One longtime Department of Agriculture leader complained that cutting millions worth of federal awards “actually requires opening up every single grant” and asked to use AI. The 25-year-old DOGE staffer she reported to said he planned to make it happen. www.notus.org/trump-white-...

Exclusive: Internal White House emails I obtained detail the Trump administration’s scramble to strip millions from the University of Pennsylvania after a senior official told staff that “POTUS wants to see more action against universities.” www.notus.org/trump-white-...

DOGE Has Cut Tens of Thousands of Awards. Musk’s Companies Haven’t Lost a Dime in Federal Funds. @markalfred.bsky.social reports www.notus.org/trump-white-...

New: DOGE has cut tens of thousands of awards. Despite Trump’s threats, Elon Musk’s companies haven’t lost a dime in federal funding yet. www.notus.org/trump-white-...

DOGE’s Victory Lap Overstates Its Own Work and Contradicts Its Own Estimates w/ @markalfred.bsky.social www.notus.org/trump-white-...

DOGE said it saved $660 million from real estate cuts. Then it said $500 million. Then $400 million, then $291 million and so forth.  My look at how DOGE spent two months walking back lofty savings claims, and still takes credit for cuts it didn’t make. www.notus.org/policy/doge-...

“What’s the benefit for me if I give my favor to you?” A story about the online musings of a self-described “senior advisor” to the health secretary: www.notus.org/health-scien...

DOGE is touting lease cancellations across the country. Several facilities actually began to close under the Biden administration — including the largest building on DOGE’s list. www.notus.org/policy/doge-...

DOGE went weeks without updating its webpage. Then, just after midnight on Tuesday, it removed nearly a billion dollars worth of previously claimed “savings.” www.notus.org/policy/doge-...

Some Republican lawmakers don't agree with Health Secretary RFK Jr.'s calls for states to stop fluoridating water. I talked to GOP former medical professionals in Congress — including four dentists, all of whom are House Republicans — about fluoride. www.notus.org/congress/con...

It’s not just Michael Waltz. We found the Venmo accounts of over three dozen White House officials, including Stephen Miller, Sean Duffy and Karoline Leavitt. Almost all had open friends lists. Some had open transactions, which is its own security risk. www.notus.org/congress/peo...

San Jose Rep. @liccardo.house.gov raised nearly $1.5 million in his first quarter as a member of Congress, according to a source familiar with the Liccardo camp — a hefty sum for a freshman lawmaker. ✍️ @reesegorman.bsky.social, @markalfred.bsky.social, @notusreports.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...

In one email obtained by NOTUS, NIH employees were told they could not “use mission criticality as a justification to not make cuts.” via @margaretmanto.bsky.social & @markalfred.bsky.social

DOGE is directing sweeping contract cuts at HHS — and making it difficult for employees to defend programs. “We cannot use mission criticality as a justification to not make cuts,” NIH employees were told. with the best on the beat @margaretmanto.bsky.social www.notus.org/health-scien...

DOGE terminated billions of dollars worth of contracts for work across the country. The vast majority of cuts are in districts represented by Democrats. My story for @notusreports.bsky.social: www.notus.org/policy/doge-...

State health departments are already feeling the impact of DOGE's cuts to HHS grants. One state has already lost 25 employees, including epidemiologists and public health nurses. More here: www.notus.org/health-scien...

DOGE personnel have been firing NIH employees on sight for leaving their computers and ID cards unattended, multiple employees told me. More here: www.notus.org/health-scien...

NEWS: As HHS begins to pull billions from states health agencies and ~100 universities, pandemic preparedness efforts are getting axed. Also cut: —Millions for mental health/substance abuse care in most states —Grants to cancer centers —More HIV research www.notus.org/health-scien...

"Many of the NIH cuts were listed as yielding little or no savings. One UC Irvine grant supported research into HIV stigmas. Its cancellation saved the federal government 94 cents, NIH data shows." www.notus.org/health-scien...

NEWS: Trump’s administration pulled millions in funding for HIV and PrEP-related research projects at 22 universities www.notus.org/health-scien...

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...

NEWS: DOGE is reversing course on half of its cuts to Social Security Administration offices across the country. www.notus.org/policy/socia...

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...

DOGE’s directives are being felt across California, home to the most federal workers of any state. Layoffs across Veterans Affairs and the national parks. The axing of offices that oversee offshore drilling and other safety programs. And lots more: www.notus.org/california/d...

California is being hit particularly hard by Department of Government Efficiency cuts. Democratic lawmakers in Washington are incensed. ✍️ @markalfred.bsky.social, @notusreports.bsky.social

Lawmakers of both parties say they’re dead set on continuing NASA’s Space Launch System — and some are preemptively making the case against Elon Musk’s Starship acting as a replacement. www.notus.org/health-scien...

