Newsletter:
Destruction at the Highest Level
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Efforts by the Trump administration and Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to decimate the federal government and evade oversight continued this week, with reported orders to destroy records ([link removed]) at the U.S. Agency for International Development and layoffs of more than 1,300 Education Department ([link removed]) employees — part of Trump’s plan to dismantle the agency ([link removed]) .

Following reports ([link removed]) that USAID staff had been directed to shred and burn classified and personnel documents ([link removed]) this week, we sued ([link removed]) USAID, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and the National Archives (NARA). Our suit ([link removed]) claims that the agencies and Rubio, in his capacity as acting USAID administrator and acting archivist, failed to preserve agency records and deleted key documents from USAID’s website, in violation of the Federal Records Act, the Administrative Procedure Act, and the Freedom of Information Act.
* As part of our lawsuit, we also filed a motion for an emergency restraining order ([link removed]) against Rubio to halt further destruction of critical documents and ensure preservation of all records.
* “While the Trump Administration may wish that it could simply, with the blink of an eye and an implementation of an executive order, erase an independent agency established by Congress and its attendant obligations as a federal agency, it may not,” our lawsuit states ([link removed]) .

The destruction of USAID records risks erasing key information about DOGE’s hostile takeover of the agency.
* Last month, we launched an investigation ([link removed]) of the Trump administration’s dismantling of USAID, filing multiple FOIA requests for communications between agency officials and the White House, Congress, or Rubio.
* After USAID’s website went offline ([link removed]) and staff reportedly lost email access last month, we also sent letters to USAID, NARA, and the State Department warning about potential violations of the Federal Records Act, which requires government officials to ask and gain approval ([link removed]) from NARA before destroying records.
* NARA has been a primary target of President Trump’s retribution tour, and we’re investigating his efforts to politicize and undermine the independence of the nonpartisan agency, which endanger not just the preservation of records that belong to the people of the United States, but also our history and our democracy. Read more here. ([link removed])
* “The reported destruction of classified and personnel records at USAID is a clear attempt to erase history and obstruct accountability. Transparency and the rule of law are not optional,” our interim Executive Director Chioma Chukwu said. “USAID’s work has saved lives for decades, and no one in this administration has the right to cover its tracks by shredding records or impeding oversight.”



Massive Cuts at the Department of Education
The Department of Education on Tuesday announced and initiated layoffs ([link removed]) of more than 1,300 employees, a move that Education Secretary Linda McMahon confirmed ([link removed]) is a first step toward achieving Trump’s goal of abolishing the agency.
* The layoffs sparked backlash from attorneys general in Washington, D.C., and 20 states, who sued Trump ([link removed]) , McMahon, and the Education Department on Thursday.
* The suit claims ([link removed]) that Trump’s plan to dismantle the Education Department illegally bypasses Congress, which created the agency and has sole authority to abolish it. As the suit outlines, gutting the Education Department threatens funding that schools ([link removed]) need to teach, administer financial aid ([link removed]) , uphold civil rights laws ([link removed]) , and conduct other necessary functions.

* The layoffs included all of the roughly 240 employees ([link removed]) who worked in the Education Department's civil rights division. The Trump administration has not said how it plans to handle the division’s still-open cases, which include ([link removed]) allegations of race- and religion-based violence, sexual violence at schools, and efforts to provide services to disabled students, among other civil rights issues.
* The layoffs also raise concerns ([link removed]) about the lack of oversight of those cases and personal student data collected by the office.

The cuts are yet another signal of the Trump administration’s plans for weakening public education in the U.S. — plans also laid out in the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025.
* With Trump’s reelection, state-level restrictions on classroom discussion and radical overhauls of curriculum to align with ultra-conservative ideology are now moving to the national level.
* Earlier this year, American Oversight published a report titled “The Far-Right Attack on Public Education: How Curriculum and Classroom Censorship Stifles Educators, Harms Students, and Threatens Our Democracy ([link removed]) ,” which, informed by thousands of pages of public records, illuminates the impacts of restrictions on classroom discussion, books, and lessons.



Sunshine Week 2025
Next week is the 20th anniversary of Sunshine Week, the annual celebration of open government and public access to information. American Oversight is hosting several free informative sessions focused on FOIA and transparency:
* On Tuesday, March 18, hear from experts on how to further a career in open government at our Careers in Government Transparency and Accountability ([link removed]) discussion.
* On Wednesday, join us for a training for organizations ([link removed]) looking to submit state records requests to uncover critical information and hold officials accountable.
* On Thursday, we’ll conduct a virtual training that will provide ([link removed]) a foundational understanding of FOIA.
* More information about Sunshine Week and helpful resources are available at sunshineweek.org!

On the Records

Seeking Trump Border Patrol Chief Mike Banks’ Communications
President Trump installed ([link removed]) Mike Banks — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s adviser on border-related issues ([link removed]) since 2023 — as chief of the U.S. Border Patrol in January, replacing the career official ([link removed]) who previously held the role.
* In Banks’ two years working with Abbott, American Oversight has tracked his activity as one of the leaders of Texas’ immigration enforcement efforts.
* We have filed public records requests seeking a wide range of Banks’ communications, and have received responses ([link removed]) that have consistently revealed little about his time at the Texas Governor’s Office.
* In response to requests for Banks’ seemingly routine communications with officials at state agencies, Abbott’s office said it had “no information ([link removed]) ,” even though Banks had released joint statements ([link removed]) and made public appearances ([link removed]) with those officials during the specified time period.
* Abbott’s office similarly had “no information” responsive to a request for communications between Banks and the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Customs and Border Protection over a three-week period in 2024, despite Banks having stated that he communicated with CBP daily ([link removed]〈=en) .
* The lack of information about whom Banks was communicating with during his time Abbott’s “border czar” raises significant questions about how Banks will operate in his new role — including his commitment to openness and transparency. Read more here. ([link removed])


