“One day, a woman wrote to me on Signal, asking me not to respond. She lived alone, she messaged, and planned to die that weekend. Before she did, she wanted at least one person to understand: Trump had unraveled the government, and with it, her life.” @hannahnatanson.bsky.social essay:

Interviews with 1200+ government workers about DOGE: “.. staff searched for words they hoped would save the work they believed in. .. So he .. began deleting: Any mention of ‘carbon.’ ‘Sustainability.’ The word ‘green.’” @washingtonpost.com www.washingtonpost.com/politics/int...

Inside the federal government as Trump and DOGE pushed it past its breaking point in 2025, as told by some of the more than 1,200 federal workers @hannahnatanson.bsky.social and @merylkornfield.bsky.social have spoken to this year

This account of how the Trump admin carried out a once-unthinkable overhaul of government in 2025 is based on a year’s worth of messages and interviews with more than 1,200 current and former federal workers. Please read from me and @merylkornfield.bsky.social. wapo.st/4b14KAy

Trump administration admits to targeting blue states for energy grant cuts. DOJ lawyers argue in a court filing that it is constitutional to withhold funding based on partisan politics, via @merylkornfield.bsky.social @hannahnatanson.bsky.social www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

I spent the summer with 3 elderly Forest Service retirees who warned Trump's staffing cuts were imperiling the land — and the public. Now an internal government report I obtained confirms it, finding Forest Service trails are being "abandoned" by Trump: wapo.st/3MJKv07

Amid the U.S. military buildup, the boat strikes and Trump's threats, Maduro has added security and limited public appearances. But he's upbeat, his inner circle remains tight and he's refusing to go into exile, people close to his government say wapo.st/4pSNaCS

Come with me to Lander, Wyo. to meet Bill, Lee and Barb. They were supposed to be retired from the Forest Service. But they're back as volunteers — driving 100s of miles a week, cleaning 5 bathrooms a day — determined to protect forests Trump abandoned. wapo.st/4r4727z

Fantastic design and graphics work to show off gorgeous photos from Wyoming on this great @hannahnatanson.bsky.social story about how retired Forest Service volunteers are filling gaps left by the Trump administration's staff cuts www.washingtonpost.com/politics/int...

POST EXCLUSIVE Pressured by the largest U.S. deployment off Venezuela in decades, Nicolás Maduro is asking friends Russia, China and Iran for help Anthony Faiola @hannahnatanson.bsky.social @ilyushina.bsky.social and Ana Vanessa report www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/1...

The government shutdown is entering its 4th week. Join me, @jacobbogage.bsky.social and @hannahnatanson.bsky.social tomorrow at 11 AM ET to answer your questions live (and/or submit your questions in advance below) www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

🚨Senior federal officials are privately warning against firings during a government shutdown, saying the strategy may violate appropriations law. Trump & top aides have threatened mass firings if the Dems don't budge. Scoop, with @hannahnatanson.bsky.social: www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Senior government officials privately warn against firings during shutdown, warning the strategy may violate appropriations law - another exclusive from my Post colleagues @emilydavies.bsky.social & @hannahnatanson.bsky.social www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Edward Brandon Beckham tried three times to take the federal government's deferred resignation offer while his wife was dying, but the administration kept turning him down. It tested his faith — in God, and in Trump. Terribly sad story, deeply reported, by @hannahnatanson.bsky.social

Breaking news: The Environmental Protection Agency has ordered scientists in at least one of its research offices to immediately pause almost all research and stop publishing their studies.

“The Trump administration has ordered the removal of signs and exhibits related to slavery at multiple national parks, according to four people familiar with the matter, including a historic photograph of a formerly enslaved man showing scars on his back.” www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...

told lovingly and beautifully by the brilliant @teoarmus.bsky.social

EXCLUSIVE www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

POST EXCLUSIVE (GIFT LINK) The Trump administration intends to dramatically limit U.S. government criticism of El Salvador, Israel and Russia, all with extensive records of abusing human rights @mradamtaylor.bsky.social @hannahnatanson.bsky.social @johnphudson.bsky.social report wapo.st/4mAYX7v

Leaked draft reports show the Trump administration is planning to eliminate or downplay accounts of prisoner abuse, corruption, LGBTQ+ discrimination and other alleged abuses. @mradamtaylor.bsky.social @hannahnatanson.bsky.social @johnphudson.bsky.social www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

SCOOP: Leaked drafts of the State Dept's annual human rights reports on El Salvador, Israel & Russia show the Trump admin is planning to eliminate or downplay accounts of prisoner abuse, corruption & LGBTQ discrimination www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

Oodles of deeply reported, exclusive stories you can read first and only in the @washingtonpost.com this morning: Top Hegseth aide tried to oust senior White House liaison from Pentagon, scoops @danlamothe.bsky.social t.co/AzvsTV1WBl

Latest in a string of stories you can read only/first from the @washingtonpost: The federal government is paying more than 154,000 people not to work right now, under the Trump admin's resignation program w/ @merylkornfield.bsky.social @laurameckler.bsky.social wapo.st/3IRXIlK

We sought this number for months, and we finally got it this week when @merylkornfield.bsky.social and @hannahnatanson.bsky.social presented their own tally — compiled through reporting from sources and constant calls to more than a dozen agencies. No one else has been able to report it until now.

