The Paper Trail: September 17, 2024

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The Paper Trail

Top stories for September 17, 2024

Lawmakers mull a fraud-focused scorecard for oversight: Reps. Pete Sessions and Kweisi Mfume said during a Tuesday hearing that they’ve been working for about a year on a new “scorecard” to track fraud and improper payments. The hearing was supposed to serve as the launch for the assessment, but “it’s become apparent that we simply lack the data to determine whether programs and agencies are getting better,” said Sessions. (Natalie Alms, Government Executive)

Bipartisan reps ask for enhanced classified information training: House lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are seeking enhanced training in the proper handling of classified information for all members of Congress. (Tara Suter, The Hill)

Trump’s golf habit has raised alarms about security for years: The open expanses of golf courses pose special security concerns for the Secret Service. Trump’s particular fondness for golf makes his appearance on the links more predictable, and thus riskier. (Erica Orden, Jonathan Lemire, and Betsy Woodruff Swan, Politico)

Congress promised AI rules to protect elections. It’s not happening: For the remaining weeks of the 2024 campaign, the only safeguards against deepfakes in elections are in states that passed their own laws, and in federal agencies that have stepped in — although they are hamstrung by the limits of their power and internal partisan fights. (Mohar Chatterjee, Politico)

House, DOJ lawyers detail cost of subpoena litigation: Attorneys for the House and Justice Department told a federal judge Monday that a subpoena fight with the House Judiciary Committee in its investigation of Hunter Biden has taken up hundreds of hours at an approximate cost of $443,000. (Ryan Tarinelli, Roll Call)

U.S. hostages still owe taxes. Congress might not help: The IRS assesses penalties on freed hostages who didn’t file or pay taxes during their captivity. Congress’s attempt to address this issue is currently stuck in a fight over other legislation. (Jacob Bogage and Julie Zauzmer Weil, Washington Post)

States are missing audits of water funds, watchdog says: At least nine states have not been conducting regular audits of their state revolving funds, putting billions of federal dollars for water projects at greater risk of fraud. (Miranda Willson, E&E News)

The disaster no major U.S. city is prepared for: Experts warn that an extended power outage combined with a severe heat wave is a scenario that cities and states are unprepared for. (Niko Kommenda, Shannon Osaka, and Simon Ducroquet, Washington Post)

Dobbs Aftermath

Abortion bans have delayed emergency medical care. In Georgia, experts say this mother’s death was preventable: Two women in Georgia died after they couldn’t access legal abortions and timely medical care in their state. There are almost certainly others. (Kavitha Surana, ProPublica)

Louisiana hospitals and pharmacists prep for new abortion pill rules: A state law taking effect next month will be the first in the country to categorize mifepristone and misoprostol as controlled dangerous substances. Pharmacists and doctors are speaking out about the extra layers of difficulty expected because of the law, which they worry will put patients at even greater risk. (Emily Wax-Thibodeaux, Washington Post)

Russia-Ukraine War

U.S. military aid packages to Ukraine shrink amid concerns over Pentagon stockpiles: The stockpiles of weapons and equipment that the Pentagon is willing to send Kyiv from its own inventory have dwindled amid concerns about the impact on U.S. military readiness. (Natasha Bertrand and Oren Liebermann, CNN)

U.S. investigates domestic components in Russian weapons: The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations found that more than 40% of nearly 2,500 components in Russian weapons on the Ukrainian battlefield were made by four American suppliers: Analog Devices, Texas Instruments, AMD, and Intel. (John Hill, Army Technology)

Defense and Veterans Affairs

PFAS spill “catastrophe” at former Navy base in Maine stokes concern amid military’s national cleanup: Cleanup of 51,450 gallons of firefighting foam and PFAS-contaminated water continues at a Navy-owned, privately leased hangar and its surrounding area in Maine — the second accident in two months involving stockpiles at active and former military installations. (Patricia Kime, Military.com)

