Ballard Partners, a lobbying shop with deep ties to Trumpworld, is helping surveillance tech firms land lucrative, no-bid contracts in the administration’s immigration crackdown. Investigation by @schwellenbach.bsky.social and @russchoma.bsky.social www.pogo.org/investigatio...

"This is no way to run our government": Lawmakers and a former ethics czar worry that senior White House aide Eric Ueland’s concurrent role leading the Office of Government Ethics will compromise that office’s work www.pogo.org/investigatio...

Sound familiar?

Tune in: Today, POGO's Joe Spielberger is testifying before the House Oversight Committee on the importance of whistleblower protections. The hearing is set to start at 10AM ET.

“Potential corruption related to the Golden Dome, and these conflicts of interests raise new questions about whether the program is being used to enrich Trump administration officials rather than keep our country safe.” @warren.senate.gov www.pogo.org/investigatio...

“People shouldn’t come to Washington to get rich, they should come to serve the American people,” says Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent www.politico.com/news/2025/08..., who has his own glaring financial conflicts of interest: www.nytimes.com/2025/08/13/u...

"We’ve reached a critical moment in the American experiment." @pogo.org is launching a program that will provide a roadmap for democratic safeguards we'll need post-Trump. We don't intend to simply rebuild existing structures www.pogo.org/analysis/rec...

Should someone who called government workers "parasites" be leading an office that's meant to protect whistleblowers? We don't think so. We think it makes Paul Ingrassia an unfit, unserious nominee. We led 20+ organizations calling on the Senate to reject his nomination:

This is CRAZY: Since May, federal district courts have ruled against Trump 94.3% of the time. The Supreme Court has sided with the administration in 93.7% of its cases data4democracy.substack.com/p/the-suprem...

The strikes against Iran are the latest in a series of presidential power grabs that threaten to not only contradict the Constitution, but to condemn “We The People” to spectator status. Here's what Congress must do now: www.pogo.org/analysis/ira...

Palantir has been involved in some shady dealings over its history. Remember the "Team Themis" scandal in 2011? www.pogo.org/analysis/ret...

A whistleblower claims senior DOJ official—and federal appellate judge nominee—Emil Bove III told staff to defy court orders regarding Trump's deportation plan. @pogo.org Executive Director @daniellebrian.bsky.social issued this statement in response: www.pogo.org/post/justice...

BIG NEWS from @schwellenbach.bsky.social: White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller owns up to $250,000 of stock in Palantir, the controversial tech firm supporting ICE and the Pentagon. Several other Trump officials also have financial ties to Palantir www.pogo.org/investigatio...

Budgets ARE policy. There is no clearer example of Congress choosing to disempower itself than by cutting in half the budget of its own watchdog.

We had temporary setback in our lawsuit against #DOGE, with a federal court denying our request for a preliminary injunction. We’re still hoping for an outcome on the side of transparency— not just for our sake, but for the public.

Make America Healthy Again? Insiders tell @marenmachles.bsky.social that the Department of Health and Human Services’ plan to close 6 general counsel offices could enable more fraud, waste and abuse and significantly impact healthcare access www.pogo.org/investigatio...

Big news! After our reporting from @ziembavision.bsky.social about the "clearly neglected" state of barracks at Andersen Air Force Base in Guam, renovations to improve the housing there are now in the works:

Department of Veterans Affairs staff are concerned about the impact DOGE will have on veterans and their families. Their concerns are amplified by DOGE's lack of transparency and the VA’s own troubled past, writes @pogo.org General Counsel Scott Amey www.pogo.org/analysis/vas...

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"The tragedy at Kent State in 1970 is...an enduring warning against the militarization of civilian spaces." @pogo.org Executive Director @daniellebrian.bsky.social responds to President Trump’s deployment of the National Guard to Los Angeles www.pogo.org/post/preside...

The administration has always had the means to bring Kilmar Abrego Garcia home, and we’re glad they’ve FINALLY done so, even if it took far too long. As for the criminal charges he's facing, Abrego Garcia must get the due process he’s previously been denied.

"You Deserve (to fix) a Break Today": The government allows McDonald’s to fix its ice cream machines. But the U.S. military often doesn't have the right to repair its equipment www.justsecurity.org/114104/us-mi...

White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller’s threat to suspend habeas corpus is part of the Trump administration’s assault on the courts. Congress must do something about it, says @krhawkins.bsky.social www.pogo.org/analysis/ste...

According to @pogo.org's Austin Fialkow, “right-to-repair” reform is key to U.S. military readiness, bringing competition back to weapons maintenance and repair, and "ensuring taxpayers get more bang for their buck." www.pogo.org/analysis/mak...

New from @ziembavision.bsky.social: Newly obtained photos reveal “dire” conditions inside the Andersen Air Force Base barracks. According to a U.S. Navy officer, “Anybody that’s been to Guam can tell you…if you’re living on base, you’re going to be in crappy quarters." www.pogo.org/investigatio...

Using the reconciliation process instead of the annual National Defense Authorization Act to set defense policy and budgets is unnecessary and destructive to congressional norms, writes @greg-williams-pogo.bsky.social‬ www.pogo.org/analysis/rec...

Visit the POGO store today! Take advantage of our Memorial Day sale. Save 20% on coffee mugs. AirPods Pro cases are $5 off. Your purchase powers POGO’s fight for a more effective, ethical and accountable government that safeguards constitutional principles! shop.pogo.org

President Trump is pressing agencies to repeal regulations and bypass rulemaking requirements by using the “good cause” exception. But the courts have shown it’s not that easy www.pogo.org/analysis/the...

