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NEW: Ignoring urgently needed reforms in favor of fruitlessly trying to find evidence of fraud, DOGE descended on the Social Security Administration “thinking it should work like a McDonald’s,” the agency’s former acting chief reveals to ProPublica.

Department of Gore

NEW: The oil industry touts Texas as a success story in controlling climate-warming methane emissions. The state’s regulator, however, grants nearly every request to burn or vent gas into the atmosphere.

I'm going to publish the entirety of an exchange I just had with the press office of the DOJ. I want you to see how they are talking about truth.

Spend some time with the handwritten notes on what people lost in sweeps. Heart-wrenching and infuriating.

Seizure medication, wheelchairs, Social Security cards, dentures, urns of ashes, work uniforms — just some of what's been thrown away during cruel, degrading, utterly counterproductive homeless sweeps. A good time to revisit this gutting @propublica.org story:

In June, the Forest Service claimed it had reached 99% of its hiring goal for its wildland firefighting workforce. But ProPublica’s reporting indicated that the agency was selectively counting firefighters, presenting an optimistic assessment to the public.

NEW from me: The CFPB's consumer complaint system is more popular than ever, fielding over 2.7M complaints last year. But Republican lawmakers still voted to slash the CFPB's budget, even after referring thousands of their own constituents' issues to the agency. www.propublica.org/article/cfpb...

The doctor doesn’t believe peptides were the cause of the patients’ severe illness after receiving injections at a Las Vegas casino. He asked AI and it responded with a report that “basically says that it is impossible it was the peptides.”

This CEO co-owned a company that pleaded guilty in 2019 to a scheme to hire and conceal undocumented workers. Now he’s profiting off the construction of an immigrant detention camp. Such critical reporting from Avi Asher-Schapiro + @jeffernsthausen.bsky.social: www.propublica.org/article/nath...

“I’ve been warned my entire life, ‘The FBI’s watching us.’”

The Forest Service claims it’s fully staffed for fire season, saying it has reached 99% of its hiring goal. But internal data, which has not been previously reported, shows more than 4,500 Forest Service firefighting jobs — as many as 27% — remained vacant as of July 17. via @abestreep.bsky.social

“On the way to fudging the math necessary to defend the border against marauding produce pickers and securing a multitrillion-dollar tax break for the wealthiest Americans, the…OBBB managed to botch the commonsense tax deduction for personal gambling losses.” Nevada lawmakers are pushing for a fix.

Utah Sen. Mike Lee says he’ll continue pursuing a sell-off of public land to address the affordable-housing crisis — an idea that has some support across the political spectrum. But as @abestreep.bsky.social reports, similar efforts have created little attainable housing.

Have we diagnosed the origin of the bro-who-backs-into-parking-spaces trend?

Wowser, this story: Kristi Noem Secretly Took Personal Cut of Political Donations @justinelliott.bsky.social @josh-kaplan.bsky.social @amierjeski.bsky.social

NY bans anonymous child welfare reports thanks, in part, to Eli Hager’s reporting on a Brooklyn mother whose apartment was searched dozens of times — by police and caseworkers who never had a warrant — because an angry former acquaintance kept anonymously calling the hotline about her.

Prosecutors in Arizona's largest county pursue the death penalty frequently, at a cost of many millions of dollars, but are unusually ineffective. @nicolesantacruz.bsky.social @davebiscobing15.bsky.social found a secretive panel won't explain how it decides what cases warrant the death penalty.

I still think this is one of the most gutting notes I’ve ever read.

“The numbers that are being proposed would close the tribal colleges. They would not be able to sustain.”

RFK Jr said “One of my big priorities will be getting good food — high-quality food, traditional foods — onto the reservation because processed foods for American Indians is poison.” Then the administration ended a program that provided fresh, locally produced food to dozens of tribal food banks.

1/ The day after the Antioch High shooting, Nashville police arrested a 12-year-old for posting a concerning screenshot on Instagram. His school was supposed to figure out if it was a valid threat. Instead, the school expelled him with no further investigation.

A DOJ investigation of Phoenix and its PD was the first to find a pattern of violations against homeless people, including throwing away their possessions. “You guys are trash and this is trash," one officer said, per the DOJ. This week, AG Bondi said the DOJ has abandoned efforts to reform the PD.

NEW: A three-year investigation found that Phoenix police routinely violated the rights of homeless people. This week, DOJ officials announced that they had abandoned efforts to ensure the city and its police department addressed those issues. By @nicolesantacruz.bsky.social

A DOJ investigation of Phoenix and its PD was the first to find a pattern of violations against homeless people, including throwing away their possessions. “You guys are trash and this is trash," one officer said, per the DOJ. This week, AG Bondi said the DOJ has abandoned efforts to reform the PD.

