The Paper Trail: October 11, 2024
FEMA Fights a Hurricane of Lies; Lawmakers Hide Their Private Equity Millions; Kremlin Confirms Trump Sent COVID Tests to Putin; and More.
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Announcements
Understanding Agency Objections: From Deliberative Process to Legislative Purpose: POGO’s virtual training on how to deal with an agency declining to cooperate with a congressional request will be held Friday, October 18 at 12 noon EDT. This event is only open to staff in Congress, GAO, and CRS. Register HERE.
The Office of the Whistleblower Ombuds will have a pop-up tabling event in the Longworth Dunkin’ Donuts, Wednesday October 16, from 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. House staff can stop by to learn more about working with whistleblowers from the public or private sectors and pick up their latest resources. Complimentary donuts and coffee will be available.
The Paper Trail
Top stories for October 11, 2024
FEMA spent nearly half its disaster budget in just 8 days: Eight days into the fiscal year, FEMA has spent $9 billion of the $20 billion in disaster relief allocated by Congress for the next year. FEMA may soon be forced to restrict spending. (Thomas Frank and Anne C. Mulkern, Politico)
Milton threatens to trigger flood insurance reckoning for Congress: Hurricane Milton is poised to deplete the National Flood Insurance Program, the primary option for millions of American homeowners to protect their finances from catastrophic flooding. (Eleanor Mueller, Politico)
U.S. approves temporary imports of IV fluids as hospitals grapple with storm-related shortages: More than 86% of health care providers nationwide are experiencing shortages of IV fluids in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. (Nathaniel Weixel, The Hill)
Biden accuses Trump of “outright lies” about hurricane response: Donald Trump and JD Vance have made accusations about the government’s response that have repeatedly been debunked. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said the lies are hurting efforts to reach people who are affected and who qualify for federal help. (Michael D. Shear, New York Times)
🔎 See Also: Federal personnel are facing threats during hurricane response, DHS chief warns (Eric Katz, Government Executive)
🔎 See Also: Bizarre falsehoods about Hurricanes Helene and Milton disrupt recovery efforts (Tiffany Hsu and Stuart A. Thompson, New York Times)
Hill Dems question IRS on identity verification requirements for Direct File: A trio of Democratic lawmakers say the IRS’s requirements for identity verification in the Direct File program “created serious access barriers.” (Natalie Alms, Government Executive)
Trump holds up transition process, skirting ethics and fund-raising rules: Donald Trump’s campaign hasn’t yet participated in the government’s official presidential transition process, a significant break from past practice that could threaten the seamless transfer of power should Trump win the election. The move also allows him to circumvent fund-raising limits and ethics rules meant to prevent conflicts of interest. (Ken Bensinger, New York Times)
Lawmakers are hiding their private equity millions: As political battles loom over whether to crack down on Wall Street’s tax breaks and predatory behavior, members of Congress from both parties — including Republican vice-presidential candidate JD Vance — have tens of millions of dollars invested in private equity funds. In many cases, they don’t have to disclose much about these investments. (Katya Schwenk, The Lever)
Lawmakers spending even more in 2024 under receipt-free expense program: House members in the first five months of 2024 expensed at least $2.5 million under a program that allows them to be reimbursed for their expenses without submitting receipts — over $120,000 more than the same period last year. (Jacqueline Alemany and Clara Ence Morse, Washington Post)
Israel-Hamas War
How much does Israel’s war cost the U.S.? Don’t ask the State Department: State Department spokesperson Matt Miller isn’t sure of much when it comes to the topline figures of U.S. military aid to Israel over the past year, but he claims that a new report by Brown University, which calculated a total cost of over $22 billion, is “not correct.” (Nick Turse, The Intercept)
Republicans threaten to punish colleges that allow pro-Palestinian protests: At a recent meeting with pro-Israel lobby group the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), House Majority Leader Steve Scalise outlined how, if Donald Trump wins in November, he plans to go after universities that allow pro-Palestinian protests on their campuses. (Ed Pilkington, The Guardian)
Supreme Court Ethics
New term, same ethics problems: Gorsuch’s ties to oil billionaire reignite calls for court oversight: Justice Neil Gorsuch is being called to recuse from an environmental case on the court’s docket due to his relationship with the owner of an oil and gas company that stands to benefit from the outcome. (Kelsey Reichmann, Courthouse News Service)
Insurrection
Inside the Patriot Wing: January 6 rioters are running their jail block like a gang. They’re leaving more radicalized than ever: In an isolated cell block at the Washington, D.C. jail, January 6 defendants live in a “sleepaway camp” environment and show little remorse for what they did. (Tess Owen, Intelligencer)
Analysis: 18 million people may try to seize power. Are we prepared to stop them? Based on the Republican vote for president in 2020, as many as 15 million to 18 million people would support a coup if Trump loses, with many more probably unlikely to condemn their actions. Is the government prepared for this? (Daniel O. Jamison, The Fulcrum)
Dobbs Aftermath
