The Paper Trail: February 18, 2025

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The Paper Trail

Announcements

Oversight and Investigations: What it Means and How to Make it Work: POGO’s virtual training on an introduction to oversight will be Friday, February 28 at 12 noon. This event is only open to staff in Congress, GAO, and CRS. Register HERE.

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Top stories for February 18, 2025

With Congress pliant, an emboldened Trump pushes his business interests: According to legal experts, President Trump’s participation in an Oval Office meeting with professional golf officials was a brazen conflict of interest — one of a series that have played out over the past few weeks with a frequency unlike any presidency in modern times. (Eric Lipton and Maggie Haberman, New York Times)

🔎 See Also: Coins, watches and more: A look at Trump’s crypto-related ventures, by the numbers (Alan Suderman, Associated Press)

Trump administration to ask Supreme Court to keep fired government watchdog off the job as case pends: A lower court temporarily reinstated Hampton Dellinger, head of the Office of Special Counsel, after he sued the administration over his firing. (Daniel Barnes, Michael Kosnar, and Megan Lebowitz, NBC News)

Social Security head steps down over DOGE access of recipient information, sources say: Social Security Administration Acting Commissioner Michelle King resigned over DOGE requests to access Social Security recipient information. (Associated Press)

🔎 See Also: Musk team seeks access to IRS system with taxpayers’ records (Alan Rappeport, Andrew Duehren, and Maggie Haberman, New York Times)

Trump begins firings of FAA staff just weeks after fatal DC plane crash: The impacted workers include personnel hired for radar, landing, and navigational aid maintenance and employees working on an early warning radar system to detect incoming cruise missiles. (Tara Copp, Associated Press)

Trump’s global funding freeze leaves anti-terror programs in limbo: President Trump’s freeze on U.S. foreign assistance threatens programs intended to counter al-Shabab bombmakers, contain the spread of al-Qaeda across West Africa, and secure Islamic State prisoners in the Middle East. Other suspended programs counter transnational organized crime and narcotics. (Katharine Houreld et al., Washington Post)

Forest Service fires 3,400 people after “deferred resignation” deadline passes: The cuts would reduce the agency’s workforce by about 10%, potentially making it harder for the federal government to address increasingly intense wildfires and manage millions of acres of federal forests and grasslands. (Marcia Brown and Jordan Wolman, Politico)

Despite court orders, climate and energy programs stalled by Trump freeze: Despite two federal court orders directing the administration to resume distributing federal grants and loans, at least $19 billion in EPA funding to thousands of state and local governments and nonprofits remains on hold. Critics believe the administration is also resorting to a new tactic: labeling individual programs as nefarious or fraudulent. (Marianne Lavelle et al., Ars Technica)

🔎 See Also: Zeldin seeks to recoup “green bank” climate cash (Rachel Frazin and Zack Budryk, The Hill)

🔎 See Also: SEC rule suspension is early gift for Trump’s oil and gas supporters (Peter Whoriskey, Washington Post)

“We’ve been essentially muzzled”: Department of Education halts thousands of civil rights investigations under Trump: Investigations by the agency that handles allegations of civil rights violations in the nation’s schools and colleges have ground to a halt. At the same time, there’s been a dramatic drop in the number of new cases opened by the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights — and those reflect Trump's anti-DEI priorities. (Jennifer Smith Richards and Jodi S. Cohen, ProPublica)

Under Trump, NASA meetings are on hold and missions are up in the air: NASA’s ambitious plan to send astronauts back to the moon on multiple missions could be scaled back. Even the long-term location of NASA headquarters is in limbo. (Joel Achenbach, Washington Post)

🔎 See Also: As Trump targets research, scientists share grief and resolve to fight (Raymond Zhong, New York Times)

Other DOGE News:

→ Who’s working for Elon Musk’s DOGE?

→ Records show how DOGE planned Trump’s DEI purge — and who gets fired next

→ DOGE posts classified data on its new website

→ More than a dozen state attorneys general challenge Musk and DOGE’s authority

Dobbs Aftermath

Botched care and tired staff: Planned Parenthood in crisis: Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe, Planned Parenthood has enjoyed a fund-raising boom, but little of it goes to the state affiliates to provide health care at clinics. Instead, the majority of the money is spent on the legal and political fight to maintain abortion rights. Scores of allegations accuse Planned Parenthood of poor care. (Katie Benner, New York Times)

Defense and Veterans Affairs

DOD contractor hires Trump-aligned lobbyists to tackle DOGE: California-based cybersecurity firm Zscaler recently hired Trump-aligned lobbying firm Ballard Partners for “assistance navigating the Department of Defense and DOGE.” This likely won’t be the last time the Washington influence machine tries to cash in on the radical changes being imposed by Elon Musk’s team. (Nick Schwellenbach, Project On Government Oversight)

VA dismisses over 1,000 employees as part of probationary worker purge: VA officials said supervisors were allowed to request exemptions for staffers identified for firing, but they were given only a short period of time to make those counterarguments. (Leo Shane III, Military Times)

Pentagon moves to take back troops discharged over COVID-19 vaccine refusals: The military services were told to reach out once again to the roughly 8,200 troops who were forced out or voluntarily left the military because they refused to get the COVID vaccine and see if they want to reenlist. The services sent out notices in 2023 to all troops discharged over the vaccine advising them they could return to the military, but just 113 have reenlisted. (Lolita C. Baldor, Associated Press)

