🚨 Hearing that RIF notices have gone out at the patent office. If you work in the federal government and you get a RIF notice along with your furlough, please let me know! I will keep you anonymous. You can reach me on Signal at annakramer.54

FEC = FUBAR? The nation's campaign finance regulator is in the midst of a de facto shutdown, just lost another commissioner and now is canceling public meetings until 2026. Who could help? President Trump. So far, he won't. Via @taylorgiorno.bsky.social of @notus.com: www.notus.org/2026-electio...

WOOF: "The American Kennel Club, the world’s largest registry for purebred dogs, is quietly fighting several animal welfare bills winding through Congress." — @taylorgiorno.bsky.social of @notus.com www.notus.org/money/americ...

*ANOTHER* FEC commissioner is leaving the agency. That leaves 2 of 6 commissioner slots filled — 2 short of a quorum that allows the federal campaign finance regulator to function. (The two remaining are Dems.) New, from @taylorgiorno.bsky.social & me in @notus.com www.notus.org/campaigns/fe...

The FEC has canceled all of its scheduled public meetings until 2026 as the last remaining Republican commissioner heads out the door, deepening a defacto shutdown that's left the federal campaign finance regulator "hobbled" for months. www.notus.org/2026-electio...

So, about that team of public integrity prosecutors who investigated Tom Homan, the guy who accepted a $50k bribe in a sting operation last year... The Trump DOJ has cut it down to 2 lawyers: a boss who oversees a single attorney. @notus.com exclusive: www.notus.org/courts/doj-p...

NEW: ABC’s decision to “indefinitely” suspend comedian Jimmy Kimmel has alarmed free speech advocates — but the “chief advocate of broadcasters in our nation’s capital,” the National Association of Broadcasters, has shied away from (at least publicly) weighing in. www.notus.org/money/broadc...

NYT response to lawsuit filed by Donald Trump against the newspaper and several NYT reporters. share.google/oTnqn8SIgHFV...

“A spokesperson for DoorDash‬⁩ told @notus.org‬⁩ that as of Friday, the company had not sent anything to drivers about the situation in #DC or what to do if they are detained.” — via @taylorgiorno.bsky.social www.notus.org/policy/doord...

📈 STOCK-BAN DEVELOPMENT: A wild bipartisan coalition in the U.S. House unveils latest bill for forcing lawmakers to stop trading individual stocks and corporate bonds. Follows movement in Senate. Reporter @taylorgiorno.bsky.social of @notus.org has all the details: www.notus.org/congress/con...

Airlines have emerged as early winners as Trump 2.0 rolls back regulations including a delay compensation proposal. “The first round has gone to the airline lobby,” one alarmed consumer protection advocate told @notus.com www.notus.org/money/airlin...

Via @taylorgiorno.bsky.social of @notus.org: www.notus.org/money/wall-s...

NEW: The two largest private prison companies are cashing in as the Trump administration scales up its detention and deportation operations. They don’t expect the funds to stop flowing anytime soon, as they made clear during this week's earnings calls. www.notus.org/money/privat...

NEW: Anti-abortion advocates have been privately lobbying to sway Trump away from his pledge to have insurers cover IVF With the White House reportedly stepping away from those plans, IVF opponents are claiming victory "We've been heard," one advocate told me www.notus.org/health-scien...

The private prison contractor GEO Group says it's seeing "the highest level of ICE utilization in our company's history," up from 15k beds to 20k beds across 21 facilities during Q2.

Drug companies behind the biggest weight-loss drugs shook up their lobbying operations during the first six months of Trump’s second term, and @notusreports.bsky.social's @taylorgiorno.bsky.social has the skinny on what happened — with huge amounts of money at stake: www.notus.org/money/weight...

DOGE and DHS have cut funding for national security research into diseases moving across borders, terror threats at stadiums, flooding in coastal towns, TSA preparedness, etc. My latest w/ @violetjira.bsky.social www.notus.org/trump-white-...

DOE usually uses emergency powers to keep power supply during hurricanes, crises, etc. Trump ordered them to seriously break precedent and use it to keep power plants (coal) from shutting down The order looks eerily similar to a 2023 Kentucky law...

Trump’s Tariffs Are Costing Republican Donors. Will They Cost GOP Campaigns Next? On the building nervousness that big-dollar Republican donors, angry over tariffs, are gonna pull back on contributions in 2026 first joint byline w/ @taylorgiorno.bsky.social www.notus.org/republicans/...

NEW: Here's the letter Hunter Biden wrote to the US Ambassador to Italy in 2016 seeking “support & guidance” for Burisma. Then-VP Biden & his family had recently stayed at the ambassador's residence, & Hunter wrote "it was great seeing you in Rome," before his ask. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/04/u...

