The Paper Trail: September 27, 2024

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The Paper Trail

Top stories for September 27, 2024

Senate probe finds Secret Service failures at Trump rally shooting: The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, in its ongoing investigation into the shooting, said the Secret Service fell short in coordination with local law enforcement. The report also found inadequate training for on-site agents and that the agency provided Congress with “contradictory or incomplete information.” (Chris Johnson, Roll Call)

🔎 See Also: Obama’s Secret Service detail penetrated, armed man walks up to SUV (TMZ)

🔎 See Also: Secret Service agent placed on leave after alleged groping incident with Harris staffer (Monica Alba, Kelly O’Donnell, and Julia Ainsley, NBC News)

When House members travel the globe on private dime, families often go too: Since 2012, the 24 House members who travel most frequently on private sponsors’ dime have accepted nearly $4.3 million for airfare, lodging, meals, and other travel expenses. Almost one-third of those payments covered the costs for lawmakers’ relatives to join the trip. (Philip Randazzo, Haiyi Bi, and Akanksha Goyal, Associated Press)

Federal judges no longer required to disclose dining and lodging thanks to rule change: The U.S. Judicial Conference altered an ethics rule covering disclosure requirements for Supreme Court justices and federal judges, allowing them to avoid reporting stays or meals at personal residences. However, transportation gifts, such as travel aboard a private aircraft, will likely still need to be disclosed. (Kaelan Deese, Washington Examiner)

🔎 See Also: Sweeping bill to overhaul Supreme Court would add six justices (Justin Jouvenal and Tobi Raji, Washington Post)

Air Marshals say they are reaching a “breaking point” amid brain drain and “punishing” schedules: John Casaretti, president of the Air Marshal Association, told Congress that Federal Air Marshals are overworked and leaving the agency at an alarming rate, and they are seeking a new agency to house them. (Eric Katz, Government Executive)

GSA testing finds variations in the accuracy of digital ID verification tech: Results from GSA's study on digital identity verification technologies, which are used to ensure that someone is who they say they are when they try to access government benefits online, found some tools are relatively accurate while others are inaccurate or inequitable. (Natalie Alms, Nextgov/FCW)

A Supreme Court justice warned that a ruling would cause “large-scale disruption.” The effects are already being felt: The Supreme Court in June struck down the Chevron doctrine, which requires courts to defer to regulatory agencies in interpreting laws when Congress hasn’t clearly defined the scope of the agencies’ power. Less than three months later, litigants or judges have cited the decision in over 100 cases covering such areas as abortion, overtime pay, airline fees, and gun sales. (Eli Sanders, ProPublica)

NFL stadiums will soon double as disaster shelters, federal officials say: FEMA says its new partnership with the NFL to turn football stadiums into emergency shelters, temporary hospitals, and other venues needed during disasters will better prepare local officials. But sheltering thousands of people under one roof for long periods of time poses challenges. (Maxine Joselow and Brianna Sacks, Washington Post)

Israel-Hamas War

Israel deliberately blocked humanitarian aid to Gaza, two government bodies concluded. Antony Blinken rejected them: Earlier this year, both USAID and the State Department’s refugees bureau concluded that Israel had deliberately blocked humanitarian aid to Gaza, which would have required the U.S. to cut off weapons shipments to Israel. Secretary of State Antony Blinken didn’t accept their findings. (Brett Murphy, ProPublica)

Insurrection

Watchdog report on Justice Department’s Jan. 6 response won't be done by election: DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz told Congress this week that a long-awaited report on DOJ’s response to the insurrection won’t be ready for release until after Election Day. The government has charged more than 1,500 people in connection with January 6. (Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney, Politico)

Dobbs Aftermath

Criminalizing pregnancy: A record number of women were prosecuted the year after Dobbs: In the first year after Dobbs, at least 22 women around the country faced criminal prosecution after suffering miscarriages, stillbirths, or the death of babies born prematurely. In total, there were at least 210 cases in which authorities brought charges against pregnant people for crimes related to pregnancy or birth. (Nina Martin, Mother Jones)

🔎 See Also: A dramatic rise in pregnant women dying in Texas after abortion ban (Erika Edwards, Zinhle Essamuah, and Jason Kane, NBC News)

Russia-Ukraine War

Zelensky pleads for more U.S. weapons in meetings with Biden and Harris: The Ukrainian president this week made an urgent appeal for more American aid and weapons, after the White House authorized the release of an additional $8 billion in military aid. The Pentagon will also issue $2.4 billion in aid through a separate program. (Zolan Kanno-Youngs and Edward Wong, New York Times)

