The Paper Trail: June 2, 2026

Announcements

Concurrent Congressional and Executive Investigations: The Whys, Whats, and Hows: POGO’s virtual training on how to conduct oversight when the executive branch is investigating the same matter will be Friday, June 12 at 12 noon ET. This event is only open to staff in Congress, GAO, and CRS. Register HERE.

Top stories for June 2, 2026

GEO Group’s “dark money” donation to a group tied to a top lawmaker: ICE’s largest detention contractor, GEO Group, made a $250,000 “dark money” donation last year to a group aligned with Rep. Jim Jordan, who chairs a key congressional committee overseeing ICE. GEO Group made the contribution shortly after the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which funded the doubling of immigrant detention space. (Nick Schwellenbach, Project On Government Oversight)

DOJ wants to know who on Reddit, X criticizes ICE’s tactics: The U.S. Attorney’s Office for Washington, D.C. subpoenaed social media companies for personal information on at least two anonymous posters behind accounts that have criticized immigration enforcement efforts. (Jimmy Jenkins and Zoe Tillman, Bloomberg Law)

Losing trust in Justice Dept., judges call out its lawyers’ behavior: The notion that DOJ lawyers can be taken at their word, a longtime assumption that allows federal courts to operate swiftly and smoothly, now appears to be in jeopardy. Several rulings from federal judges in recent weeks castigated the government’s lawyers for withholding information and making assertions that turned out to be lies. (Mattathias Schwartz, New York Times)

Trump administration sees striking exodus of legal talent: President Trump’s upheaval of the federal government has led to an exodus of more than 10,000 lawyers since the beginning of 2025, a striking loss of legal talent that has left some agencies struggling to find attorneys to carry out his agenda while flooding the offices of Democratic state attorneys general and nonprofits that are challenging Trump’s policies. (Eileen Sullivan and Andrea Fuller, New York Times)

Federal oversight faces “structural conflict” as political appointees enter IG offices: Along with increasing the number of political appointees in the federal government, the second Trump administration is also installing such officials at agencies that haven’t employed political staffers in recent history. According to a report by the Partnership for Public Service, “political appointees are displacing or crowding out career officials whose expertise, continuity and institutional knowledge have been the foundation of effective agency operations and mission delivery.” (Sean Michael Newhouse, Government Executive)

Diplomacy in decline: Roughly 2,000 U.S. diplomats have been laid off or forced to retire, taking with them decades of institutional knowledge, crisis response experience, and highly specialized language skills. (Abigail Williams, NBC News)

Trump administration proposes NDAs for all federal workers: OPM is proposing a government-wide nondisclosure agreement that would bar federal employees from sharing a wide array of “confidential government information.” The proposal, which will stay open for a 30-day public comment period, is aimed at cracking down on leaks to the media. (Scott Nover and Meryl Kornfield, Washington Post)

Democratic state AGs say their staff excluded from Vance anti-fraud meeting: A handful of Democratic state attorneys general said officials from their offices were denied access to a White House anti-fraud meeting convened last week by Vice President JD Vance and attended by Republican AGs. Top officials from AG offices in California, New York, New Jersey, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Maryland, and Nevada were turned away. (Shauneen Miranda, News From The States)

🔎 See Also: Alleged fraudsters are fueling Trump’s fraud crusade (Katya Schwenk, The Lever)

Analysis: Congress can impeach White House officials: When high-ranking presidential aides and advisors abuse their power, Congress can (and should) use its impeachment power to investigate. (Katherine Hawkins, The Constitution Project at POGO)

Trump backs off plan for $1.8 billion fund that drew political backlash: The administration signaled a retreat on Monday, when the DOJ said in a statement that it would abide by a federal judge’s temporary order not to proceed with any steps to activate the “anti-weaponization fund” until at least June 12, when a court hearing on the fund is scheduled. (Tyler Pager et al., New York Times)

🔎 See Also: Inside the deal to drop Trump’s $10 billion suit against the IRS (Alan Feuer et al., New York Times)

Reflecting Pool contract has “inflated” profit margin, government analysis finds: Atlantic Industrial Coatings, the firm awarded a no-bid contract to repair and paint the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, is being paid an inflated and excessive profit margin, adding at least $850,000 to the cost.(David A. Fahrenthold, New York Times)

