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The Paper Trail: May 27, 2025

Who Attended Trump’s Meme Coin Dinner?; White House Budget Chief Mocks GAO Impoundment Opinion; Police Killings Rising Since George Floyd Murder; And More.

May 27, 2025

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The Paper Trail

Top stories for May 27, 2025

Who’s on the guest list for Trump’s meme coin dinner? The most famous — or infamous — guest at the dinner was Chinese-born crypto billionaire Justin Son. Other attendees included the co-founder of Singaporean crypto company MemeCore; foreign crypto company executives Vincent Liu, Sheldon Xia, Kain Warwick, and Oh Sang-Rok; Morten Christensen, a crypto trader; and Vincent Deriu, a 27-year-old Trump-supporting consultant. (Matt Sledge, The Intercept)

Most major agencies are now indefinitely barred from issuing mass layoffs: U.S. District Judge Susan Illston on Thursday indefinitely barred the administration from issuing or finalizing widespread layoffs at most major federal agencies, finding that the president likely acted outside his legal and constitutional powers. Illston’s order tasked agencies with rescinding already issued RIFs and putting those currently on paid administrative leave back on the job, though she immediately paused enforcement of that provision pending the outcome of the case. (Eric Katz, Government Executive)

“Rearview mirror stuff”: Trump’s budget chief mocks GAO’s impoundment opinion: White House budget director Russell Vought publicly denigrated the GAO after it concluded the Trump administration violated the Impoundment Control Act by withholding federal infrastructure funds. “These are non-events with no consequence. Rearview mirror stuff,” Vought posted on social media. (Jennifer Scholtes, Politico)

Here’s what a Texas oil executive from DOGE is doing inside the Interior Department: Tyler Hassen, who spent nearly two decades as an oil industry executive, has been given sweeping powers to overhaul the federal department that manages vast tracts of resource-rich public lands, but he hasn’t divested his energy investments or filed an ethics commitment to break ties with companies that pose a conflict of interest. (Martha Bellisle, Associated Press)

Documents show EPA wants to erase greenhouse gas limits on power plants: The EPA has drafted a plan to eliminate all limits on greenhouse gases from coal and gas-fired power plants in the U.S. The agency plans to argue that carbon emissions from power plants don't contribute “significantly” to climate change. Scientists disagree. (Lisa Friedman, New York Times)

Justice Department cuts to public safety grants leave police and nonprofits scrambling: The DOJ has drastically scaled back its support for anti-crime initiatives across the country, leaving law enforcement agencies and public safety groups scrambling for money. (Martin Kaste, NPR)

Millions of Americans hit with bad credit after missed student loan payments: Federal student loan payments were paused in March 2020. Although payments started back up in late 2023, the Biden administration offered a year-long grace period. That ended on September 30, but millions of borrowers have yet to make a payment and are suddenly facing dramatically lower credit scores. (Abha Bhattarai, Washington Post)

Weaponization of the Government

Trump allies look to benefit from pro bono promises by elite law firms: Two months after nine law firms struck deals with the Trump administration, the firms are unsure about how to satisfy the terms of their pro bono commitments. A White House official said the administration hasn’t made any direct requests of the law firms to provide pro bono work to a particular group or individual. Still, some individuals and organizations allied with Trump are trying to seize this unusual moment to obtain free legal services. (Jessica Silver-Greenberg et al., New York Times)

Police Misconduct

Since George Floyd’s murder, police killings keep rising, not falling: Five years later, the number of people killed by the police continues to rise each year, and Black Americans still die in disproportionate numbers. (Steven Rich, Tim Arango, and Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs, New York Times)

Defense and Veterans Affairs

Pete Hegseth slammed for “direct attack” against military reporters: “Never seen anything like this”: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is facing intense criticism from military reporters after his office announced extra restrictions on media access at the Pentagon. (Mike Bedigan, The Independent)

Analysis: Reconciliation breaks decades of bipartisanship: Using the reconciliation process instead of the annual National Defense Authorization Act to set defense policy and budgets is unnecessary and destructive to congressional norms. (Greg Williams, Center for Defense Information at POGO)

Tech

Feds charge 16 Russians allegedly tied to botnets used in cyberattacks and spying: The DOJ announced criminal charges against 16 individuals allegedly linked to a Russia-based malware operation which infected at least 300,000 machines around the world and was used to spy on military, government, and NGO targets. (Andy Greenberg, Ars Technica)

Health Care

FDA’s plan to limit COVID vaccines worries some who won’t be eligible: The Trump administration’s limiting COVID vaccines to only those who are at high risk for severe disease is raising concerns among Americans who came to rely on annual shots, including the children of elderly parents, caregivers to the medically vulnerable, and people who want to avoid the risk of long COVID. (Fenit Nirappil and Rachel Roubein, Washington Post)

E. coli outbreak sickened more than 80 people, but details didn’t surface: From failing to publicize a major E. coli outbreak to scaling back safety alert specialists and rules, the Trump administration’s anti-regulatory and cost-cutting push risks unraveling a critical system that helps ensure the safety of the food supply. (Stephanie Armour, Washington Post)

CDC can no longer help prevent lead poisoning in children, state officials say: Last month, the staff of the CDC’s Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program was terminated as part of the agency’s reduction in force. The cuts were immediately consequential to health officials in Milwaukee, who are currently dealing with a lead exposure crisis in schools. (Beth Mole, Ars Technica)