The Paper Trail: December 20, 2024

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The Paper Trail

Editor’s Note

This is the last Paper Trail of 2024. We’ll return on Friday, January 3, 2025. Happy holidays!

Announcements

The Confirmation Process: POGO’s virtual training on how to vet presidential nominees effectively will be Tuesday, January 7 at 12 noon. This event is only open to staff in Congress, GAO, and CRS. Register HERE.

Top stories for December 20, 2024

Trump’s transition is happening over private emails. Federal officials are nervous: Federal officials are worried about sharing documents via email with Donald Trump’s transition team because the incoming officials are eschewing government devices, email addresses, and cybersecurity support. It’s slowing efforts to share government materials with members of Trump’s landing teams. (Alice Miranda Ollstein, Politico)

U.S. has the tech to down Jersey drones — but not the policy, officials say: Counter-drone policy — not technology — is keeping U.S. agencies from responding more effectively to the reported drone sightings along the East Coast, officials said this week. Agencies and various levels of government have policy “gaps and seams” that can’t be closed without congressional action, said National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby. (Patrick Tucker, Defense One)

🔎 See Also: U.S. drone mystery deepens with 5,000+ UAV sightings, including military bases (Prabhat Ranjan Mishra, Interesting Engineering)

CBP replaces top doctor accused of misconduct: CBP abruptly removed its top medical official, Dr. Alexander Eastman, nearly a year after whistleblower disclosures accused him of serious misconduct. The Office of the Chief Medical Officer, which oversees healthcare services provided to migrants, “is in complete disarray right now,” according to a source. (Nick Schwellenbach, Project On Government Oversight)

Elon Musk and SpaceX face federal reviews after violations of security reporting rules: The Pentagon has opened at least three investigations into whether Elon Musk and his company SpaceX repeatedly failed to comply with federal reporting protocols for protecting state secrets. Among the alleged violations, Musk didn't provide details about his meetings with foreign leaders. (Kirsten Grind, Eric Lipton, and Sheera Frenkel, New York Times)

🔎 See Also: Musk’s alleged Russia contacts worry Air Force’s Kendall (Tony Capaccio, Bloomberg)

Looking Ahead to 2025:

→ Tracking Trump’s Cabinet and staff nominations

→ Federal employee groups prepare to fend off attacks by Trump and allies

→ Judges increasingly alarmed as Trump’s Jan. 6 clemency decision nears

→ Trump planning to target progressive non-profits, U.S. watchdog warns

→ Republicans said the FTC was too politicized. Now Trump’s FTC pick says it should be politicized — by Trump

Supreme Court Ethics

Judge broke rules by criticizing Justice Alito during flag flap: An order filed last week found that U.S. District Judge Michael Ponsor’s published essay criticizing the display of flags associated with the MAGA movement at Samuel Alito’s residences violated the judicial code of conduct. Ponsor was found to have violated rules against actions that “detract from the dignity” of a judge’s office and harm “public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary.” (Jess Bravin, Wall Street Journal)

Dobbs Aftermath

Are abortion bans across America causing deaths? The states that passed them are doing little to find out: Maternal mortality review committees in states with abortion bans are supposed to determine whether the bans are contributing to maternal deaths, track delays in care for pregnancy complications, and make these problems known. But many of these panels aren’t doing these things, often because the political leaders who backed the bans are actively hindering them. (Kavitha Surana et al., ProPublica)

Report: Hospitals rarely advise doctors on how to treat patients under abortion bans: As doctors navigate risks of criminal prosecution in states with abortion bans, hospital officials and lawyers have left them to fend for themselves with minimal guidance and, at times, have remained “conspicuously and deliberately silent,” according to a Senate Finance Committee staff report. (Kavitha Surana, ProPublica)

Russia-Ukraine War

Biden administration running out of time to send allocated aid to Ukraine: The Biden administration will use some, but not all, of the $5.6 billion that remains in presidential drawdown authority for military aid to Ukraine. (Helene Cooper, New York Times)

The U.S. seized a Russian yacht. Now you’re paying for it: In May 2022, the U.S. seized a Russian oligarch’s $325 million super-yacht. Since then, it hasn’t produced any funds for Ukraine, and its maintenance has cost U.S. taxpayers tens of millions of dollars. (Jeff Stein et al., Washington Post)

Police Misconduct

The Post investigated cops accused of sexually abusing kids. Here’s what we learned: From 2005 through 2022, at least 1,800 police officers were charged with crimes involving child sexual abuse. The problem has gone largely unrecognized by the public and unaddressed by the criminal justice system. Departments are enabling predators by botching background checks. (Jessica Contrera, Jenn Abelson, and John D. Harden, Washington Post)