The Trump administration is spending $5 million to coat horse statues in gold: As the president hurries to put his stamp on a city he’s long denigrated as crumbling and ugly, his administration has doled out tens of millions of dollars for contracts with no competition, short timelines, and little oversight. In total, the Interior Department has spent at least $95 million on D.C. beautification projects, many of which have ended up costing more than originally planned. (Anna Kramer, NOTUS)

Park Service officials raised alarms over Trump administration’s tennis center plan: National Park Service officials repeatedly raised legal and environmental concerns over the Trump administration’s plan to lease Washington, D.C.-area public parkland, including the site of a professional tennis tournament, to a businessman with a financial interest in the site. (Rick Maese, Washington Post)

Trump bought stock in UFC's parent company as he promoted White House fight: President Trump bought up to $50,000 of stock in TKO Group Holdings, the company that will receive a fortune in publicity thanks to his decision to promote an Ultimate Fighting Championship event at the White House next month. (S.V. Date, HuffPost)

Iran War

Citing legal requirement, senator wants a designated inspector general to provide oversight of Iran war: Senator Tammy Duckworth last week requested that the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE) “immediately designate a lead IG to coordinate comprehensive and independent oversight of the war against Iran and related United States Government activities.” (Sean Michael Newhouse, Government Executive)

U.S. munitions depleted by Iran war will take years to restore, analysis finds: The U.S. will need at least three years to restore an array of critical weapons systems to prewar levels following its bombing campaign against Iran, according to the Center for Strategic International Studies. (Tanya Noury, Military Times)

U.S. casualties in Iran war rise as military strikes begin again: Despite a pause in hostilities during the U.S.-Iran ceasefire, the number of American casualties has ticked up to 423. (Nick Turse, The Intercept)

Epstein Files

Bondi, pressed over Epstein files, places responsibility on Blanche and Patel: Former Attorney General Pam Bondi during a closed-door interview before the House Oversight Committee put the responsibility in overseeing the release of the Epstein files squarely on her former deputy and successor, Todd Blanche, and FBI Director Kash Patel. Current and former DOJ officials disputed Bondi’s account, saying she was not only informed of every key development in the Epstein case, but signed off on every major decision. (Glenn Thrush and Michael Gold, New York Times)

The War on “Narcoterrorists”

Blowing up boats hasn’t slowed cocaine traffic to U.S., experts say: Despite the rising body count off the South American coast, epidemiologists, addiction scientists, and public health experts say cocaine, by far the top drug smuggled out of South America, is as easy to get in much of the U.S. as it was before the strikes began. The cost of these military operations has climbed to $4.7 billion. (Simon Romero, New York Times)

Trump’s “license to kill” boat strike policy faces a reckoning: After killing hundreds of people over nine months, the Trump administration’s campaign of attacks on boats in the Caribbean and the eastern Pacific is facing a moment of truth. The administration is facing a lawsuit by advocacy groups seeking the release of a secret legal memo outlining justifications for the strikes, a lawsuit filed by the relatives of two Trinidadian men killed in boat strikes, and a Pentagon inspector general probe of whether U.S. forces are following standard targeting methods in launching the attacks (Akbar Shahid Ahmed, NOTUS)

Weaponization of the Government

DOJ probes billionaire Democrat’s nonprofit that bankrolled sexual assault suit against Trump: The DOJ launched a criminal investigation into whether E. Jean Carroll, the former magazine columnist who accused President Trump of sexual assault, committed perjury in her civil lawsuits against the president by failing to disclose that billionaire Reid Hoffman had paid some of her legal expenses. The DOJ is also investigating a nonprofit operated by Hoffman. (Susan Ferrechio, Washington Times)

Mullin “drawing up plans” to halt international flight processing in “sanctuary cities”: Critics warn that Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin’s plans to end the processing of international flights in left-leaning cities would cause chaos at airports across the country and have no impact on immigration. (Rebecca Beitsch, The Hill)

