joe Walsh, CBS News)

Weaponization of the Government

Judge quashes Justice Dept.’s subpoenas of Fed, crippling its pursuit of Trump’s rivals: U.S. District Judge James Boasberg criticized the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington for pursuing a case against Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell that appeared to be motivated by President Trump’s desire for vengeance. The decision doesn’t necessarily mean the end of the inquiry, but it dealt a crippling blow to an inquiry that might delay the confirmation of Trump’s handpicked replacement for Powell. (Alan Feuer, Glenn Thrush, and Colby Smith, New York Times)

Justice Department leans on prosecutors in Brennan probe as other Trump-foe investigations fizzle: Federal prosecutors leading an investigation into former CIA Director John Brennan are facing increasing pressure from top DOJ officials to bring criminal charges against him pertaining to testimony he gave to Congress in 2023 and the Russia investigation years earlier. (Katelyn Polantz, Hannah Rabinowitz, and Evan Perez, CNN)

DOJ pardon attorney Ed Martin hit with ethics charges over Georgetown University funding threat: The Washington, D.C., Bar initiated disciplinary proceedings against Martin over allegations he improperly threatened to withhold federal funding from Georgetown University's law school over its DEI policies and then demanded that a judge suspend the attorney investigating his actions. (Alexander Mallin and Peter Charalambous, ABC News)

Blue states sue Trump administration over new race-based reporting requirements for colleges: Seventeen Democratic-led states sued the Education Department over new race-based reporting requirements for universities targeting admissions, financial aid, and student performance data. The lawsuit alleges the amount of data being sought places a considerable burden on colleges and that the data will be used by the administration to launch politically motivated investigations. (Lexi Lonas Cochran, The Hill)

DOGE

John Solly is the DOGE operative accused of planning to take Social Security data to his new job: John Solly, a software engineer, is the DOGE employee accused in a whistleblower complaint of telling colleagues that he stored sensitive Social Security data on a thumb drive and planned to share it with his new employer, government contractor Leidos. Leidos said it found no evidence supporting the whistleblower’s claims. An earlier whistleblower complaint alleged Solly and other DOGE members wrongfully uploaded sensitive SSA data to an unsecured cloud server. (Vittoria Elliott and Makena Kelly, Wired)

Former DOGE employees give an inside look at the Elon Musk-led agency: A lawsuit seeking to reverse cuts to the National Endowment for the Humanities is providing an inside look at DOGE. In deposition videos, ex-DOGE employees Justin Fox and Nate Cavanaugh admit to their lack of experience, and Fox struggles to define DEI. (Matt Binder, Mashable)

White House Ballroom

Trump appointees aren’t legally qualified to vote on ballroom, critics say: Critics say President Trump’s appointees to the federal planning commission that controls the fate of his White House ballroom project are not legally qualified to serve, raising the possibility of a court challenge. (Jonathan Edwards and Dan Diamond, Washington Post)

Russia-Ukraine War

Ukraine’s U.S. air defenses are at risk in Iran war: The war with Iran is sucking up expensive U.S. air defense munitions that Ukraine desperately needs, putting future deliveries at risk and threatening Kyiv’s ability to counter Russian ballistic missile attacks. (Paul McLeary, Jack Detsch, and Chris Lunday, Politico)

Inspectors General

Inside Noem’s tense relationship with controversial DHS inspector general: Tensions are running high between DHS and its inspector general, Joseph Cuffari, a Trump appointee who has had his own rocky tenure as head of that office. A former inspector general said that while he has confidence in career staff at DHS’s IG office, Cuffari’s past dealings make it difficult to tease out where struggles with his office end and complications with outgoing Secretary Kristi Noem begin. (Rebecca Beitsch, The Hill)

Defense and Veterans Affairs

A year into Hegseth’s cuts, defense civilians report “degraded performance” and low morale: A year after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth launched an effort to slash DOD’s civilian workforce, employees report gutted offices, lower productivity, and pervasive uncertainty. In total, nearly 110,000 of the department’s roughly 795,000 civilians departed last year. Some 30,000 jobs deemed essential to national security were subsequently re-filled. (Meghann Myers, Defense One)

Hegseth orders “ruthless” review of JAGs. Some see an attempt to evade accountability: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered a “ruthless, no-excuses review” of the military’s legal departments, raising fears that he will gut legal oversight of the administration’s actions. (Thomas Novelly, Government Executive)

The U.S. built a blueprint to avoid civilian war casualties. Trump officials scrapped it: The Pentagon had been working on a plan to avoid civilian deaths. It was heading toward implementation until it was dismantled last year. With the plan sidelined, experts say U.S. military plans face limited scrutiny. (Hannah Allam, ProPublica)

