[link removed]

What Won't Trump Do to Advance His Agenda?
[link removed]

Donald Trump’s abuse of power and disregard for the rule of law have become so blatant that he no longer bothers to conceal his authoritarian ambitions. “A lot of people are saying, ‘Maybe we like a dictator,’” Trump mused to reporters ([link removed]) in the Oval Office this week.


Though the president quickly walked his statement back ([link removed]) , Trump’s rhetoric lays bare his deepening autocratic impulse — one his cabinet of hand-picked loyalists is eager to advance. Perhaps no tactic is more alarming than his willingness to weaponize government agencies to punish his political opponents or remove perceived enemies from office.


This week, Trump announced his intent to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook on social media, a move apparently orchestrated by Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director William Pulte — a staunch Trump loyalist ([link removed]) — and calculated to strong-arm the central bank ([link removed]) into political alignment while undermining its independence.
* On Monday, Trump cited ([link removed]) unsubstantiated allegations of mortgage fraud levied at Cook ([link removed]) earlier this year by Pulte as the basis for Cook’s removal.
* Cook — the first Black woman ever confirmed to the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors — sued Trump ([link removed]) on Thursday, calling her termination unprecedented, illegal, and part of a political scheme to force the Federal Reserve to comply with the administration’s demands.
* Legal experts ([link removed]) argue that Pulte’s allegations do not provide sufficient cause for Cook’s dismissal, and economists have warned ([link removed]) that Trump’s attacks on the Federal Reserve could lead to higher inflation.
* Pulte’s willingness to use his post to attack President Trump’s perceived political enemies and advance his agenda is deeply concerning. Earlier this year, Pulte drafted a letter ([link removed]) for Trump purporting to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, which the president flaunted ([link removed]) at a July meeting with Congressional Republicans, reportedly ([link removed]) asking them if he should follow through.
* Pulte has also made criminal referrals ([link removed]) against ([link removed]) Senator Adam Schiff and New York Attorney General Letitia James, who have both previously led legal challenges against Trump that he has cited in justifying his actions.


On Tuesday, we sued the FHFA ([link removed]) for failing to release records that could shed light on the Trump administration’s unprecedented firing of Cook.
* We filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request in June for Pulte’s communications with the White House, Congress, and outside actors, as well as his calendars, ethics disclosures, directives, and related guidance. The FHFA failed to provide any of the requested records, so we sued ([link removed]) .
* “Make no mistake, Cook’s firing is the latest front in Trump’s war on the Fed — an attempt to strong-arm the nation’s independent central bank into acquiescing to his demands,” said our Executive Director Chioma Chukwu ([link removed]) . “The public deserves answers. By ignoring our requests for records, FHFA is attempting to avoid accountability for this assault on the Fed’s independence.”


Is DHS Saving its Texts Messages or Not?

Last week, the Department of Homeland Security told us it couldn't produce communications we requested because it “no longer maintained” ([link removed]) text messages. But after the New York Times ([link removed]) reported on that admission, DHS abruptly backtracked, claiming that it does preserve text records. Still, the agency hasn’t released the texts we requested or explained its earlier denial.


This week, we sent letters ([link removed]) to leadership at DHS and the National Archives demanding immediate action to recover and preserve missing records and prevent further destruction.
* In its denial ([link removed]) of our request, DHS said that it stopped maintaining text data on or around April 9 — a date that appears to have coincided with mounting scrutiny over the department’s wrongful removal of Kilmar Abrego Garcia. (Garcia, who was once again taken into immigration enforcement’s custody ([link removed]) this week, is now facing a second wrongful deportation attempt by the Trump administration.)
* DHS’s shifting story raises serious concerns about its compliance with federal recordkeeping laws like FOIA and the Federal Records Act. Those fears are heightened in light of the Trump administration’s clear record of deleting government records and its recent failures of transparency ([link removed]) , including in the Signalgate ([link removed]) scandal.
* “As the administration well knows, preserving records — including text messages — is not optional,” Chukwu said. “We will not allow DHS to dodge accountability by creating obstacles that impede the preservation and accessibility of records that could expose and limit its unlawful anti-immigrant agenda.”


On the Records


Heather Honey: The Election Denier Now Helping Lead “Election Integrity” at DHS

If DHS’s records-keeping failures aren't enough to spark concern: election conspiracy theorist Heather Honey ([link removed]) was recently appointed to a key election integrity role ([link removed]) at the agency. Honey — who worked ([link removed]) on Arizona’s notorious “audit” ([link removed]) of the 2020 election ([link removed]) and founded a group that pushed false claims about
Pennsylvania’s 2020 and 2022 elections — now serves as the deputy assistant secretary for election integrity in the DHS’s Office of Strategy, Policy and Plans.


