We condemn the political violence that took place today in Utah. The shooting of Charlie Kirk was reprehensible. We cannot resort to violence when we disagree.

Attempting to coerce a guilty plea, and attempting to use deportation as a punishment, are both illegal and unconstitutional. I sincerely hope the district courts stop this. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

This is exactly what Congress doing their job looks like: Voting on a War Powers Resolution. The Congress and NOT POTUS has the power to initiate an act of war. And yes, we @POGOwatchdog were saying this during Obama and even earlier. This is not a partisan issue, it is a Constitutional one.

NEWS: Stephen Miller owns a six-figure stock in Palantir, a company profiting off deportations, per @POGOwatchdog report migrantinsider.com/p/stephen-mi...

I was thinking that maybe, more than 20 years after the start of the Iraq war, media coverage would be more skeptical and less sycophantic No such luck

Every time a president sidesteps Congress on war, we normalize it. And every time Congress shrugs, we drift further from democracy. The system only works if we make it work.#WarPowers www.nytimes.com/live/2025/06...

Federal law says members of Congress can inspect ICE detention centers without notice. ICE says they have to ask permission days in advance. Blocking oversight is illegal. We are watching. www.nytimes.com/2025/06/19/u...

If presidents can detain people without cause, what else can they do? Habeas corpus is a centuries-old check on that kind of power. It’s not just a Latin phrase—it’s a line in the sand. 🔗 www.pogo.org/analysis/wha... #RuleOfLaw #HabeasCorpus #CivilLiberties

It is in fact possible to follow court orders and return mistakenly deported people: www.reuters.com/world/us/gua...

I and my @pogo.org colleagues have been pointing out how creepy. DHS’s genetic surveillance was from the start. bsky.app/profile/wire...

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...

🥉 3rd Place: "Bad Watchdog," @marenmachles.bsky.social , Padmini Parthasarathy & @schwellenbach.bsky.social 🏅 Honorable Mention: "Silence in Sikeston," Cara Anthony, Zach Dyer, and Taylor Cook, @kffhealthnews.org @retroreport.org, and WORLD

Golden Dome isn’t new—just another spin on 70 yrs of costly missile-defense bets. A $25 B down payment just slipped into reconciliation, yet past systems miss more than they hit. Demand proof before we toss another $175 B at Pentagon contractors. www.npr.org/2025/05/20/n...

The administration continues to target those who oppose it. This is an authoritarian tactic designed to punish those the executive branch disagrees with. Rep. McIver was simply doing her job — conducting much needed oversight over detention facilities thehill.com/homenews/hou...

They’re not confirmed. They’re not accountable. But they’re rewriting the rules for 2 million federal workers. This @pogo.org investigation by @schwellenbach.bsky.social pulls back the curtain on the shadowy team shaping the civil service. 🔗 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

🛠️ Vets & military folks: The Pentagon wants the Army to fix its own gear—instead of relying on pricey contractors. 👍 Easier? 👎 Not really? 🤔 Depends? Drop a reaction or reply—curious how this hits people who’ve lived it. federalnewsnetwork.com/army/2025/05... #RightToRepair #VeteransVoices

It’s not *that* unusual to have government officials symbolically get arrested for trespass as part of planned civil disobedience but Ras Baraka’s arrest wasn’t that

JUST IN: The Trump administration has invoked the "state secrets" privilege regarding the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia andany attempts to return him to the United States. Judge Xinis wants briefing on this development. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

This news is appalling, and blatantly unconstitutional. The administration’s continued rejection of due process threatens our constitutional order. Congress must pressure this administration to end these shocking rights violations.

86% of young Iraq and Afghanistan veterans say the officials who leaked sensitive military ops on Signal should be held accountable — and they’re right. #Accountability isn’t optional when national security and trust are on the line. www.militarytimes.com/veterans/202...

Thread of documents and sources re possibly imminent renditions from Bluebonnet detention facility to El Salvador

Apparently the Trump admin thinks “court order” is just a suggestion. Judges aren’t having it — and neither should the public. 📣 Our system only works if power can be checked. #ContemptOfCourt #DemocracyUnderThreat

JUST IN: Judge Boasberg finds probable cause to hold administration in contempt of court for defying his order to turn around planes, demands new details in order for officials to “purge” their contempt. Details TK

What emergency—record low arrest at the border doesn’t seem like the kind of thing we need to deploy the military on US soil for 🤷‍♂️ www.reuters.com/world/americ...

The Supreme Court’s unanimous opinion in the Abrego Garcia case is: 1) the obvious outcome given the government’s admission that it wrongfully deported him 2) a huge relief (and personally a surprise to me that it’s unanimous) 3) not the end of the story—now comes the question of enforcing the order

Thread on tonight’s SCOTUS decision on the El Salvador renditions: bsky.app/profile/cbpw...