🚨CONFLICT WATCH🚨: President Trump's pick to oversee the Golden Dome missile shield project, Gen. Michael Guetlein, was once a Secretary of Defense Corporate Fellow at SpaceX—one of the companies expected to take part in the project www.spaceforce.mil/Biographies/...

🚨Tell Congress: Secure the right to repair🚨 Congress must ensure service members can repair their own equipment so taxpayers no longer have to foot the bill for overpriced replacement parts and maintenance delays act.pogo.org/a/tell-congr...

🚨TAKE ACTION🚨Headlines about lawmakers making suspiciously timed stock trades and reaping windfall profits need to be a thing of the past! Tell Congress to pass a stock trading ban act.pogo.org/a/tell-congr...

Power Grab at the Library of Congress: President Trump’s appointment of Justice Department officials to replace the Library of Congress’s leadership is his latest attempt to undermine the power and independence of Congress www.pogo.org/analysis/a-p...

Enforced Disappearance: The Trump administration is increasingly arresting, imprisoning, and transferring migrants incommunicado and without official acknowledgment. Read this harrowing story by @krhawkins.bsky.social www.lawfaremedia.org/article/how-...

Despite political rhetoric accusing migrants of flooding the U.S. with drugs, @ziembavision.bsky.social and Julienne McClure found just 1 in 53,965 migrants were caught at the border with hard drugs. By contrast, the odds of dying from a bee sting are 1 in 41,076 www.pogo.org/investigatio...

OPM's "Motley Crew": A roster @schwellenbach.bsky.social obtained shows the top ranks of OPM currently include Elon Musk and DOGE employees, a Project 2025 contributor, and accused fraudsters. It also shows some OPM senior staff also have White House jobs www.pogo.org/investigatio...

“Enforced disappearance is a tool of dictatorships.” This new @lawfaremedia.org piece by my colleague, @krhawkins.bsky.social, is a must-read. It warns what’s at stake when the gov’t moves people beyond the reach of the law. 🔗 www.lawfaremedia.org/article/how-... #DueProcess #RuleOfLaw

What's Wrong With Doge, Part 3: When it comes to accessing data, cutting personnel and federal funds, closing agencies, and making its records public, DOGE flouts the rule of law www.pogo.org/analysis/wha... (Part 1: www.pogo.org/analysis/wha...; Part 2: www.pogo.org/analysis/wha...)

The deputy secretary of state telling the Afrikaner refugees that his family fled to America to escape Hitler—who enjoyed strong support among Afrikaners—is the crowning absurdity on top of this disgusting stunt www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...

POGO’s Don Bell had a great conversation with @morgansung.bsky.social on surveillance in the digital age and how it is, in his words, “about as anathema to the constitution as you can get.” Check it out ⬇️

Trump's First 100 Days: The problem isn’t just that the guardrails of our democracy are being destroyed, says @pogo.org executive director @daniellebrian.bsky.social. Some have always been missing. www.pogo.org/analysis/tru...

"What's Wrong With DOGE?" Part 2: Conflicts of Interest Elon Musk and DOGE are reaping big rewards with lucrative government contracts, access to troves of sensitive data, and weakened oversight www.pogo.org/analysis/wha...

Big news from @pogo.org investigator @schwellenbach.bsky.social In February, DHS quietly removed from the web investigative findings of abuse at immigration detention centers. (BOO!) POGO tracked down and reposted many of these missing records. (YAY!) www.pogo.org/investigatio...

(Thread) Almost 2 years ago, I wrote a @pogo.org investigation about discrepancies in how the Bureau of Indian Affairs tracks deaths in custody. It raised flags about due diligence in its procurement process for the review of these deaths. Well, it looks like today we finally have some answers...

The position of @pogo.org on congressional stock trading is spot-on: "If you're trading on inside info, you're not a public servant—you're a day trader with a security clearance." Ban congressional stock trading. Now. www.pogo.org/testimonies/...

🚨New @pogo.org investigation by @ziembavision.bsky.social: An Ethiopian migrant died in January from untreated HIV at the Eloy Detention Center in Arizona, which has long been singled out for inadequate medical care and detainee deaths www.pogo.org/investigatio...

Guards allegedly assaulted a shackled immigrant on a 2022 deportation flight. ICE and the company employing the guards were required to report the incident but didn't. How many other similar incidents have been covered up? www.pogo.org/investigatio...

"Difficult to pin down": In the months since DOGE's creation, its reach and power have steadily expanded while its mission, structure, leadership, personnel and funding have remained hazy www.pogo.org/analysis/wha...

🚨WE'RE HIRING: @pogo.org is looking for a temporary (3 months) editor to help us expose waste, corruption, abuse of power, and other instances where the government fails to serve the public pogo.breezy.hr/p/5481016a20...

Great analysis by @sarahturb.bsky.social: President Trump has slashed the staff of 3 key oversight and accountability offices at DHS. That just leaves the Inspector General, who has a track record of misleading Congress and ignoring misconduct and abuses www.pogo.org/analysis/who...

Take a few minutes to read these 2 important pieces by @pogo.org: 1) Congress is abdicating its duty to serve as a check on the executive www.pogo.org/analysis/whe...; 2) Trump is consolidating power by undermining the courts. Lawless deportations are the latest salvo www.pogo.org/analysis/a-b...