NEW: As more congressional Dems try to get better at social media, some progressive online creators aren’t loving what they’re seeing That disconnect has inspired at least 3 creators — Isaiah Martin, Kat Abughazaleh and Deja Foxx — to run for office www.notus.org/democrats/de...

Given the magnitude of the tariffs, punches were clearly pulled. via @taylorgiorno.bsky.social

NEWS: DOGE has directed HHS to cut 35% of all contract spending -- a category that includes everything from equipment maintenance to laboratory staff. "It will be like another reduction in force," one NIH employee told me. W/ @markalfred.bsky.social: www.notus.org/health-scien...

SCOOP: A legal listserv devolved as partisan frustrations flared following one lawyer’s request for support from right-leaning lawyers and organizations. “The hypocrisy is stunning,” Cleta Mitchell wrote in the thread. www.notus.org/donald-trump...

The nation’s tax prep giants and Republican lawmakers are laser-focused on ensuring this is the last year the Internal Revenue Service offers free tax filing. via @taylorgiorno.bsky.social

Just before Musk's event in Green Bay tonight, the WI Supreme Court unanimously declined to bar him from handing out $1 million payments to voters

Elon Musk says his super PAC will give door knockers $20 per selfie with someone giving a thumbs up and holding a photo of the conservative Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Brad Schimel

When you score your 55th & 56th NWSL career goals & move into the top 5 all-time goal scorers in league history. Go off, Ashley Hatch 👑

Trump issues another executive order targeting a top law firm, this time Robert Mueller's former firm www.wsj.com/politics/tru...

Timeline cleanse

There's a lot riding on the WI Supreme Court race, the most expensive judicial race ever, as Democrats push for a post-2024 win. It's also a test for Elon Musk, who could position himself as kingmaker for Republican-backed candidates. NEW w/ Nuha Dolby www.notus.org/wisconsin/wi...

You really can’t script this. The same week the Trump admin invokes the state secrets privilege to deny Boasberg info, he is assigned the lawsuit over the Trump administration’s apparent carelessness with state secrets.

Scientists, research technicians, even administrators - contractors make up nearly half of the NIH's workforce. The agency has been quietly letting their work orders expire. www.notus.org/health-scien...

New: Trump Media Executives Launch New SPAC Seeking $179 Million—And Target Crypto, Defense Sectors me, for @forbes.com

NEW: Trump canceled grants funding cancer and Alzheimer’s research at Columbia University. DOGE then listed the millions of dollars from those terminated grants on its “savings” page. My story for @notusreports.bsky.social www.notus.org/health-scien...

🚨Trump's White House just quietly issued an ethics waiver for the crypto mogul who Trump appointed to oversee federal crypto policy, according to documents reviewed by @LeverNews. The waiver waives federal conflict-of-interest laws for David Sacks.

As the once indomitable influence of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has eroded, a source says the business lobby “isn’t in the conversation" on tax. The Chamber denies it's out of the loop & new hires have been helping them rebuild relations with the GOP. www.notus.org/money/chambe...

Once upon a time, not long ago, the Chamber of Commerce was THE CHAMBER. Now, it’s … let @taylorgiorno.bsky.social explain. www.notus.org/money/chambe...

The chair of the Senate Finance Committee told the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and tax lobbyists for major companies yesterday that they were an "incredible ally" in the tax fight and implored them to "be hittin’ every single button you can to help influence this debate" www.notus.org/money/chambe...

Some workplace rights settlements in Congressional offices are never publicly reported, not even in the aggregate, leaving the public in the dark on how much taxpayer money is being used to pay out claims. w/ @@emilykennard.bsky.social www.notus.org/congress/con...

NEW: Trump admin has reversed course and will no longer be closing the office that oversees one of the country's most important nuclear waste sites, the world's only deep geologic repository. I reviewed the letter revoking the termination 👇

NIH nominee Jay Bhattacharya appears before a senate committee this morning. He's walking a thin line between his scientific background and the MAHA movement that got him nominated. Here's how senators are responding: www.notus.org/health-scien...

DC lobbyist fired after racist texts exposed @tizzyent.bsky.social broke the story and has all the jaw dropping details here: www.instagram.com/reel/DGoaiqe...

Some context for this number: Former USAID administrator Andrew Natsios tells the House Foreign Affairs Committee that he and his team cut 80 programs *over a month* when they launched their own line-by-line review under President George W. Bush.

🥰

~*~ personal news ~*~ I’m joining NOTUS (@notusreports.bsky.social) next month to cover lobbying and influence, focusing on the forces shaping policy and politics!

This is the entirety of DOGE's public website

New: the AP says it was blocked from an Oval Office event after being informed that it would be barred if it didn’t follow President Trump’s guidance on renaming the Gulf of Mexico

Great news for the girlies who love to window shop

President Donald Trump has fired the director of the Office of Government Ethics, the agency announced Monday. The small office is an independent agency responsible for setting policies on preventing conflicts of interest for federal employees.