Florida is threatening to prosecute TV stations over an abortion rights ad. The FCC chief calls it “dangerous”: Florida’s Department of Health is threatening to bring criminal charges against local TV stations airing a campaign ad to overturn the state’s abortion ban. FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel said in a statement, “Threats against broadcast stations for airing content that conflicts with the government’s views are dangerous and undermine the fundamental principle of free speech.” (Brian Stelter and Liam Reilly, CNN)
Defense and Veterans Affairs
Lawmakers looking to make VA overhaul suicide prevention algorithm that favored men: An investigation found the algorithm for the VA’s artificial intelligence program that directs suicide prevention outreach prioritizes white and male veterans. (Aaron Glantz, Associated Press)
Business and Finance
Forged documents for aircraft parts went undetected for years, report says: Despite efforts to modernize, the global system for tracking and verifying the integrity of commercial airplane parts remains heavily dependent on the expertise of individuals and on paper documents. (Lori Aratani, Washington Post)
Elite colleges accused of price-fixing to make divorced parents pay more: A lawsuit alleges 40 of the country’s top colleges colluded in a price-fixing scheme that increased the cost of college for students with divorced or separated parents. (Danielle Douglas-Gabriel, Washington Post)
TD Bank to pay $3B, face growth cap over money laundering violations: TD Bank admitted it failed to adequately monitor $18.3 trillion in customer activity over a six-year period, allowing money laundering networks to move millions of dollars through its accounts. (Julia Shapero and Sylvan Lane, The Hill)
Tech
How foreign influence campaigns manipulate your social media feeds: Foreign influence campaigns by Russia, China, Iran, Israel, and other nations have been widespread in the run-up to the election. They seek to shift public opinion and change behaviors among a target population by exploiting social bots, influencers, media companies, and generative AI. (Filippo Menczer, Ars Technica)
NCAA pilot study finds widespread social media harassment of athletes, coaches and officials: An NCAA study of social media during championship events found over 5,000 posts that contained abusive, discriminatory, or threatening content, with female basketball players receiving three times more abusive messages than their male counterparts. (Pete Iacobelli, Associated Press)
Some of the Web’s sketchiest sites share an address in Iceland: An office building in Reykjavik is the virtual home to an array of fraudsters, identity thieves, and disinformation peddlers, including online forums used by a white supremacist group in the U.S. to sell counterfeit hormone drugs, phishing sites posing as major companies to steal money and personal information, and Russian influence campaigns intended to spread lies in the U.S. (Steven Lee Myers and Tiffany Hsu, New York Times)
Infrastructure
Georgia EV plant backed by the climate law sparks water war: Cean energy projects supported by the Inflation Reduction Act are facing backlash for potential harm to the environment. (David Ferris, Politico)
Health Care
Senator urges DOJ to investigate youth treatment centers after probe uncovers “rampant abuse”: Sen. Ron Wyden urged the DOJ to investigate four of the country’s largest operators of youth residential treatment facilities for “rampant abuse, neglect and substandard care” and fraud. (Tyler Kingkade, NBC News)
Your doctor’s office could be reading your blood pressure all wrong: Millions of Americans may be misdiagnosed with high blood pressure based on bad readings. (Beth Mole, Ars Technica)
Consumer Reports calls for federal ban on baby walkers. Here are the risks: Consumer Reports says infant walkers injure thousands of babies every year despite federal safety standards. The American Academy of Pediatrics has also pushed for a ban, claiming walkers don’t help babies learn to walk and in fact can delay their motor and mental development. (Kate Gibson, CBS News)
COVID-19
Kremlin confirms Trump secretly sent COVID tests to Putin at peak of pandemic: The Kremlin confirmed that former President Donald Trump sent Russian President Vladimir Putin COVID testing kits during the height of the pandemic, as reported in Bob Woodward’s new book. The Kremlin denied Woodward’s allegation that the two leaders have spoken by phone several times since Trump left office. (Elena Giordano, Politico)
Why free COVID tests from the government are expiring so soon: Officials acknowledge that many of the free COVID tests being shipped by the Postal Service will likely see their shelf life run out in a few months. (Alexander Tin, CBS News)
Opinion: The education crisis neither candidate will address: It’s been four and a half years since public schools across the country closed their doors to in-person learning. There is evidence that this generation of K-12 students has not — and may never — fully recover academically. (Jessica Grose, New York Times)
ICYMI
Project 2025:
→ What Project 2025 means for Black communities
Immigration and Border Security:
→ Many Haitians prospered in Springfield, Ohio. Then came the hate
→ New York City to close migrant shelter on Randall’s Island in February
→ Federal appeals court is skeptical of DACA
Other News:
→ Harris and Trump pressed by watchdogs to disclose top fundraisers
→ Voting wars open a new front: Which mail ballots should count?
→ Trump family business eyes hotel deals in Israel
→ Archive.org, a repository storing the entire history of the Internet, has a data breach
→ Collapse of national security elites’ cyber firm leaves bitter wake
Because It’s Friday
Alaska’s Fat Bear Contest winner finishes ahead of the bear that killed her cub: The annual contest, which drew more than 1.3 million votes last year, is a way to celebrate the resiliency of the 2,200 brown bears that live in the preserve on the Alaska Peninsula. (Mark Thiessen, Associated Press)
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