Newsletter:
DOGE’s Evasion of FOIA,
and Far-Right Attacks on Education
[link removed]

President Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s sweeping dismantling of the U.S. government is unprecedented, largely illegal ([link removed]) , and an attack on the system of checks and balances that holds our government accountable.

And with the White House designating Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency as an entity not subject to the Freedom of Information Act ([link removed]) , the administration’s blatant efforts to avoid any accountability continue.
* During his first few weeks as head of DOGE, Musk has targeted federal agencies that provide crucial and life-saving services — such as the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) ([link removed]) and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ([link removed]) — with thousands of federal workers ([link removed]) having been purged in mass firings ([link removed]) .
* This week, Trump fired the inspector general ([link removed]) assigned to USAID after the office released a report ([link removed]) detailing the potential consequences of Trump and Musk’s dismantling of the agency. No reason was given for the termination.
* This came after the recent mass firings of agency inspectors general ([link removed]) . New reports ([link removed]) also raise concerns that certain fired IGs — who conduct independent investigations and are not meant to be subject or loyal to the whims of political appointees — were actively investigating matters that could affect Musk’s business interests.
* Claiming that DOGE is not subject to FOIA, and that its records are instead subject to the Presidential Records Act, means that the public wouldn’t know the true extent of DOGE and Musk’s influence, power, and destruction until at least 2034.

American Oversight sued DOGE ([link removed]) on Tuesday for the release of Musk’s communications about efforts to purge the federal workforce, after DOGE failed to respond to multiple FOIA requests. As CNN reported ([link removed]) , the lawsuit “will test the administration’s decision to designate DOGE’s internal communications as ‘presidential records,’” and thus not subject to FOIA.
* The lawsuit seeks all of Musk’s communications involving the sweeping terminations of federal personnel, specifically documents related to the mass firings of inspectors general ([link removed]) , which could reveal important information about Musk’s potential involvement.
* The suit also alleges that DOGE members have used non-governmental messaging platforms such as Signal and Slack to communicate about official matters since at least December, likely resulting in the destruction of federal records including those potentially included in our requests.

* “Elon Musk can’t run the federal government the way he runs his companies,” our interim Executive Director Chioma Chukwu said ([link removed]) . “The American people have a right to every email, text, or DM he or his unelected cronies send or receive as part of DOGE’s work.”

On the Records

The Far-Right Attack on Public Education
We’ve been investigating the implementation and effects of classroom censorship in states across the country, and this week published our first-of-its-kind report on the far-right effort to politicize public education ([link removed]) .
* The report draws upon thousands of pages of public records we obtained to show how these restrictions — which are now moving to the federal level with Trump back in the White House — have whitewashed history and instilled fear in educators thanks to vaguely defined terms like “divisive concepts.”

Here are a few examples of what we found in public records:
* Following Virginia Gov. Youngkin’s 2022 “divisive concepts” order, one school official was concerned that course modules on slavery might conflict with the order because it “put one group of people over another as historical fact. … I have no idea how to reconcile that truth.”
* Textbook publishers were also hindered by lack of clarity. “We worked really hard … to follow the guidance we were given from the [Florida Department of Education] every step of the way,” wrote one company rep asking for more information about why a book was rejected.
* In the absence of clear guidance, teachers and educators have erred on the side of caution. A textbook publisher replaced several lessons ([link removed]) in math books to remove references to different cultures. For example, a story that explained the global history of coffee and tea, used to introduce adding and subtracting decimal numbers, was replaced with a passage about working in an animal hospital.
* In North Carolina, an elementary school teaching assistant asked officials for guidance about whether they could read a book about a neighborhood library to second graders because it referred to a character with the gender-neutral pronoun “they.”

The consequences are clear: Discussions of important topics are suppressed and student’s understanding of history is whitewashed and unchallenged.
* We obtained documents from Florida showing that one school district eliminated a sentence from a Black History Month proclamation that said, “More than 150 years after slavery was abolished in this nation, our society is still grappling with racial inequality and injustice.”
* We also obtained documents from Florida’s review of the AP African American Studies course, showing objections to lessons about slavery and racial disparities that reviewers claimed were lacking in “opposing viewpoints.”
* The Virginia education department’s review of the state’s African American history elective course included “suggested revisions” such as removing the claim that eugenics is pseudoscience, or paraphrasing MLK Jr.
* Read our new report, “The Far-Right Attack on Public Education,” ([link removed]) for more examples — and to learn about how the far right has tied censorship measures to the longstanding effort of diverting public education money to private interests.

