Newsletter

The Paper Trail: October 8, 2024

FEMA, SBA Stretched Thin by Natural Disasters; Scammers Flood Truth Social; Police Conceal Use of Facial Recognition; 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 8, 2024

As major hurricane approaches Florida, FEMA faces severe staffing shortage: Less than 10% of the agency’s disaster workers are available to respond to Hurricane Milton and other disasters. (Christopher Flavelle, New York Times)

🔎 See Also: Fact checking falsehoods about FEMA funding and Hurricane Helene (Stephen Fowler, NPR)

🔎 See Also: Helene’s devastation has disrupted voting in Georgia and North Carolina (John Sakellariadis, Liz Crampton, and Jessica Piper, Politico)

Disaster relief hurricane loan program precariously low on funds: Only $1.6 billion remains in a federal program to help small businesses impacted by hurricanes and natural disasters — enough funding for only a few more weeks without emergency intervention by Congress. The remaining pot of funding in the SBA’s disaster loan fund is being severely strained by the damage of Hurricane Helene. (Scott MacFarlane, CBS News)

Intel defensive briefings surge as adversaries seek to influence congressional races: Intelligence community officials say they’ve given three times as many defensive briefings this year to those who may be the target of foreign influence efforts as in past election cycles, and warn that China, Russia, and Cuba are making a concerted effort to target congressional races. (Rebecca Beitsch, The Hill)

We reported on Nike’s extensive use of private jets. The company just made it harder to track them: Athletic apparel company Nike became the latest participant in a cat-and-mouse game of jet owners seeking to hide their movements from the public via a FAA aircraft tracking list. (Rob Davis and Matthew Kish, ProPublica)

False Claims Act’s whistleblower provisions are unconstitutional, judge rules: U.S. District Judge Kathryn Mizelle ruled that the whistleblower, or qui tam, provisions of the False Claims Act violate the Appointments Clause of the U.S. Constitution — a holding that could find favor among three Supreme Court justices. (Alison Frankel, Reuters)

Affordable housing tax credits set to expire, threatening eviction for thousands of U.S. families: As many as 223,000 affordable housing units across the U.S. could be yanked out from under low-income tenants in the next five years. (CBS News)

Israel-Hamas War

U.S. spends a record $17.9 billion on military aid to Israel since last Oct. 7: According to Brown University’s Costs of War project, the U.S. has spent at least $17.9 billion on military aid to Israel since the war in Gaza began and an additional $4.86 billion on stepped-up military operations in the region. (Ellen Knickmeyer, RealClear Defense)

🔎 See Also: Inside the State Department’s weapons pipeline to Israel (Brett Murphy, ProPublica)

Inside the U.S. intel dilemma on Gaza a year after Oct. 7: The U.S. has increased its intelligence-gathering in the Gaza Strip since it was caught off guard by the Oct. 7 attack, but the intelligence agencies are still struggling to understand the inner political dynamics of Hamas, whether it’s ready for a cease-fire agreement, and its longer-term aspirations for Gaza. (Erin Banco, Politico)

Insurrection

Who’s who in Jack Smith’s immunity brief: What’s known about the more than 80 redacted names in special counsel Jack Smith’s legal brief detailing former President Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. (Adam Klasfeld, Just Security)

Dobbs Aftermath

Supreme Court declines to intervene in Texas emergency abortion case: On the first day of the court’s new term, the justices left in place a lower-court ruling rejecting the Biden administration’s claim that federal law requires access to emergency abortion care even in states that restrict the procedure. (Ann E. Marimow and Caroline Kitchener, Washington Post)

🔎 See Also: Georgia Supreme Court reinstates 6-week abortion ban as it considers appeal (Praveena Somasundaram, Washington Post)

Russia-Ukraine War

Russian court sentences 72-year-old American to prison for fighting in Ukraine: Stephen Hubbard, who was sentenced on Monday to six years and ten months, is the first American known to have been convicted in Russia on charges of fighting for Ukraine. (Politico)

Police Misconduct

“American death squads”: Inside Trump’s push to make police more violent: For years, Donald Trump had hoped and tried to implement programs and federal policies that would allow American police forces to act with impunity and extreme brutality. In the years since he left office, his desire to implement this plan has only grown more intense. (Asawin Suebsaeng and Tim Dickinson, Rolling Stone)