The Supreme Court issued a terrible decision tonight, holding that the only way for people to challenge their detention and possible rendition under the Alien Enemies Act is by filing a habeas petition in the judicial district where they are being detained.

All of this too. (More in the legal weeds than I’ve tried to be.) Just incredibly dishonest treatment of the facts and the law—ignoring prevents the majority wrote bsky.app/profile/kova...

I'm confident this isn't going to be the only example like this! www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

President Trump's defiance of a federal court's order to halt the removal of people under the Alien Enemies Act ought to be a 5-alarm fire. A president who does not follow the law makes us all less free. The courts and Congress must meet this moment: www.pogo.org/analysis/a-b...

Thread of stories my employer, @pogo.org, has written based partly on the work of the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, which the Trump admin just gutted.

BREAKING — The DHS Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties is being eliminated entirely via Reduction in Force (RIF), an agency source tells me. Staff have not been given reassignment options. Functions of the office will supposedly be assigned to other offices.

Evidence that sending ppl to El Salvador is expressly because of torturous prison conditions there, and that if courts don’t stand up it might not stop with noncitizens bsky.app/profile/atru...

Breaking News: The Trump administration repeatedly stonewalled a federal judge seeking answers about whether the government had violated his order barring the deportation of more than 200 noncitizens without due process.

A US-born citizen was walking near Chicago in January. ICE snatched him off the street, handcuffed him, threw into a van. His wallet, which contained his ID, was confiscated. He was detained for 10 hours before being released without a record of what occurred. immigrantjustice.org/sites/defaul...

Boasberg: Tomorrow by Noon give me the info that I previously ordered and also include a written declaration about the third flight. Also Boasberg: “and I will memorialize all of this in written form because apparently my oral orders don’t carry much weight.” [damn]

Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., who in 2024 successfully urged the removal of the acting IG for the Commerce Department, is concerned that the same individual is now leading the office again following Trump’s purge of the watchdogs. www.govexec.com/oversight/20...

The military-industrial complex wins again. The Pentagon budget increases while critical programs for people get slashed. Congress needs to stop prioritizing war profiteers over the needs of the American people. #AuditThePentagon www.militarytimes.com/news/pentago...

President Trump is talking about military strength—but what about financial accountability? Taxpayers keep footing a giant Pentagon bill full of waste, fraud, and mismanagement. #PentagonWaste #POGOAnalysis

Pentagon waste got a free pass tonight. No mention of bloated budgets, failed audits, or contractor accountability. If the President won’t demand accountability, Congress must. #ChecksAndBalances

Attacking career civil servants doesn’t fix government—it makes it easier to manipulate. Independent experts ensure continuity, stability, and public service over politics. #ProtectPublicService

We’ve seen this before: When political loyalty becomes the primary qualification for government jobs, expertise is lost and accountability disappears. The American people deserve a government that works for them—not political insiders. #ChecksAndBalances

There were so many known lies in the list of “wasteful spending” I question all of them. There actually is waste and fraud but #DOGE doesn’t appear to be seriously looking for it. @POGOwatchdog has a roadmap: start with Pentagon contractors.

We share @warren.senate.gov & @duckworth.senate.gov concerns: Did Trump’s Air Force Sec. nominee improperly influence a satellite contract in a way that benefited Musk? Conflicts of interest in government contracting undermine trust & security. #Accountability breakingdefense.com/2025/02/warr...

What happens when a president can call in the military at will, with little oversight? That’s the question we should be asking as combat troops flood the border under vague national security claims. www.nytimes.com/2025/03/01/u...

The 4th Infantry Division is one of the most battle-ready units in the Army. Their mission? The border. This isn’t about logistics—it’s a radical departure from civilian-led immigration policy. www.nytimes.com/2025/03/01/u...

It got understandably buried w/ Zelensky news, but thought our story ysd was pretty big - Trump DHS pushing for the IRS to produce taxpayer info to assist w/ deportations IRS officials pointing to law saying taxpayer data can only be used for tax purposes www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

Trump’s plan to shake up watchdogs is in the courts. A judge’s ruling could decide if the VA Secretary—whose agency is 25% of OSC’s caseload—takes charge of the office meant to investigate him. The stakes? Whistleblower oversight itself. 🔗 www.pogo.org/investigatio...

“Musk may have more power than the whole military industrial complex combined at this moment.... And his people as well,” said William Hartung on latest episode of @thenation.com's American Prestige podcast. #DOGE #Pentagon #Accountability podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/m...