Other Stories We’re Following

Trump Administration
* How Trump’s directives echo Project 2025 (New York Times ([link removed]) )
* White House failed to comply with court order, judge rules (New York Times ([link removed]) )
* Trump’s actions have created a constitutional crisis, scholars say (New York Times ([link removed]) )
* Trump elected chair of the Kennedy Center by newly constituted board (CNN ([link removed]) )
* Judge temporarily blocks Trump cuts to health research grants (Politico ([link removed]) )
* Trump's border czar is 'begging' for money for immigration crackdown, Senate budget chief says (NBC News ([link removed]) )
* IRS agents are asked to help with immigration crackdown (New York Times ([link removed]) )

Musk, DOGE, and the Civil Service
* DOGE announces $881 million in cuts for Education Department contracts (Politico ([link removed]) )
* Elon Musk’s business empire scores benefits under Trump shake-up (New York Times ([link removed]) )
* The almighty Musk: How the world’s richest man became Washington’s most powerful bureaucrat (CNN ([link removed]) )
* Elon Musk calls for the US to ‘delete entire agencies’ from the federal government (Associated Press ([link removed]) )
* Elon Musk’s financial disclosure will not be made public (New York Times ([link removed]) )
* Top FEMA official is fired over payments for NYC migrant shelters (New York Times ([link removed]) )
* State Department suspends plan to buy armored Teslas (New York Times ([link removed]) )

In the States
* Red states pursue their own DOGE-style reforms (The Hill ([link removed]) )
* Todd Rokita threatens legal action on IMPD, IPS unless they comply with immigration sweeps (Indianapolis Star ([link removed]) )
* Louisiana Department of Health says it will no longer promote mass vaccination (CNN ([link removed]) )
* Cochise County Supervisor Tom Crosby will face trial over election interference charges (KJZZ ([link removed]) )
* Election official in Arizona’s largest county signals a shift away from combating disinformation (Associated Press ([link removed]) )
* DeSantis signs sweeping immigration laws for Florida as states rush to fulfill Trump’s agenda (Associated Press ([link removed]) )

National News
* Judge to Trump-terminated ethics watchdog: You’re un-fired (Politico ([link removed]) )
* Elon Musk-owned X settles lawsuit with Donald Trump over January 6 suspension (CNN ([link removed]) )
* FBI must disclose more info about Trump classified docs case, judge rules (Politico ([link removed]) )
* Steve Bannon pleads guilty to defrauding donors in private border wall scheme (CNN ([link removed]) )

LGBTQ Rights
* Trump's ban on gender-affirming care for young people puts hospitals in a bind (NPR ([link removed]) )
* Federal judge pauses President Trump’s order restricting gender-affirming care for trans youth (Associated Press ([link removed]) )
* Trump policies on gender-affirming care and passports for transgender people challenged in court (Associated Press ([link removed]) )
* Education Dept. urges NCAA to reverse transgender athletes' records, titles and awards (NBC News ([link removed]) )

Abortion and Reproductive Rights
* Some red states report zero abortions. Doctors and researchers say it's not true (NPR ([link removed]) )
* After abortion bans, infant mortality and births increased, research finds (New York Times ([link removed]) )
* State v. state battles over abortion laws are coming to a head – and likely will end up at the Supreme Court (CNN ([link removed]) )
* Louisiana attorney general signs off on extraditing NY doctor in abortion pill case (Louisiana Illuminator ([link removed]) )
* Public floods Missouri’s Musk-inspired DOGE portal with calls to protect abortion rights (Kansas City Star ([link removed]) )

Threats to Education
* McMahon declines to say if Black history classes are allowed under Trump order (Education Week ([link removed]) )
* Trump DEI crackdown targets books in Pentagon schools (Washington Post ([link removed]) )
* No Tubman, no rainbows: Defense schools prepared for Hegseth’s wife (New York Times ([link removed]) )
* Trump fires boards of US military service academies (Politico ([link removed]) )
* Stitt ousts 3 members of Oklahoma State Board of Education, criticizes board’s ‘political drama’ (Oklahoma Voice ([link removed]) )
* How hardline anti-immigrant policies are threatening the right to education (Guardian ([link removed]) )

Government Transparency and Public Records Law
* Missouri AG says his office has finally worked through massive Sunshine Law backlog (Missouri Independent ([link removed]) )
* How Utahns dispute public records cases will change dramatically under new bill (Salt Lake Tribune ([link removed]) )
* Petition for ballot measure on lawmaker salaries, public records withdrawn (North Dakota Monitor ([link removed]) )

Immigration
* Trump administration preparing to restart immigrant family detention (NBC News ([link removed]) )
* Some migrants sent by Trump to Guantánamo are being held by military guards (New York Times ([link removed]) )
* ACLU and other advocates sue for access to migrants moved to Guantánamo Bay (NPR ([link removed]) )
* U.S. deports migrants from Asia to Panama (New York Times ([link removed]) )
* Justice Dept. accuses New York of favoring ‘illegal aliens’ over U.S. citizens (New York Times ([link removed]) )
* Trump wants sheriffs to aid deportation efforts, but who would pay? (New York Times ([link removed]) )
* Misleading Ice data ‘laying groundwork’ for mass deportations, advocates say (Guardian ([link removed]) )
* Hundreds of Texas National Guard troops headed to Laredo to help Border Patrol (Border Report ([link removed]) )


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