The Paper Trail: January 24, 2025
Trump’s Busy First Week; RFK Jr.’s Stake in Vaccine Litigation; Coast Guard’s “Gas Guzzler with a Troubled History”; and More.
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Top stories for January 24, 2025
An anxious federal workforce bids goodbye to job stability and remote work: Executive orders will force government employees back to the office five days a week and weaken their job protections. Agency human resource managers rescinded job offers to recent hires. DEI offices and programs were shut down. DHS disbanded its advisory committees. Senior DOJ officials were removed or reassigned. (Ken Thomas, Rebecca Ballhaus, and Lindsay Ellis, Wall Street Journal)
Trump doesn’t only want to end DEI. He’s also voiding a Civil Rights-era anti-discrimination rule: President Trump’s executive order rescinding the Equal Employment Opportunity rule eliminates a bedrock civil rights protection for American workers. Experts say the order could have a chilling effect on cases where federal contractor employees claim unfair treatment and could impact the government’s ability to pursue workplace discrimination cases. (Aimee Picchi and Megan Cerullo, CBS News)
Trump opens revolving door for Biden aides on their way out: President Trump rescinded ethics rules that tightened restrictions on former federal officials’ ability to lobby or communicate with their former agencies. Trump has yet to issue new rules for his appointees. (Caitlin Oprysko, Politico)
Kennedy would keep stake in HPV vaccine suit if confirmed: Health secretary nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is keeping his financial stake in litigation against drugmaker Merck over the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine. This conflict of interest raises concerns given the HHS’s regulatory power over the pharmaceutical industry and Kennedy’s anti-vaccine history. (Christina Jewett and Sheryl Gay Stolberg, New York Times)
Trump brings DOGE inside the White House: Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has officially become part of the White House. Its stated mission is to update the government’s software and IT systems. DOGE will be subject to transparency and ethics rules — although it may find it easy to skirt some of those rules. (Jack Newsham, Alice Tecotzky, and Brent D. Griffiths, Yahoo News)
Disasters like the L.A. fires always hit the poor the hardest. Trump wants to make it worse: A Trump executive order eliminated the “equity action plans” government agencies created as a first step toward reversing inequities in welfare distribution. Advocates worry the order could slow progress toward correcting decades of uneven distribution of disaster aid. (Matt Sledge, The Intercept)
FCC reinstates complaints against ABC, CBS and NBC for 2024 election coverage: New FCC chairman Brendan Carr reversed the 11th hour decision by his predecessor to dismiss complaints against ABC, CBS, and NBC related to their coverage of the 2024 presidential election. Former Chair Jessica Rosenworcel dismissed the three complaints — and a complaint against the Fox News Channel over 2020 election coverage — citing freedom of the press. Carr reversed the dismissal of the complaints against the three broadcast networks but not the one against Fox News. (The Guardian)
ICYMI: The Trump Administration’s First Days
→ OPM demands agencies comply with Trump’s telework order within 30 days
→ Ousted career execs at DOJ are considering options after being given vague rationale for firings
→ Trump starts purge with midnight firing of chef José Andrés and General Mark Milley
→ First female Coast Guard commandant ousted
→ Trump revokes security clearances of former intelligence officials
→ Trump pulls security protections for Mike Pompeo, John Bolton
→ 160 NSC staffers are sent home as the White House aligns its team to Trump’s agenda
→ Trump administration asks agencies for lists of newly hired federal employees
→ Justice Dept. revokes job offers to young lawyers in elite honors program
Israel-Hamas War
Trump halts sanctions on Israeli settlers, threatens to seize assets of war crimes investigators: President Trump lifted Biden-era sanctions aimed at curbing Israeli settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank. He also rescinded a policy that blocked sanctions against the International Criminal Court, putting those who try to hold the U.S. and its allies accountable for war crimes at risk of a new round of financial penalties. (Jonah Valdez, The Intercept)
Insurrection
A Capitol rioter’s son is terrified about his father’s release: Family members of January 6 prisoners are concerned about the fallout from Trump’s blanket pardon. With a single pen stroke, Trump might have reinvigorated the militia movement. (David Gilbert, Wired)
🔎 See Also: Man who got Jan. 6 pardon is arrested on federal gun charge (Ella Lee, The Hill)
🔎 See Also: Convicted U.S. Capitol rioter turns down Trump pardon (Robert Plummer, BBC News)
Dobbs Aftermath
Instagram and Facebook blocked and hid abortion pill providers’ posts: Instagram and Facebook recently blurred, blocked, or removed posts from abortion pill providers and suspended their accounts. Researchers have observed an uptick in social media platforms removing content related to reproductive health care since the Dobbs decision. (Claire Cain Miller, Kate Conger, and Mike Isaac, New York Times)