Pentagon headhunting Goldman, JPMorgan bankers for “Economic Defense Unit”: The Pentagon is building a team of investment bankers steeped in private equity to invest $200 billion over three years in defense deals, aiming to counter China’s rise. The recruitment pitch also promises “unmatched access to top-level government officials and privileged information flow.” (Liz Hoffman, Semafor)

Pentagon tightens control of Stars and Stripes after blasting it as “woke”: Deputy Defense Secretary Stephen Feinberg outlined a sweeping “modernization” effort for the independent military newspaper Stars and Stripes, saying that content in the publication must be consistent with “good order and discipline.” (Scott Nover and Liam Scott, Washington Post)

🔎 See Also: Pentagon bars press photographers over “unflattering” Hegseth photos (Scott Nover, Washington Post)

VA watchdog finds nearly a million calls from vets seeking care had key tracking data missing: VA’s inspector general investigated a longstanding complaint from the nation’s veterans: They can’t get through to their health care providers on the phone. The IG found that 13 of 15 VA medical facilities didn’t track what happened with nearly half of the 2.1 million calls made by veterans seeking specialized care. (Brian Todd, CNN)

Business and Finance

Trump’s cancellation of licenses for immigrant truckers takes effect: Some 200,000 immigrant truck drivers will begin to lose their commercial driver’s licenses as they expire under a new Transportation Department rule. (Lauren Kaori Gurley, Washington Post)

With boom in prediction markets, some lawmakers worry about how to police themselves: Current government ethics guidance doesn’t require detailed financial disclosure reports on prediction markets and event contract gains for White House staff, members of Congress, congressional staff, or their family members. (Luke Garrett, NPR)

🔎 See Also: War reporter says Polymarket bettors pressured him to change article (Will Oremus, Washington Post)

IRS criminal referrals against big corporations and ultrawealthy plummeted during Trump’s first year: During the Trump administration’s first year, the IRS referred at most two cases of possible tax evasion by ultrawealthy people or large businesses to its criminal investigators. IRS agents assigned to billionaire audits said their cases ground to a halt when their teams were decimated and budgets frozen as part of the DOGE cost-cutting effort. (Spencer Woodman, International Consortium of Investigative Journalists)

🔎 See Also: Watchdog warns of challenges as IRS handles first tax season after Trump staffing cuts (Sean Michael Newhouse, Government Executive)

SEC prepares proposal to eliminate quarterly reporting requirement: Those in favor of less-frequent reporting requirements believe a switch could help boost the shrinking number of public companies in the U.S. The change is likely to face opposition from investors who rely on the transparency of quarterly disclosures. (Corrie Driebusch, Wall Street Journal)

TikTok investors set to pay $10 billion fee to Trump administration: Investors in a deal to create a U.S.-controlled TikTok are set to pay a $10 billion “transaction fee” to the U.S. Treasury. The new investors, which include software giant Oracle and the personal investment entity for computer company founder Michael Dell, paid the Treasury roughly $2.5 billion of the fee when the deal closed in January. (Lauren Hirsch and Andrew Duehren, New York Times)

His father lost his life’s savings in a scam. A fake lawyer offered to help: Many cybercrime victims are getting targeted by the “recovery scam,” in which online scammers pose as lawyers or other professionals who promise they can recover stolen money. (Tara Siegel Bernard, New York Times)

🔎 See Also: Banks are becoming bulwarks against scams for vulnerable seniors (Paula Span, KFF Health News)

Tech

Teens allege Musk’s Grok chatbot made sexual images of them as minors: A group of Tennessee teenagers allege in a lawsuit that xAI tools were used to create nude images of them which were then spread across online chatrooms. It’s the first action brought by minor victims of the “undressing” scandal that has plagued xAI in recent months. (Faiz Siddiqui, Washington Post)

Health Care

Judge halts RFK Jr.’s vaccine overhaul, citing flawed process: U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy blocked the administration from implementing sweeping changes to the nation’s childhood immunization schedule, siding with major medical organizations that argue the health secretary unlawfully altered vaccine policy and improperly reconstituted a federal vaccine advisory panel. (Lena H. Sun and Rachel Roubein, Washington Post)

Eye doctor named to air pollution advisory board draws pushback: The EPA named Brian Joondeph, a Colorado-based ophthalmologist and political commentator, to the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee, an influential panel that advises the agency on the latest scientific evidence on soot, smog, and other hazardous pollutants. Joondeph has no background in air pollution science and has publicly questioned mainstream climate science. (Maxine Joselow, New York Times)

Medicare Advantage “dark money” group attempts to win higher payments for insurance companies: Health care policy experts, who have long argued that the government overpays Medicare Advantage plans by tens of billions of dollars every year, warn that industry groups and their surrogates routinely overstate possible negative impacts of keeping Medicare Advantage reimbursement rates low. (Fred Schulte, Maia Rosenfeld, and David Hilzenrath)