Supreme Court Ethics

SCOTUS justice’s son landed secret Trump job: Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s son Philip has quietly occupied a top post in the Treasury Department as his father heard cases involving the department. (Leigh Kimmins, Daily Beast)

Middle East Conflicts

The shady way Trump’s Board of Peace is collecting money: Four months after President Trump launched his Board of Peace, the group’s official fund has yet to see any of the billions promised to the board, other funds are frozen, and its mission is stuck in limbo. The board is receiving donations through a JP Morgan account, which has no transparency or reporting requirements. (Edith Olmstead, The New Republic)

Inspectors General

Labor oversight official faces ethics complaint for apparent congressional campaign moves: The Project On Government Oversight requested an investigation into whether Labor Department Inspector General Anthony D’Esposito violated the Hatch Act by appearing to be a candidate for Congress while serving as IG. (Sean Michael Newhouse, Government Executive)

Defense and Veterans Affairs

Hegseth strikes female and Black Navy officers from promotion list: In a move that disproportionately targets women and minority officers, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth recently blocked the promotions of nine Navy officers. Hegseth’s actions appear to violate the rules governing a promotion system that is supposed to be apolitical and merit-based. (Greg Jaffe and Kate Kelly, New York Times)

Pentagon press office is now a classified area and off-limits to reporters: The Pentagon press office, the office where journalists have long been able to seek information from military officials, has been deemed a classified space and off-limits to the press to make room for speechwriters who handle sensitive material. (Aaron Pellish and Paul McLeary, Politico)

The Pentagon knew enemies could track troops’ phones for years. Now they are: For nearly a decade, the DOD knew that relatively easy fixes could stop adversaries from using commercial location data to track where U.S. troops sleep, work, and store weapons. It adopted almost none — and now adversaries are using this data to target and surveil troops in theater. (Dell Cameron, Wired)

SpaceX pressured the Pentagon into paying more for satellite service on its war drones: SpaceX told the Pentagon it has been underpaying for the Starlink satellite connections guiding U.S. kamikaze drones over Iran, demanding a fivefold price increase that DOD ultimately agreed to pay. (Cris Tolomia, Quartz)

Dell inks $9.7 billion Pentagon contract after Trump acquires stock: President Trump earlier this year bought at least $1 million in the stock of Dell Technologies, transactions that are drawing scrutiny after the Pentagon last week announced a $9.7 billion contract with the computer company. (Maegan Vazquez, Washington Post)

The White House intervened to get a $620 million deal for a company tied to Donald Trump Jr.: About three months before the Pentagon announced a $620 million loan to rare-earth magnet manufacturer Vulcan Elements, Donald Trump Jr.’s venture capital firm took an undisclosed stake in the company. The loan request was made by Peter Navarro, a White House adviser to President Trump and a friend of Trump Jr.’s. (Robert Faturechi, ProPublica)

Business and Finance

Loan rules would gut aid for thousands of low-paying college majors: Higher education groups are lobbying the Education Department to revise proposed regulations that could cut off federal student aid for thousands of programs whose graduates earn meager salaries, including in cosmetology, theology, and the performing arts. Overall, the department estimates that more than 5% of undergraduate and graduate programs would flunk the new earnings rules, affecting hundreds of thousands of students. (Todd Wallack and Danielle Douglas-Gabriel, Washington Post)

Tech

As data centers boom, Virginians breathe the exhaust of 10,000 diesel generators: The 10,500 generators attached to data centers in Virginia produce enough pollution to harm public health even if used rarely. Operating them for less than an hour per week could worsen lung and cardiovascular conditions for people in the region and cause at least three premature deaths each year. (Evan Halper and Kevin Crowe, Washington Post)

Health Care

How the U.S. made the Ebola outbreak one of the worst ever: The Ebola outbreaks follow U.S. foreign aid cuts that gutted the world’s Ebola detection and response apparatus. Cuts to disease surveillance meant the virus took longer to identify. And with cuts to local health systems, it’s now much harder to come by the tests, nurses, doctors, and protective equipment needed to stop the spread. (Sara Herschander, Vox)