Defense and Veterans Affairs

VA to research link between PFAS chemicals and kidney cancer: VA will research the link between kidney cancer and exposure to PFAS at military bases, a move that could eventually provide presumptive benefits to thousands of veterans suffering from the illness. Officials said the move is part of a broader review of suspected military toxic exposure injuries. (Leo Shane III, Military Times)

Months after Biden’s promise to pardon thousands of LGBTQ veterans, only 8 have applied: Advocates say the conditions of the pardon are too narrow and the process too cumbersome, dashing hopes that the president’s act of clemency would erase the stigma of courts-martial and allow veterans to qualify for long-denied benefits. (Anne Marshall-Chalmers, The War Horse)

Business and Finance

Boeing workers pressured to put speed over quality, FAA says: According to an FAA investigation, Boeing factory workers said they felt pressured to prioritize production speed over quality, and that they didn’t receive enough training to properly perform their jobs. (Pete Muntean, CNN)

🔎See Also: NTSB calls for urgent action on Boeing 737 rudder systems (Lori Aratani, Washington Post)

Boar’s Head plants nationwide now part of law enforcement investigation, USDA says: In addition to an investigation of other Boar’s Head plants, the USDA said it's also doing a “top-to-bottom review” to look for lessons learned. (Alexander Tin, CBS News)

Tech

Inside the “hustle kingdom,” where overseas scammers prey on Americans online: West Africa’s “Yahoo boys” swindle Americans out of millions of dollars by luring them into all kinds of scams. Anti-fraud safeguards are failing to stop a persistent wave of overseas-based fraud schemes like this. (Debra Patta et al., CBS News)

China-linked hackers breach U.S. internet providers in new “Salt Typhoon” cyberattack: Hackers linked to the Chinese government broke into a handful of U.S. internet-service providers in recent months in pursuit of sensitive information. The intrusion is the latest in a series of incursions in recent months. (Sarah Krouse, Robert McMillan, and Dustin Volz, Wall Street Journal)

FTC enforcement sweep stretches boundaries on AI oversight: The FTC is struggling to rein in overhyped claims about AI technology. (Tonya Riley, Justin Wise, and Cassandre Coyer, Bloomberg Law News)

Health Care

Senate votes to hold Steward hospital CEO in criminal contempt: Community leaders and health workers in states served by Steward’s facilities blame the company’s leaders for extravagant paydays while hospitals struggled to meet mortgage payments and cover expenses. The DOJ is investigating the company for alleged fraud. (Dan Diamond, Washington Post)

New bill seeks to mandate healthcare cybersecurity standards: The bill comes in the wake of a crippling ransomware attack on a UnitedHealth unit in February, which likely affected a third of all Americans and created several healthcare processing challenges that continued into the summer. (David DiMolfetta, Nextgov/FCW)

COVID-19

Nursing aides plagued by PTSD after “nightmare” COVID conditions, with little help: COVID killed more than 3,600 U.S. health care workers in the first year of the pandemic. It left many more with physical and mental illnesses — and feelings of abandonment by state and federal authorities. (Amy Maxmen, KFF Health News)

ICYMI

Immigration and Border Security:

→ Biden moving forward with plan to cement asylum restrictions at U.S.-Mexico border

→ Haitian group in Springfield, Ohio, files citizen criminal charges against Trump and Vance

→ Heat has long threatened migrants crossing the Arizona desert. Now it’s putting missions to recover their bodies in jeopardy

Other News:

→ Jack Smith files evidence in Trump 2020 election subversion case

→ Jared Kushner’s fund has reaped millions in fees, but so far returned no profits

→ A new Senate bill would make it easier to track appointees’ confirmation status

→ House panel advances contempt charges against Secretary of State Blinken

→ Iranian hackers charged in alleged targeting of Trump campaign, sources say

→ FBI probing deepfake that duped top senator

Upcoming Events

📌 Zoom Webinar: Threats to Democracy and the 2024 Election. ProPublica. Monday, September 30, 4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. ET.

📌 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.

Hot Docs

🔥📃 GAO - Ukraine: DOD Could Strengthen International Military Training Coordination by Improving Data Quality. GAO-24-107776 (PDF)

🔥📃 GAO - DOD Financial Management: Benefits to Date of Financial Statement Audits and Need to Improve Financial Management Systems. GAO-24-107593 (PDF)

🔥📃 GAO - Federal Contractors: Actions Needed to Improve Quality of Performance and Integrity Data. GAO-24-106911 (PDF)