Did DOGE cut the chem trail program?

“Although billions of state and federal dollars flow into the majority-Latino communities along the nearly 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border, many remain among the poorest places in the nation.” @anjeanette-damon.bsky.social and Perla Treviso on where the money goes along our border with Mexico.

Thrilled to have @abestreep.bsky.social , a gifted reporter and writer, join the @propublica.org team covering the Southwest.

UPDATE: ICE has awarded a new contract worth up to $3.8 billion for the company to operate a migrant detention camp on Fort Bliss — its largest contract yet. It's the first time ICE is moving ahead with plans to detain thousands of people arrested on U.S. military bases in tents before deportation.

NEW: The CDC buried a measles forecast that stressed the need for vaccinations. The agency’s explanation alarms some public health experts and shows a shift in the CDC’s messaging about vaccines. @propublica.org's @sheinvestigates.bsky.social breaks the news www.propublica.org/article/meas...

EXCLUSIVE: Trump's NIH ends funding to study the health effects of climate change. The move is "catastrophic," one climate health expert told @propublica.org's @anniewaldman.bsky.social and @fastlerner.bsky.social www.propublica.org/article/nih-...

Park rangers have been given talking points amid cost cutting. Job cuts = “attrition” and “workforce management actions.” Service cuts = “prioritizing fiscal responsibility” and “staffing to meet the evolving needs of visitors.” And NPS still offers “memorable and meaningful experiences for all.”

Our tips truck has hit the road. This week, the Education Dept. announced it would fire about 1,300 workers. If you were affected, we'll be near the Education Dept. building, ready to meet folks where they are. You can also reach out via Signal at 917-512-0201 or go to propublica.org/tips.

Tribal colleges’ funding is protected by treaties and the federal trust responsibility, a legal obligation requiring the United States to protect Indigenous resources, rights and assets. Cutting off that funding is illegal, several university presidents said. Via @mattkrupnick.bsky.social

One million children will go untreated for severe malnutrition, up to 166,000 people will die from malaria and 200,000 more children will be paralyzed by polio over the next decade, the memos estimated. The programs were cut anyway. @propublica.org www.propublica.org/article/trum...

Hello Bluesky. Here's my latest: Illinois aimed to build a network of panels to review domestic violence-related killings. But in four years, only seven counties, not including Cook County, the state's largest, joined the effort, even as domestic violence deaths continue to rise: propub.li/4i6u6NQ

Hearing about everyone’s bingo cards every day for the rest of forever was definitely not … on my bingo card.

Who owns our newsroom? No one. ProPublica is a fiercely independent nonprofit. Not even our board or our donors know what we’re working on until it’s published. We are powered by 70,000 of you and counting. Join us: propub.li/4ih6dmJ

When @propublica.org first published data and reporting on the tens of thousands of Native American human remains and artifacts held by museums and universities, compliance with the nation’s 30-year old repatriation law shot up. Today, we update the data to show where thise institutions stand now.

DOGE cuts hit Social Security in the places “where people access government.” Always read Eli Hager.

“Several employees told ProPublica that they have been told not to communicate with the students, families and schools involved in cases launched in previous administrations and to cancel scheduled meetings and mediations. ‘We’ve been essentially muzzled.’” www.propublica.org/article/depa...

Any short-term savings from the funding freeze, one federal firefighter said, are likely to be eclipsed by the vast resources needed to combat even larger wildfires.

Trump and Elon Musk all but dismantled USAID. It took them less than a month. It's an unprecedented test of the checks and balances at the heart of the American system of government. The must-read inside story, from @annamaria.bsky.social and Brett Murphy. www.propublica.org/article/usai...

hello! just putting this here. please share in your signal groups and slacks. www.propublica.org/tips/#signal

A brief tale about the law firm Clare Locke, which specializes in threatening the media (and is a focal point of my new book). 1. In 2023, Harvard hired Clare Locke to threaten the NY Post if it aired plagiarism allegations against Claudine Gay. The threats backfired. nypost.com/2023/12/12/n...

NEW: It's not just coders. DOGE is filled with lawyers, elite attorneys with conservative credentials. We have new names: www.propublica.org/article/elon...

Hot off the presses: projects.propublica.org/elon-musk-do...

For 2 years, aid groups have operated a camp providing food, water and first aid to people crossing the border in a treacherous southern Arizona wilderness area. Weeks before Trump took office they were told to leave. For now, they’re staying put. “We are following God’s executive order,” one said.

night of the long 404s