NEW: Portraits of some lesser-known but still extraordinary and impactful lives that ended in the Washington DC area over the past year, by my colleagues at @washingtonpost Here is the link: www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2...

NEW: The government’s historic role as a trusted information source is under threat. The U.S. government for decades has been the world’s leading provider of reliable data. Many researchers wonder if that is still the case under Trump, by Naftali BenDavid www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Exclusive: New strains on the Veterans Affairs system could grow with the abrupt elimination of as many as 35,000 mostly unfilled health care positions, including doctors, nurses and support staff, w/@MerylKornfield @hannah_natanson www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

NEW MUST READ: George Soros has used his billions to change how crime and punishment work in America. But what happens when you don't want his money? @bethreinhard explains for the latest story in the Post’s Billionaire Nation series: www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Social Security also scrapped plans to FINALLY use a modern database of jobs that has cost taxpayers more than $350 million thus far. The agency uses jobs data to determine if a claimant can still work, but is using 30 -plus year old data right now -- and will keep using it

NEW SCOOP: Social Security admin abandons plan to keep elderly disabled from getting benefits w/MerylKornfield www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Read how @PostKranish solved the mystery of the doctored quotes in the Jefferson Memorial, which sought to portray him as an abolitionist even as he enslaved more than 600 people in his lifetime. It's part of our 7-part series on the paradox of Jefferson: www.washingtonpost.com/politics/int...

Of the 6 million veterans receiving disability payments last year, about 1.5 million were designated 100 percent disabled — a nearly ninefold increase since 2021. A whole industry has popped up around getting people to 100% by @caitlingilbert.bsky.social, @reinlwapo.bsky.social & Craig Whitlock:

NEW: Sleep apnea is a treatable condition affecting million of Americans. VA refuses to adjust its disability payment apnea to keep up with modern medicine. w/Craig Whitlock and @caitlingilbert.bsky.social www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio...

Here at @washingtonpost.com, we've been reporting and writing on the @deptvetaffairs.bsky.social disability system. We found that exaggerated claims are common. Here's our latest w/ Craig Whitlock, @caitlingilbert.bsky.social, @aaronschaffer.com: www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio...

RIP @connolly.house.gov. You will be very missed.

@socialsecurityworks.org , please clarify ASAP for all of the retirees and disabled folks out there

.@SocialSecurity nominee falsely claims no DOGE contacts, Democratic senator says. Frank Bisignano has had regular contact with Musk's cost-cutting effort, according to one Senate whistleblower and two others interviewed by The Post, by @FedGirlWaPo www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

DHS union-busting attempt sends message in and out of government via @JoeDavidsonWP www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Lot going on at @SocialSecurity, a place few thought would come under Musk’s hammer. But it is happening

A lot of activity for an acting commissioner. Wonder how Frank Bisignano, Trump’s nominee for the permanent job , feels about an acting led by DOGE turning the agency upside before he gets there?

When we look back at this period of time, Leland Dudek will be the face of gutting social security.

Exclusive: Over the years, Elon Musk and his businesses have received at least $38 billion in government contracts, loans, subsidies and tax credits, often at critical moments, a Post analysis has found, helping seed the growth that has made him the world’s richest person.

NEW: In Trump’s first month, a relentless effort to remake the presidency. In the initial stretch of his second term, Trump has pursued a different vision than virtually any of his 44 predecessors, by @NaftaliBendavid www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

NEW: As Musk reshapes the government, some ask: Where are the guardrails? www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Trump’s urgent push to rewrite American history: The president freely deploys phrases from the history books, but many scholars warn he misrepresents and tells falsehoods about the country’s past, by @NaftaliBendavid www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Breaking news: The White House has removed two top security officials at the U.S. Agency for International Development, the world’s largest provider of food assistance, after they refused to let representatives of Elon Musk access restricted spaces.

NEW: How Trump is stretching the law to make the federal government more political, from paid leave to firings to removal of all job protections under the civil service law passed by Congress in 1978 www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

A majority of those ousted were watchdogs at big Cabinet agencies. And the majority are Trump appointees from his first term

NEW: Hours after retaking power, Trump reinstates plan to strip protections from federal workers: www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

A fight for control of vast swaths of public lands looms. States like Utah, leading the charge, say they would be better managers of that terrain, and they expect the next Trump administration to agree. @karinbrulliard on what's at stake. wapo.st/42lINIm

Trump Org. issues ethics plan for second term. Critics say it’s not enough, via @marianne_levine www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

.@DylanByers surely you can find something more accurate and less snotty to say about Matea Gold. Try a little harder please.

In Texas, a state with one of most restrictive abortion bans and some of the worst access for women's health care, newborns have been abandoned this year in dumpsters, an industrial ditch, a Whataburger restroom. “Women don’t know what to do." @mollyhf wapo.st/3ZXDbks

Joe Biden's lonely fight to sell his vision of American democracy @tylerpager www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

NEW: Trump wants #federalworkers back in the office. Can he do it? He’s on one side of the culture war over the federal workforce: fhttps://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/12/26/trump-return-to-office-federal-workers-resistance/

NEW: Biden pardoned his son while leaving hundreds seeking clemency in limbo, via @BethReinhard @AMarimow @PerryStein www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

NEWS: #Federalemployee groups prepare to fend off attacks by Trump and allies. The efforts are aimed at resisting what is expected to be a severe Trump administration assault on public servants, w/ @michaelscherer @jocwapo www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

How Pam Bondi boosted Trump's election fraud claims in a key swing state, via @BethReinhard www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Trump allies pressure Republican senators to back Cabinet picks — or else. Their holiday message: “Don’t get on Santa’s naughty list here, because we will primary you.” Latest from @lizcgoodwin. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

NEWS: When it became clear Wash Post managing editor Matea Gold was heading to the NYT, a veteran WaPo reporter prepared a story. Acting Executive Editor Matt Murray killed it, saying the paper shouldn't be covering itself. "Pin it on me," he said. My story: www.npr.org/2024/12/09/n...

NEWS: Federal employees scramble to insulate themselves from Trump's purge, via @ReinLWapo @JStein_WaPo www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Pete Hegseth's history with alcohol shadows his Pentagon selection, via @PostKranish @DanLamothe @SarahEllison @John_Hudson www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Is Kristi Noem ready to run FEMA? South Dakota flood victims doubt it. From @PeteJamsion @isaacstanbecker www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

The role of CMS administrator could pose other potential conflicts of interest after more than a dozen years headlining “The Dr. Oz Show,” where Oz mixed entertainment & medicine with product placement & corporate branding — sometimes without clear boundaries or sound science. tinyurl.com/2vt3xucr

Oz’s website displays snippets from his iHerb-sponsored newsletter, incl a section titled “Are Semaglutide drugs like Ozempic or Wegovy Right for You?” In June, iHerb launched three supplements co-developed by Oz to treat common side effects of GLP-1 drugs. www.washingtonpost.com/health/2024/...

Dr. Oz comes with many financial conflicts of interest in health care.. My colleagues @washingtonpost.com have the story :

Decades after events of ‘Erin Brockovich,’ this town is less than half the size, and some water is still contaminated. From @SilviaElenaFF www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/...