In 2023, I reported on a network of people exploiting weak rules in New Jersey and Georgia to illegally sell temporary license plates through sham car dealerships. Yesterday, DOJ announced federal charges against eleven people involved in some of those dealerships: www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr...

NEW: The Trump administration is planning to use AI to write federal regulations despite the risk of hallucinations. “We don't even need a very good rule,” the Transportation Department’s top lawyer said of the plan, per meeting notes reviewed by ProPublica. “We want good enough.”🧵

NEW: After reporting by ProPublica revealed industry connections among Transportation Department regulators and showed how they are seeking to loosen oil and gas pipeline safety regulations, Sen. Maria Cantwell is demanding answers. By @jessecoburn.bsky.social

NEW: Sean Duffy frequently calls safety his “top priority” as transportation secretary. But I spent months wading through regulatory notices and found something far different: that USDOT has been delaying, weakening and killing dozens of safety rules, many opposed by the transportation industry.🧵

New: four million people could be forced to leave public housing and other federally assisted housing under new plans from the Trump administration, according to experts who reviewed drafts of two unpublished rules obtained by @propublica.org.

New: the Trump administration is preparing to shut down seven major housing discrimination and segregation cases — including high-profile investigations in Chicago, Houston and Flint — despite findings in some that civil rights violations occurred. www.propublica.org/article/trum...

Investigations frozen. Charges withheld. Defendants emboldened not to cooperate. The Trump administration is mounting a major retreat in the government's fight against housing discrimination and segregation, according to ten federal officials. Story here: www.propublica.org/article/trum...

NEW: Following reporting by ProPublica, three Democrats on the House Financial Services Committee have warned HUD against using crypto, which they said could be “dangerous, speculative, and harmful to working families.” By @jessecoburn.bsky.social

Federal investigators spent years on two major housing discrimination cases in Texas, finding what they believed were stark civil rights violations. Then the Trump Admin assumed office and quietly took steps that officials think will likely kill both cases. www.propublica.org/article/trum...

New: HUD officials recently discussed using the blockchain and maybe cryptocurrency at a division that oversees billions in grants for affordable housing, homeless shelters, disaster recovery etc. A staffer said it'd be like paying grantees in "monopoly money." www.propublica.org/article/hud-...

New: DOGE has gained access to a Department of Housing and Urban Development system containing confidential personal information about hundreds of thousands of alleged victims of housing discrimination. www.propublica.org/article/doge...

The Housing Loophole That Lets Wealthy Investors Raise Rents on Poor Tenants www.propublica.org/article/affo...

9/ @jessecoburn.bsky.social is concerned about how shifting HUD and DOT policies — such as restrictive zoning laws or highway expansions — will affect those who depend on affordable housing and public transit. Reach out to him if you work for or are impacted by these agencies.

“When Musk makes rockets, he himself does not need to read all the details about how a rocket would be made" a fascinating @nyc.streetsblog.org investigation www.streetsblogprojects.org/fly-electric...

Behind New York City's e-bike and moped boom is a little-known ex-delivery worker who has quietly built a micromobility empire. I spent a year looking into him and the freewheeling industry through which he rose. My last story for @nyc.streetsblog.org www.streetsblogprojects.org/fly-electric...

I’m going to be covering housing and transportation for @propublica.org, with a focus on federal policy changes under the new administration. Tips + story ideas welcome, especially from anyone who works for HUD or DOT — [email protected] www.propublica.org/article/seco...

THREAD: In 2023, I received an envelope with no return address. Inside was a flash drive containing tens of 1000s of secret files. It came from a vigilante with a tumultuous past, who'd conducted a years-long undercover operation. He didn’t tell the FBI or his family. He only told me.

Scott Turner voted to ensure landlords could refuse to rent to people on government assistance. He agreed with an interviewer that welfare is worse than slavery. He may soon lead the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. w/ @andykroll.bsky.social www.propublica.org/article/scot...

Let me tell you a story – one of the more haunting I’ve seen in 20 years of journalism. It’s about greed, death and denial. It took two years to unravel one doctor’s myth, a hospital’s complicity in creating it, and a documented trail of suspicious deaths…🧵