Defense and Veterans Affairs

Navy wasted $2 billion to maintain older guided missile cruisers, GAO says: The U.S. Navy mismanaged a program to keep in service 11 older cruisers designed primarily for air defense, “wasting” nearly $2 billion in the process and failing to hold contractors accountable for shoddy work, according to a GAO audit. (Anthony Capaccio, Bloomberg)

EUCOM, 2 SOCOM cohorts had long lapse in oversight of classified mobile devices, IG says: U.S. European Command and portions of U.S. Special Operations Command may have put sensitive information at risk by haphazardly handing out mobile devices to personnel for three years, according to Pentagon investigators. (John Vandiver, Stars and Stripes)

Watchdog finds issues with program management of nuclear warheads: The GAO found the National Nuclear Security Administration — responsible for developing and managing America’s nuclear warheads — needs better program management to ensure its new nuclear weapons remain on schedule, or else it risks wasting money. (John A. Tirpak, Air & Space Forces Magazine)

Tech

Analysis: The drone hysteria is a glimpse of the future: This won’t be the last time we’ll look to the sky and become convinced it’s swarming with drones. That’s because there are a lot of drones out there, and their numbers are increasing. (Bryan Walsh, Vox)

Kamala Harris’ campaign staff suspected iPhones had been hacked. Apple declined to give them the help they wanted: That Apple refused the Harris campaign’s request for forensic assistance is hardly surprising: The company has long maintained that privacy is a fundamental human right and has been adamant that the information stored on its devices be accessible only to the people that own them. But experts say there’s more Apple can do to help those who have evidence their devices have been hacked. (Thomas Brewster, Forbes)

In IT? Need cash? Cybersecurity whistleblowers are earning big payouts: Due to the complexity of investigating — and even just uncovering — False Claims Act cases involving federal contractor cybersecurity, the government is increasingly relying on whistleblowers to kick-start these cases. (Nate Anderson, Ars Technica)

Health Care

Senators call for investigation of Medicaid work requirement program: Georgia Pathways to Coverage, the only Medicaid work requirement program in the country, is being closely watched by Republicans and conservative policy experts as a possible template for restructuring Medicaid in the next Trump administration. But senators accuse its administrators of wasting tens of millions of taxpayer dollars while enrolling only a fraction of eligible residents. (Noah Weiland, New York Times)

Who needs the dark web? Drug sales flourish on social media: The proliferation of open drug dealing on Instagram, Snapchat, and X — as well as on encrypted messaging platforms Telegram and WhatsApp — has transformed the fabric of illegal substance procurement, gradually making it more convenient, and arguably safer, for consumers. (Mattha Busby, Ars Technica)

ICYMI

Immigration and Border Security:

→ ICE deports mother and children, including newborn twins, to Mexico

→ DHS overhauls H-1B visa program

→ As landowners resist, Texas’ border wall is fragmented and built in remote areas

Other News:

→ Last-ditch effort to block Schedule F’s return thwarted by Senate Republicans

→ National archivist rejects bid to certify the Equal Rights Amendment

→ House panel is said to have voted to release the Gaetz report

→ Georgia appeals court disqualifies Fulton County DA Fani Willis from prosecuting Trump

→ Inside Disney’s decision to settle a Trump defamation suit

Because It’s Friday

Navy thanks Tom Cruise for his service in “Top Gun” movies: Tom Cruise this week received the Navy’s top civilian honor, the Distinguished Public Service award, for helping to boost recruitment. The award shows that the relationship between the Navy and Cruise hasn’t “Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’.” (Jeff Schogol, Task & Purpose)

Hot Docs

🔥📃 GAO - Navy Ship Modernization: Poor Cruiser Outcomes Demonstrate Need for Better Planning and Quality Oversight in Future Efforts. GAO-25-106749 (PDF)

🔥📃 GAO - Campaign Finance: Observations on Public Financing Programs in Selected States and Localities. GAO-25-106650 (PDF)

🔥📃 VA OIG: Inadequate Staff Training and Lack of Oversight Contribute to the Veterans Health Administration’s Suicide Risk Screening and Evaluation Deficiencies. 23-02939-13 (PDF)

🔥📃 VA OIG: Deficiencies in Inpatient Mental Health Suicide Risk Assessment, Mental Health Treatment Coordinator Processes, and Discharge Care Coordination. 21-02389-23 (PDF)