Police Misconduct
Justice Department issues freeze for civil rights division: The DOJ ordered its civil rights division to halt much of its investigative activity and not pursue new indictments, cases, or settlements. The directive signals that recent police-reform agreements negotiated with cities including Minneapolis, Louisville, and Memphis could be in jeopardy. (Perry Stein and David Nakamura, Washington Post)
Defense and Veterans Affairs
Pentagon to begin task of crafting NORTHCOM plan to “seal” U.S. borders: An executive order gives DOD, which is temporarily under the leadership of Pentagon official Robert Salesses, 40 days to craft an estimate of what it will take to “seal the borders and maintain the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and security of the United States.” (Ashley Roque and Theresa Hitchens, Breaking Defense)
Trump moves to close Pentagon office focused on curbing civilian deaths: The administration is moving to abolish the Civilian Protection Center of Excellence, an Army office that helps the military curb unintended civilian deaths in conflict zones. The office has a staff of about 30 and an annual budget of $7 million. (Meg Kelly, Alex Horton, and Missy Ryan, Washington Post)
This icebreaker has design problems and a history of failure. It’s America’s latest military vessel: The icebreaker Aiviq is a gas guzzler with design problems and a troubled performance history. Despite this — or maybe because of the shipbuilder’s political contributions to key lawmakers — the Coast Guard bought the Aiviq last year for $125 million. (McKenzie Funk, ProPublica)
Cheap, smart, deadly. The tech industry pitches a new way to wage war: Anduril Industries, which has deep ties to President Trump’s tech funders and advisers, is the most prominent among a raft of upstarts aiming to change the Pentagon’s acquisition priorities. (Gerrit De Vynck, Washington Post)
Health Care
Trump officials pause health agencies’ communications, citing review: The administration instructed federal health agencies to pause all external communications, such as health advisories, weekly scientific reports, updates to websites, and social media posts. (Lena H. Sun, Dan Diamond, and Rachel Roubein, Washington Post)
Trump administration’s abrupt cancellation of scientific meetings prompts confusion, concern: A flurry of study sections and advisory council meetings across federal science and health agencies were canceled this week due to heightened concerns about the new administration’s priorities. (Anil Oza, STAT)
ICYMI
Immigration and Border Security:
→ Judge blocks Trump order on birthright citizenship
→ DHS authorizes federal law enforcement to implement Trump's immigration policies
→ Trump shuts off access to asylum, plans to send 10,000 troops to border
→ Justice Department says it will prosecute local officials over immigration enforcement
→ Trump administration cancels flights for refugees already approved for travel
→ Schools brace for immigration arrests, try to reassure terrified parents
Other News:
→ Trump pardons “kingpin of a worldwide digital drug-trafficking enterprise”
→ Court rules FBI’s warrantless searches violated Fourth Amendment
→ Supreme Court reinstates federal anti-money laundering law
→ Johnson aide discouraged Hutchinson subpoena over concerns about lawmakers’ “sexual texts”
→ Google-owned Fitbit to pay $12.2 million after consumers were burned by smartwatches
Upcoming Events
📌 Nomination of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to be Secretary of Health and Human Services. Senate Committee on Finance. Wednesday, January 29, 10:00 a.m., 215 Dirksen Senate Office Building.
📌 Nomination of Kelly Loeffler to be Administrator of the Small Business Administration. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship. Wednesday, January 29, 2:30 p.m., 428A Russell Senate Office Building.
📌 Nomination of Tulsi Gabbard to be Director of National Intelligence. Senate Committee on Intelligence. Thursday, January 30, 10:00 a.m., 106 Dirksen Senate Office Building.
Hot Docs
🔥📃 GAO - High-Risk Series: Critical Actions Needed to Urgently Address IT Acquisition and Management Challenges. GAO-25-107852 (PDF)
Nominations & Appointments
Nominations
- Michael Boren - Under Secretary of Agriculture for Natural Resources and Environment
- Steven Bradbury - Deputy Secretary of Transportation
- William Briggs - Deputy Administrator of the Small Business Administration
- James Danly - Deputy Secretary of Energy
- Richard Fordyce - Under Secretary of Agriculture for Farm Production and Conservation
- David Fotouhi - Deputy Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency
- Kenneth Kies - Assistant Secretary of the Treasury
- Michael Kratsios - Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy
- Paul Lawrence - Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs
- Katharine MacGregor - Deputy Secretary of the Interior
- Casey Mulligan - Chief Counsel for Advocacy, Small Business Administration
- William Pulte - Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency
- Penny Schwinn - Deputy Secretary of Education
- Sub-Cabinet Nominations
Appointments
- New Officials Sworn In at the Department of Defense
- Acting Cabinet and Cabinet-Level Positions
- Chairmen and Acting Chairmen
Pardons & Commutations
- Terence Sutton
- Andrew Zabavsky
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