Data breach prompts Coast Guard to take personnel and pay system offline: The Coast Guard’s Direct Access system, which manages pay and personnel matters, was hacked Friday, exposing the sensitive data of more than 1,100 people. (Patricia Kime, Military.com)

Business and Finance

It was the deadliest workplace in America. So why didn’t safety regulators shut it down? The Phenix Lumber Company in Alabama was the deadliest workplace in America: Workers had lost fingers, broken bones, and been mangled by machines — at least 28 employees had reported injuries and three had died since 2010. The story of Phenix Lumber shows the limits of OSHA’s powers. (Todd C. Frankel, Washington Post)

As Wall Street chases profits, fire departments have paid the price: For years, the fire truck industry has been ratcheting up prices on new rigs and failing to meet delivery dates of those that were ordered. Some departments wait years for replacement vehicles while hunting the internet for parts to keep their older rigs going. Those problems have compounded in recent years as Wall Street executives led an aggressive consolidation of the industry. (Mike Baker, Maureen Farrell, and Serge F. Kovaleski, New York Times)

Tech

X is reportedly blocking links to secure Signal contact pages: The social platform X is seemingly blocking links to Signal, the encrypted messaging platform. Signal has been used by many government employees to communicate among themselves, as agents of DOGE have gained increasing access to official data systems. (Kevin Purdy, Ars Technica)

The IRS is buying an AI supercomputer from Nvidia: How exactly the IRS will use the SuperPod AI hardware is unclear. But it comes amid DOGE’s announced goal of replacing the human workforce with machines. (Sam Biddle, The Intercept)

Meta failing to curb spread of many sexualized AI deepfake celebrity images on Facebook: Meta’s oversight board says the company’s current regulations around sexualized deepfake content are insufficient. (Emmet Lyons, CBS News)

Health Care

Trump will withhold money from schools that require COVID vaccines: It’s unclear how impactful the order will be: No states require K-12 students to be vaccinated against COVID; only 15 colleges still require vaccines for students. The order leaves untouched state requirements for vaccinations against measles, mumps, polio, tetanus, whooping cough, and chickenpox. (Benjamin Mueller, New York Times)

As sports betting has soared, more people search online for help with gambling addiction: A study found that internet searches that indicate people are struggling with gambling addiction increased 23% in the years after the Supreme Court loosened restrictions around online sports betting. (Katia Riddle, NPR)

An invisible medical shortage: oxygen: Oxygen is vital to many medical procedures, but a safe, affordable supply is severely lacking around the world. (Apoorva Mandavilli, New York Times)

Why states are tackling physicians’ concerns about mental health treatment: Medical doctors face higher rates of burnout and depression than the general population and are twice as likely to die by suicide. But a large number of physicians, medical school students, and residents cite fear of disclosure requirements on licensure forms as a main reason they don’t seek mental health care. (Nada Hassanein, Washington Post)

ICYMI

Immigration and Border Security:

→ Relatives and records cast doubt on Guantánamo migrants being “worst of the worst”

→ El Paso CBP officer arrested for human smuggling was allegedly in Mexican drug cartel

→ Soldiers are arriving at the border — but hardly any migrants are crossing

→ CIA expands secret drone fights over Mexico

→ Ban puts these Afghan refugees in limbo. “This is an incredibly difficult time”

Other News:

→ Louis DeJoy to step down as USPS postmaster general

→ EEOC seeks to drop gender discrimination case after Trump executive order

→ Unpaid toll texts sent nationwide are part of a con, federal and state officials warn

→ Hegseth says Biden’s IRS targeted him for a “sham” audit

→ Mexico threatens to sue Google over “Gulf of America” name change

Upcoming Events

📌 WEBINAR: Think Tank Funding in America. Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. Tuesday, February 18, 12 noon - 1 p.m. ET.

📌 Nomination of Lori Chavez-DeRemer to serve as Secretary of Labor. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. Wednesday, February 19, 10:00 a.m., 216 Hart Senate Office Building.

📌 Nomination of Steven Bradbury to be U.S. Deputy Secretary of Transportation. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Thursday, February 20, 9:30 a.m., 253 Russell Senate Office Building.

📌 Nominations of Troy Edgar to be Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security, and Dan Bishop to be Deputy Director, Office of Management and Budget. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Thursday, February 20, 10:00 a.m., 342 Dirksen Senate Office Building.

Nominations & Appointments

Nominations

• Edward R. Martin, Jr. - U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia

Appointments

• Jordan Cox - Special Assistant to the President, White House Office of Legislative Affairs for the U.S. House of Representatives
• Andrew (Drew) Dziedzic - Special Assistant to the President, White House Office of Legislative Affairs for the U.S. Senate
• Taylor LaJoie - Special Assistant to the President, White House Office of Legislative Affairs for the U.S. Senate
• Natalie McIntyre - Special Assistant to the President, White House Office of Legislative Affairs for the U.S. Senate
• Jack Rosemond - Special Assistant to the President, White House Office of Legislative Affairs for the U.S. House of Representatives
• Stephen Siao - Special Assistant to the President, White House Office of Legislative Affairs for the U.S. House of Representatives