FDA finds little evidence that a drug touted by Trump can help people with autism: The FDA approved leucovorin, a generic medication for a rare brain disorder, while walking back statements by the president and FDA Commissioner Marty Makary that the drug showed great promise for people with autism. (Matthew Perrone, Associated Press)

In tense meeting, Dr. Oz pressed medical societies on trans care for teens: Many providers of transgender medicine worry that opponents of gender-affirming care are exploiting the ambiguity in the research for larger political reasons. (Jeremy W. Peters, New York Times)

On “The Pitt,” a fictional hospital meltdown highlights a real cyber crisis: The HBO TV drama is raising the profile of an urgent threat experts wish more people talked about: Health care networks around the world are being bombarded by cyberattacks, and they’re ill-equipped to deal with them. (Dana Nickel, Politico)

Changes in organ donor status can fall through cracks in the system: There is no clear, nationally binding way to opt out of donating one’s organs upon death — or to ensure a later “no” overrides an earlier “yes” in a different state. (Dr. Céline Gounder, CBS News)

Cosmetic surgery investigation prompts warnings for patients, and a push for tighter safety standards: The American Society of Plastic Surgeons, which represents 12,000 doctors, is now warning patients to “do their homework” before getting liposuction, a Brazilian butt lift, a “Mommy Makeover,” or other cosmetic procedures. (Fred Schulte, KFF Health News)

ICYMI

Immigration and Border Security:

→ Deportees sent by Trump to Salvadoran prison are still stuck a year later

→ At least 10 ICE arrests of immigrants involved U.S. Park Police, records show

→ Marimar Martinez: Shot by Border Patrol, then called a “domestic terrorist”

→ Afghan who worked with U.S. military dies in ICE custody

Other News:

→ Trump’s memecoin advertises new chance for investors to meet president at Mar-a-Lago

→ Vought takes aim at GAO in new guidance

→ GOP senators approve Coast Guard commander promotion despite whistleblower retaliation

→ Lawmakers seek watchdog probe into former acting CISA chief’s polygraph failures

→ Energy Secretary invokes emergency powers to restart oil operations off California coast

→ The Epstein prosecutor with a portfolio problem

→ Ousted Hegseth aide accused of leaking lands intelligence post

→ Army general left classified maps on a train in Poland, watchdog finds

On The Lighter Side

COVID origins, Jan. 6, flushed letters — requesters seek Trump secrets: On January 20, 2026, five years to the day after President Trump first left office, the National Archives started taking FOIA requests for records from Trump’s first term. In celebration of Sunshine Week, USA Today analyzed the more than 200 requests filed that day. (Nick Penzenstadler, USA Today)

As pennies begin to disappear, states grappling with “rounding” problem for cash purchases: Months after the last of the penny coins were pressed, states are beginning to offer their own two cents by setting rounding guidelines for cash purchases. A bill introduced last year in Congress would apply a standard rounding method across the country in order to, according to one lawmaker, prevent a “confusing patchwork of state policies.” (CBS News)

🔎 See Also: New dime to celebrate America’s birthday takes on new meaning under Trump (Maegan Vazquez, Washington Post)

Upcoming Events

📌 Waste, Fraud, and Abuse in Foreign Assistance: Lessons Learned and Charting a Path Forward. House Committee on Foreign Affairs; Oversight and Intelligence Subcommittee. Tuesday, March 17, 2:00 p.m., 2172 Rayburn House Office Building.

📌 Oversight of the U.S. Postal Service: The Financial Future Under Postmaster General Steiner. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform; Subcommittee on Government Operations. Tuesday, March 17, 2:00 p.m., HVC-210.

📌 Nomination of Markwayne Mullin to be Secretary of Homeland Security. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Wednesday, March 18, 9:30 a.m., 342 Dirksen Senate Office Building.

📌 Sunshine Week: Bringing Secret Government Spending to Light. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship. Wednesday, March 18, 2:30 p.m., 428A Russell Senate Office Building.

📌 WEBINAR: Denouncing Into the Void: The Dismantling of Internal Oversight and Accountability at DHS: Kino Border Initiative and the Washington Office on Latin America. Thursday, March 19, 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. ET.

Hot Docs

🔥📃 Energy & Policy Institute: Paying for Their Profits: How Ratepayers Foot the Bill for Soaring Utility Profits. March 12, 2026

Nominations & Appointments

NOMINATIONS

• Sarah B. Rogers - Chief Executive Officer, United States Agency for Global Media

APPOINTMENTS

• Erika Kirk - Member, U.S. Air Force Academy Board of Visitors

WITHDRAWALS

• Jeremy Carl - Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs
• William Hewes III - Commissioner, Consumer Product Safety Commission