After mass shooting, bill would require Army to use state crisis laws to remove weapons: The Armed Forces Crisis Intervention Notification Act would require the Army to use state crisis intervention laws to remove the weapons of a service member who is deemed to be a serious threat to themselves or others. The bill is aimed at addressing missed opportunities by the military and civilian law enforcement to prevent the 2023 mass shooting by an Army reservist in Lewiston, Maine. (David Sharp, Military.com)

Business and Finance

Sexual harassment is as common today for women in the workplace as 5 years ago, study finds: Many women in the corporate workforce continue to experience bias and other problems in the workplace, including a rate of sexual harassment that hasn’t improved in five years. (Aimee Picchi, CBS News)

Meta plans to bar the Russian TV network RT from its apps: U.S. authorities have recently cracked down on RT for trying to interfere in the 2024 election, accusing the network of acting as an arm of Russia’s intelligence agencies. (Mike Isaac and Sheera Frenkel, New York Times)

Tech

Noisy, hungry data centers are catching communities by surprise: Across the country, companies such as Amazon, Meta, and Microsoft are building data centers on sites that can stretch over 1,000 acres, sound like a leaf blower that never turns off, and add hundreds of dollars a year to the surrounding community’s energy bills. Residents are often taken by surprise by data centers because companies and local officials keep these projects secret. (Sean Patrick Cooper, New York Times)

🔎 See Also: Data center greenhouse gas emissions probably 662% higher than big tech claims. Can it keep up the ruse? (Isabel O’Brien, The Guardian)

The White House launched a politically potent high-tech program this year. There’s a reason you haven’t heard of it: The Regional Technology and Innovation Hubs program was created two years ago to bring tech manufacturing dominance back to American shores; instead, it’s been starved by Congress and potentially destined to stay underfunded. (Christine Mui and Mohar Chatterjee, Politico)

Health Care

In Montana, 911 calls reveal impact of heat waves on rural seniors: Many seniors in rural areas don’t have air conditioning and are unprepared for the new pattern of daytime temperatures hovering in the 90s for days or even weeks. (Aaron Bolton, KFF Health News)

ICYMI

Project 2025:

→ Project 2025 is already a reality in many states

Immigration and Border Security:

→ Activity along the southern border returns to Trump-era levels

→ How Mexico is helping Biden and Harris at the U.S. border

→ Texas officials declare Venezuelan gang a terrorist group, back Trump claims about migrants

Other News:

→ How John Roberts shaped Trump’s Supreme Court winning streak

→ Trump company CEO’s unexplained meeting with Balkans leader raises specter of new conflict

→ At least two Saudi officials may have deliberately assisted 9/11 hijackers, new evidence suggests

→ Study finds prevalence of firearms is driving soaring gun deaths in U.S., not mental illness

→ In the U.S., opioid-maker Purdue is bankrupt. Its global counterparts make millions

Upcoming Events

📌 Oversight of Homeland Security Investigations. House Judiciary Committee; Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government Surveillance. Wednesday, September 18, 10:00 a.m., 2141 Rayburn House Office Building.

📌 Oversight Hearing: Inspectors General of HUD, Dept. of Transportation and Amtrak. House Appropriations Committee; Subcommittee on Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies. Wednesday, September 18, 10:00 a.m., 2358A Rayburn House Office Building.

📌 Holding the SBA Accountable: Testimony from Small Business Administrator Guzman. House Committee on Small Business. Wednesday, September 18, 10:00 a.m., 2360 Rayburn House Office Building.

📌 Foreign Threats to Elections in 2024: Roles and Responsibilities of U.S. Tech Providers. Senate Intelligence Committee. Wednesday, September 18, 2:30 p.m., 216 Hart Senate Office Building.

📌 VA’s Open Cash Register: Fraud, Waste, Abuse and Revenue Operations. House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs; Subcommittee on Technology Modernization. Thursday, September 19, 9:00 a.m., 360 Cannon House Office Building.

📌 Oversight of Extremism Policies in the Army. House Committee on Armed Services; Subcommittee on Military Personnel. Thursday, September 19, 1:00 p.m., 2212 Rayburn House Office Building.

Hot Docs

🔥📃 GAO - Military Construction: Better Information Sharing Would Improve DOD's Oversight. GAO-24-106499 (PDF)