Police seldom disclose use of facial recognition despite false arrests: Hundreds of Americans have been arrested after being connected to a crime by facial recognition software, but many never know it because police seldom disclose their use of the technology — denying arrestees the opportunity to contest the results of an emerging technology that is prone to error, especially when identifying people of color. (Douglas MacMillan, David Ovalle, and Aaron Schaffer, Washington Post)

Defense and Veterans Affairs

Navy identifies three vessels impacted by faulty shipyard weld work: An aircraft carrier and two submarines were affected by faulty weld issues during work at the Newport News Shipyard, but the Navy said the substandard work didn’t affect ship safety or operations. The shipyard’s managing contractor acknowledged that “some welders knowingly circumvented certain welding procedures.” (Leo Shane III and Geoff Ziezulewicz, Military Times)

Critics say VA plan to add disability rating for rare lung condition won’t help afflicted veterans: The VA plans to create a diagnostic code to ensure that veterans with constrictive bronchiolitis, an illness linked to burn pits and other airborne pollutants, can receive a disability rating and related compensation for the condition. Critics say the plan will shortchange veterans. (Patricia Kime, Military.com)

Opinion: Veterans health records need progress, not congressional sabotage: Despite billions of dollars spent to overhaul the VA’s electronic health records system, the majority of veterans’ health records are still stuck in an antiquated system. (Joe Chenelly, Military Times)

Tech

As 23andMe struggles, concerns surface about its genetic data: Genetic testing company 23andMe is facing an uncertain future after a drop in share prices, a recent board resignation, and a data breach last year that affected nearly seven million customers. The turmoil has raised questions about what might happen to the genetic data of the company’s 15 million customers. (Emmett Lindner, New York Times)

Truth Social users are losing ridiculous sums of money to scams: Donald Trump’s social media platform has been flooded with scammers who are swindling users out of enormous sums of money. (Matt Novak, Gizmodo)

Fighting back against data centers, one small town at a time: As tech companies like Meta and Google push to build more data centers, residents in some communities are working to block the projects — and winning. (Caroline O’Donovan, Washington Post)

Neighbors sue over loud Bitcoin mine: Texas has become the epicenter of a rise in Bitcoin mining. While some attention has been paid to Bitcoin by politicians worried about the increased power demand on an already stressed grid, noise pollution has come into focus as having the most direct effect on communities. (Keaton Peters, Ars Technica)

Infrastructure

In landmark move, EPA requires removal of all U.S. lead pipes in a decade: The move, which also tightens the amount of lead allowed in drinking water, comes nearly 40 years after Congress determined that lead pipes posed a serious risk to public health and banned them in new construction. The EPA estimates that replacing the pipes will cost at least $45 billion. (Amudalat Ajasa and Silvia Foster-Frau, Washington Post)

Health Care

FDA’s promised guidelines on pulse oximeters unlikely to end decades of racial bias: Pulse oximeters are three times as likely to miss dangerously low blood oxygen levels in Black patients as in white ones. Industry pushback is making it difficult for the government to impose stricter guidelines for the devices. (Arthur Allen, CBS News)

COVID-19

Rates of sudden unexplained infant deaths increased during pandemic: A new study found the rates of sudden infant deaths increased during the pandemic, and that altered transmission of illnesses such as respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) might be linked to the rise. (Erin Blakemore, Washington Post)

ICYMI

Project 2025:

Porn industry jumps into the presidential campaign, targeting Project 2025

Immigration and Border Security:

Tajikistan nationals with alleged ISIS ties removed in immigration proceedings

Other News:

Department of Justice launches evaluation of 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre

Trump allies threaten Deloitte contracts after employee shares JD Vance chats

FBI probe of Kavanaugh constrained by Trump White House, report finds

Supreme Court clears way for Biden limits on methane and mercury pollution

North Dakota’s likely next governor brushes off conflict concerns, says his oil and gas ties would benefit the state

In eagle nirvana, avian flu is decimating America’s national bird

Upcoming Events

📌 Zoom Webinar: Project 2025 and our System of Regulatory Safeguards. Coalition for Sensible Safeguards / Center for Progressive Reform. Wednesday, October 9, 3:00 p.m. ET.