The federal government is paying more than 154,000 people not to work, in the name of cost-cutting www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

On Page 1 of @washingtonpost.com today, another exclusive: Hegseth team told to stop polygraph tests after complaint to White House www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

NEW: In a time of travel bans and visa fees, Trump is moving to let Argentine tourists into the US without a visa — a political gift to his friend Javier Milei. But a State Dept cable acknowledges that Argentina doesn’t meet a key requirement for that exemption. w/ @hannahnatanson.bsky.social

White House officials paused — then released — billions of dollars in NIH research funding on Tuesday Comes amid Trump's broader crackdown on NIH funds, which has alarmed Democrats and even unsettled some in GOP w @hannahnatanson.bsky.social @jeffstein.bsky.social @carolynyjohnson.bsky.social

SCOOP: DOGE has built an AI tool to cut 50 percent of federal regulations. The goal is to kill 100,000 regs by the one year anniversary of Trump's inauguration. wapo.st/451U8wD w/ @jeffstein.bsky.social @ddiamond.bsky.social @rachelsiegel25.bsky.social

New & scoopy: Documents obtained by WaPo show political appointee overruled NIH career experts after Trump-mandated biosafety review @carolynyjohnson.bsky.social @hannahnatanson.bsky.social www.washingtonpost.com/science/2025...

NIH has fired its new chief operating officer — who had been helping lead Trump-era crackdowns on NIH workers — amid a probe into whether he tried to steer a contract to get his wife a job. with @hannahnatanson.bsky.social @carolynyjohnson.bsky.social (and me pitching in from paternity leave)

The @washingtonpost.com assigned around 20 staffers to this account of the Texas flood, with one jawdropping anecdote after another One thing that becomes clear: The extraordinary courage of camp counselors, who evacuated their girls as older adults floundered and stalled Free link wapo.st/44N1cNI

It's going to be a challenge to explain, say, a Civil War battlefield without disparaging Americans More from @jakespring.bsky.social @hannahnatanson.bsky.social @anushamathur.bsky.social www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...

NEW Immigrants could be deported to third countries with little to no notice—> www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...

[email protected] right now:

still on paternity leave but took a break to scoop this story with the terrific @hannahnatanson.bsky.social — DOGE was stripped of its control over whether billions of dollars in federal grant opportunities get posted.

👀 Scoop: Trump and Republicans want USPS to sell off its brand new EVs and chargers. That would mean literally **ripping up post office parking lots** to auction off assets with no private-sector value. It’s buried in the Senate’s “One Big Beautiful Bill.” www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

Social Security has stopped publicly reporting its processing times for benefits, the 1-800 number’s current call wait time and numerous other performance metrics, which customers and advocates have used to track the agency’s struggling customer service programs.

New from @hannahnatanson.bsky.social and I: Trump accelerates push to reward loyalty in federal workforce www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Across the government, the Trump administration is scrambling to rehire many federal employees dismissed under DOGE’s staff-slashing initiatives after wiping out entire offices, in some cases imperiling key services such as weather forecasting and the drug approval process.

The federal government has paused a plan to issue a $47 million contract for an expanded immigrant detention center in Georgia amid a review of the contract by the U.S. DOGE Service, according to a local official briefed on the matter and documents obtained by The Post.

DOGE’s intense scrutiny of federal spending is forcing employees to spend hours justifying even the most basic purchases. New rules mandating review and approval by political appointees are leaving thousands of contracts and projects on ice for months.

An IT worker for the nat'l parks drove to a bridge & called a friend to talk him down. A Medicaid researcher killed herself after repeating "I’m not enough" to her family. A Social Security worker, whose data was under siege by DOGE, died at her cubicle. www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio...

New: Across the federal government, Trump is ordering agencies to stop enforcing rules he doesn't like. w/ @hannahnatanson.bsky.social and Ian Duncan wapo.st/4dqIrDN

More from our story last month, including @hannahnatanson.bsky.social’s reporting on how local weather offices were being hit by firings, retirements and resignations. Current and former officials have been warning about these growing safety risks for months.

How DOGE’s grand plan to remake Social Security is backfiring. Many major Musk-driven changes have been reversed after proving ineffective, while others are badly damaging customer service and satisfaction @hannahnatanson.bsky.social @merylkornfield.bsky.social

Scoop: We've obtained internal cables showing how the U.S. government is pushing countries facing tariffs to clear way for Musk's Starlink State Dept says it's good to encourage Starlink adoption Others point to blurring of Musk's private/government roles ... www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

The Postal Service's law enforcement arm is now assisting the Trump administration's efforts to find undocumented immigrants, @jacobbogage.bsky.social and @hannahnatanson.bsky.social report — including trying to get access to images of households' mail and other data.

🚨 WaPo Exclusive 🚨 The Postal Service's law enforcement arm is assisting Trump's mass deportation push, per docs and sources. USPS takes photos of the front and back of mail and packages. DHS *really* wants that info, me and @hannahnatanson.bsky.social report.

Grateful to WaPo editors for putting this story on the front page today. And appreciate incredible colleagues like @faizsays.bsky.social, @jeffstein.bsky.social, @hannahnatanson.bsky.social, @emilydavies.bsky.social and many more as we’ve teamed up to cover the tentacles of DOGE.