Other Stories We’re Following

Trump Administration Accountability
* 'Highly unusual': White House halts FBI background checks for senior staff, shifts them to Pentagon (ABC News ([link removed]) )
* Trump turns the White House lawn into a Tesla showroom (NBC News ([link removed]) )
* Trump says violence against Tesla is domestic terrorism (Reuters ([link removed]) )
* Justice Dept. official says she was fired after opposing restoring Mel Gibson’s gun rights (New York Times ([link removed]) )

Trump and DOGE Purges and Takeovers
* “The president wanted it and I did it”: Recording reveals head of Social Security’s thoughts on DOGE and Trump (ProPublica ([link removed]) )
* Head of Postal Service agrees to let DOGE work with USPS (CNN ([link removed]) )
* Inside Elon Musk’s ‘digital coup’ (Wired ([link removed]) )
* OPM inspector general investigating DOGE emails, access to agency data (The Hill ([link removed]) )
* DOGE lease cancellations: Which government offices could be closed this year and when (Associated Press ([link removed]) )
* Judge lets Trump take over US African Development Foundation (Politico ([link removed]) )

Election Denial and Voting Rights
* Trump is still trying to undermine elections (New Yorker ([link removed]) )
* Michigan is short of clerks to oversee elections, but harassment and workload turn people away (Votebeat ([link removed]) )
* The unchecked authority of Greg Abbott (New Yorker ([link removed]) )
* Fears mount over Kash Patel’s use of FBI to persecute leftwing protest groups (Guardian ([link removed]) )
* Flabbergasted Wisconsin elections officials to depose Madison workers over uncounted ballots (Associated Press ([link removed]) )
* An effort to block non-citizens from voting could impact married women, too (19th News ([link removed]) )
* DOJ drops fight against Texas political maps as Trump administration retreats from voting rights cases (Texas Tribune ([link removed]) )

In the States
* How Eric Adams has backed a secretive NYPD unit ridden with abuses (ProPublica ([link removed]) )
* Georgia congressman’s bill leads to dismantling of D.C. Black Lives Matter mural (Atlanta Journal-Constitution ([link removed]) )
* Griffin says colleague who contributed to his legal fund should not be barred from hearing his case (NC Newsline ([link removed]) )

National News
* US added to human rights watchlist over Trump moves (The Hill ([link removed]) )
* EPA’s Zeldin terminates $20B in Biden climate grants (Politico ([link removed]) )
* EPA head says he’ll roll back dozens of environmental regulations, including rules on climate change (Associated Press ([link removed]) )
* EPA plans to close all environmental justice offices (New York Times ([link removed]) )
* USDA cancels $1B in local food purchasing for schools, food banks (Politico ([link removed]) )

LGBTQ+ Rights
* Trans women transferred to men’s prisons despite rulings against Trump’s order (Guardian ([link removed]) )
* ‘I don’t feel safe’: Trump’s passport gender policy sparks fear for trans travelers (Washington Post ([link removed]) )
* ‘This is about more than sports’: The real stakes for trans athletes (Maine Morning Star ([link removed]) )

Abortion and Reproductive Rights
* Abortion pill prescriptions are now being tracked in parts of the US — with help from a little-known tech company (Business Insider ([link removed]) )
* Missouri AG renews demand Planned Parenthood stop abortion procedure it isn’t offering (Missouri Independent ([link removed]) )
* GOP lawmakers push to charge women with homicide for seeking abortions (Iowa Capital Dispatch ([link removed]) )
* Doctors argue patient privacy, harassment in fight for abortion record injunction (Indiana Capital Chronicle ([link removed]) )
* Louisiana mother pleads not guilty following abortion pill indictment (Louisiana Illuminator ([link removed]) )
* Will lawmakers let Texas’ maternal mortality committee review abortion deaths? (Texas Tribune ([link removed]) )

Threats to Education
* University of Virginia board votes to end DEI office (Washington Post ([link removed]) )
* Johns Hopkins plans staff layoffs after $800 million grant cuts (Wall Street Journal ([link removed]) )
* Trump vows crackdown on pro-Palestinian protesters (Voice of America ([link removed]) )

Civil Rights
* Immigration authorities arrest pro-Palestinian activist at Columbia (New York Times ([link removed]) )
* How Mahmoud Khalil became the face of Trump’s crackdown on campus protests (Associated Press ([link removed]) )
* Inside Trump’s crackdown on dissent: Obscure laws, ICE agents and fear (New York Times ([link removed]) )

Government Transparency and Public Records Law
* Federal judge says Musk’s DOGE must make records public — questions ‘unusual secrecy’ (Forbes ([link removed]) )
* Why is Mayor Karen Bass deleting her text messages? (Los Angeles Times ([link removed]) )

Immigration
* Trump administration asks Supreme Court to partly allow birthright citizenship restrictions (Associated Press ([link removed]) )
* U.S. revamps immigration app to add ‘self-deportation’ function (Washington Post ([link removed]) )
* Trump administration prepares to revive and expand travel bans (New York Times ([link removed]) )
* US said to drop sex abuse lawsuit against migrant child shelter (Bloomberg ([link removed]) )
* U.S. citizen child recovering from brain cancer removed to Mexico with undocumented parents (NBC News ([link removed]) )
* Trump to invoke wartime Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to carry out deportations to Guantanamo (CBS News ([link removed]) )
* ICE accessed car trackers in sanctuary cities that could help in raids, files show (Guardian ([link removed]) )
* FEMA wants the names and addresses of migrants helped by Texas nonprofits and local governments that got federal grant money (Texas Tribune ([link removed]) )

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