Scoop: Volcano observatories in Alaska + Hawaii are facing office closures. These buildings house staff + equipment that monitor volcanoes for possible eruption and ash spewing The GSA staff who could help relocate the offices are also getting fired

California Democrats on Thursday distanced themselves from Gov. @gavinnewsom.bsky.social's recent comments on transgender athletes, saying they are committed to protecting equality. ✍️ @markalfred.bsky.social & @bueninvierno.bsky.social, @notusreports.bsky.social

“It was horrible and disgusting.” “My blood’s boiling right now.” “He clearly wants to divide America.” California Democrats left Trump’s address incensed after the president doubled down on everything from tariffs to DOGE layoffs. www.notus.org/california/d...

Salt caves 2000 feet underground in New Mexico hold the radioactive nuclear waste from US defense projects. It's the world's only deep geologic repository. And DOGE says it has terminated the very large office in Carlsbad that oversees it. Details 👇

President Donald Trump made tens of billions on paper by using his national profile to push meme cryptocurrency. One Democratic congressman wants to make sure other politicians can’t do the same. ✍️ @markalfred.bsky.social, @notusreports.bsky.social

So what happens to federal spending supposedly “cut” by DOGE? A White House official told me $$$ will be “repurposed or returned to the Treasury.” But the reality is more complex: Funds remain in agencies’ budgets and can’t be diverted w/o Congress, per budget experts www.notus.org/policy/doge-...

New: Proponents of Puerto Rican statehood say they’re “thrilled” about Trump’s call to add Canada to the union. “We don’t have to be 51, we can be 52 or 53, as long as we get in,” Puerto Rico’s former attorney general told me. www.notus.org/policy/puert...

NEW: Documents DOGE posted to social media included potentially sensitive info including tax ID numbers of two private companies. DOGE edited its post and published redacted versions of the docs, but the originals are still visible in the edit history. www.notus.org/whitehouse/d...

What happens if the Trump administration doesn’t listen to court orders? via @evanmcs.bsky.social, @riley-rogerson.bsky.social and @markalfred.bsky.social: www.notus.org/courts/trump...

📸It’s happening: workers are removing the signage outside the USAID building here in Washington.

NEW: Last time there were reconciliation discussions under a GOP trifecta, the GOP fought to strip federal funds from Planned Parenthood But now, it's not a priority as Republicans examine budget cuts "It actually doesn’t save money," one House Republican told me www.notus.org/policy/repub...

Republicans in Congress aren’t exactly taking Trump seriously or literally on ‘owning’ Gaza. “What can I say about that, they’re a sovereign nation, right?” one GOP lawmaker told me. www.notus.org/congress/tru...

New: How Elon Musk co-opted an Obama legacy project — and used it to test the limits of U.S. law. www.notus.org/whitehouse/e...

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s 2022 congressional campaign failed to disclose hundreds of thousands of illicit campaign contributions. To this day, she hasn’t paid back the money. www.notus.org/whitehouse/t...

Trump has officially declared that the U.S. recognizes "only two sexes, male and female" and that they are "not changeable" The executive order brings into question whether federal documents issued to trans people with updated gender markers will be invalidated www.notus.org/policy/trump...

because of course www.notus.org/congress/red...

Republicans — many of whom were learning what RedNote is in the last couple of hours — now want to ban the Chinese-based TikTok alternative. “We will legislate against them. I mean we have to," Rep. Rich McCormick told NOTUS. www.notus.org/congress/red...

NEW: Republicans say they want to ban TikTok alternative ‘RedNote’ over its ties to China. “It’s just another way to skirt the idea that they want to influence our children in negative ways,” Rep. Rich McCormick said. “We will legislate against them.” w/ @bueninvierno.bsky.social

NEW: Last time the House voted on a bill that seeks to ban trans athletes from playing in women’s sports, Democrats unanimously opposed it Ahead of today’s vote on the same bill, things seem different One House Dem told me last night the situation was “a little shaky” www.notus.org/democrats/ho...

NEW: California Democrats are incensed at Trump’s discussion of adding conditions to disaster relief. Rep. Scott Peters: “It is outrageous, we would never do that to any other state.” @carbajal.house.gov: “It would be precedent-setting and a terrible idea.” www.notus.org/california/s...

New: Republican lawmakers have vowed to slash federal spending in the next Congress. But unspent Biden-era infrastructure funds are expected to be spared from those cuts. latest for @notusreports.bsky.social www.notus.org/congress/the...

Many Republican senators say they know next to nothing about Kash Patel, Trump’s controversial pick to lead and remake the FBI. But they all appear open, if not eager, to hear what he has planned for the bureau. www.notus.org/congress/all...

New: Republicans in Congress told me they expect Trump, with Elon Musk at his side, to take an ax to the current spaceflight regulatory apparatus. Musk is preparing to go after many of the federal agencies that regulate his companies and have drawn his ire in the past www.notus.org/congress/rep...