Baffling. Frustrating. Frightening. What it’s like to be sued over medical debt: Patients taken to court describe baffling bills, confusing health plan rules, and frustrating and fruitless telephone calls to hospital billing offices and health insurers’ customer-service lines. Even when they tried to resolve their outstanding bills, many said they couldn’t get answers. (Katy Golvala, Jenna Carlesso, and Noam N. Levey, KFF Health News)

Telehealth booms as demand for GLP-1s surges and questions mount about safety, oversight: Companies have started offering GLP-1 medications for weight loss as demand for these drugs has exploded. But certain medication errors tied to GLP-1s have exploded too, and physicians and telemedicine researchers worry that adverse experiences tied to telehealth companies are becoming more common. (Lauren Sausser and Maia Rosenfeld, KFF Health News)

ICYMI

Immigration and Border Security:

→ ICE detainees are dying by suicide at an “alarming” rate, an AP investigation finds

→ ICE agent accused of shooting man in Minneapolis arrested in Texas

→ ICE eyes selling mega-warehouses purchased for mass detention

Other News:

→ Department of Labor tells employees to report anyone prioritizing DEI

→ Judge orders Kennedy Center to remove Trump’s name, blocks two-year closure

→ FBI arrests CIA official with $40 million in gold bars in his home

→ Trump refiles $10 billion lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal

→ Florida sues OpenAI, alleging it’s unsafe for children

Upcoming Events

📌 Oversight Hearing – Department of Justice. House Committee on Appropriations; Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies. Tuesday, June 2, 4:00 p.m., 2358-C Rayburn House Office Building.

Hot Docs

🔥📃 GAO - Corporate Transparency: Treasury Should Address Gaps in Ownership Information Resulting from Expanded Exemptions. GAO-26-107967 (PDF)

Nominations & Appointments

Nominations

• Mark Abreu: Ambassador, El Salvador
• Alexander Alden: Ambassador, Azerbaijan
• Carl Anderson: Inspector General, State Department
• Christopher Anderson: Ambassador, Cambodia
• Ge Bai: Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services
• Donald Blome: Assistant Secretary of State (Near Eastern Affairs)
• Katherine Bowles: Assistant Secretary of State (Legislative Affairs)
• Stanley Brown: Ambassador, Equatorial Guinea
• Joseph Burkhalter: Ambassador, Moldova
• Matthew Byrne: Judge, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio
• Mark Cruz: Director of the Indian Health Service
• Johnny Figueroa: Ambassador-At-Large for Global Health Security and Diplomacy and Coordinator of United States Government Activities to Combat HIV/AIDS Globally
• William Grayson: Ambassador, Indonesia
• Douglas Holder: Ambassador, Bulgaria
• John Hurley: U.S. Representative to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
• Daniel Johnson: U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania
• Jennifer Johnson-Carroll: Ambassador, Trinidad and Tobago
• Ronald Johnson: Ambassador, Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Paul Kalmbach: Ambassador, Paraguay
• Philip Lewis III: U.S. Marshal for the Middle District of Pennsylvania
• Maria Lopez: Chairman, Board of Veterans’ Appeals
• Brien Lorenze: Commissioner, Consumer Product Safety Commission
• Peter McCoy: Ambassador, Montenegro
• Nathaniel Morris: Ambassador, Colombia
• Christopher Nassar: U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Oklahoma
• Samuel Negatu: Member, U.S. International Trade Commission
• Keith Noreika: Ambassador, Lithuania
• Nick Oberheiden: Ambassador, Egypt
• Peter-Anthony Pappas: Member, U.S. International Trade Commission
• Daniel Perez: Ambassador, Brazil
• Seth Reister: U.S. Marshal for the Northern District of Florida
• Peter Snyder: Ambassador, Ecuador
• Laurence Socha: Ambassador, The Gambia
• Bartholomew Thanhauser: Member, U.S. International Trade Commission
• Daniel Travis: Ambassador, Sierra Leone
• Robert Troester: U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma
• Steven Weinhoeft: U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois
• Henry Wooster: Ambassador, Kenya
• Michael Young: Ambassador, Serbia

Appointments

• Bill Pulte: Acting Director of National Intelligence

Withdrawals

• Paul Ferguson: U.S. Marshal for the Northern District of West Virginia