We’ve investigated ([link removed]) and reported ([link removed]) on Honey’s ([link removed]) significant involvement ([link removed]) in the far-right election denial movement, including her role in the effort to dismantle the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC) ([link removed]) .
* Records ([link removed]) we obtained show that on the same day as an anti-ERIC summit, Honey spoke with the general counsel in the West Virginia secretary of state’s office regarding concerns about ERIC data sharing.
* In February 2023, Honey emailed ([link removed]) the Missouri secretary of state’s office urging them to “Return Control and Management of State Data Back to the States.” Honey offered to research a transition plan and shared potentially sensitive data with officials.
* Records also revealed ([link removed]) that Honey and her conspiracy theory-promoting group, Verity Vote, met with the office that same month.
* In 2021, Honey sent two Pennsylvania legislators what appears to be draft language ([link removed]) for a bill requiring cybersecurity testing of computers used in elections, seemingly an attempt to bolster the conspiracy theories that voting machines could not be trusted.


Trump’s Data Grab: ICE, the IRS, and the Erosion of Privacy

The Trump administration’s alarming executive overreach also extends to its legally dubious access to and use of Americans’ personal data. Earlier this year, reports revealed that the IRS would share taxpayer information with ICE — information that taxpayers entrust the IRS to keep confidential, and that the IRS is bound by law to keep private. The government fought to keep details about the data-sharing agreement secret, but we recently went to court ([link removed]) to lift the government’s redactions and unseal the entirety of the agreement — and won.
* What we uncovered is disturbing: the agreement allows ICE to access sensitive taxpayer data to further the Trump administration’s mass-deportation agenda.
* With redactions lifted, it is clear that ICE is using IRS data to obtain the addresses ([link removed]) of people it is investigating, including undocumented immigrants, who pay taxes and trust the IRS to keep their information confidential and safe, as is required by law.


A new report published this week by the Center for American Progress ([link removed]) , which cites our work revealing those details of the IRS-ICE data-sharing agreement, warns of the dangers of the Trump administration’s unprecedented access to agency-held personal data.
* “We’re at an inflection point in how the federal government handles sensitive personal data,” Nicole Alvarez, a Senior Policy Analyst at CAP and the author of the report, said.
* The report “shines a light on the sweeping structural changes already underway — shifts that are making it easier for personal information to be repurposed without consent, misused for political ends, or leaked beyond government walls,” Alvarez added. “The piece was inspired by the urgent need to create modern privacy laws, not just for the private sector, but for the government itself.”


Other Stories We’re Following


Trump Administration Accountability
* Defying Congress, Trump moves to cut $4.9 billion in foreign aid (New York Times ([link removed]) )
* White House fires CDC director who says RFK Jr. is ‘weaponizing public health’ (Washington Post ([link removed]) )
* Trump cancels Kamala Harris’s Secret Service protection (New York Times ([link removed]) )
* Lewandowski’s veto power over DHS contracts frustrates admin officials: ‘Corey is part of the problem’ (Politico ([link removed]) )
* FEMA staffers warn that Trump officials’ actions risk a Katrina-level disaster (Washington Post ([link removed]) )
* Some FEMA staff are put on leave after signing dissent letter (Associated Press ([link removed]) )
* Trump privately presses top Indiana Republicans to redistrict during White House meeting (Politico ([link removed]) )
* Trump family crypto empire expands with Crypto.com partnership (ABC News ([link removed]) )
* Trump Pentagon weighing equity stakes in defense contractors like Lockheed, says Lutnick (CNBC ([link removed]) )


Voting Rights
* Appeals court says Pennsylvania mail ballots can’t be thrown out over misdated envelopes (Politico ([link removed]) )
* In big win for voters, Pennsylvania must count undated mail-in ballots, court rules (Democracy Docket ([link removed]) )
* Mail voting is under attack (again) (Voting Rights Lab ([link removed]) )
* Trump ordered Texas to gerrymander 5 new Republican-leaning congressional districts — this is how other states can fight back (Centers for American Progress ([link removed]) )


In the States
* NC elections board allows for elimination of Sunday voting, avoids Trump's immigration request (WRAL ([link removed]) )
* Alaska vowed to resolve murders of Indigenous people. Now it refuses to provide their names. (ProPublica ([link removed]) )
* ‘Dreamers’ now excluded from enrolling in ACA Marketplace, other changes ‘up in the air’ (News from the States ([link removed]) )
* State’s top election official balks at DOJ request for sensitive voter information (Maryland Matters ([link removed]) )
* Oklahoma State Board of Education calls its own meeting after Walters ‘refused to schedule’ (Oklahoma Voice ([link removed]) )


National News
* FDA rescinds emergency use authorizations for Covid-19 vaccines (The Hill ([link removed]) )
* House Oversight Committee Democrats say most Epstein files turned over by DOJ were already public (CNN ([link removed]) )
* The DOJ sued the federal district bench in Maryland. A judge just dismissed the case (NPR ([link removed]) )
* License plate camera company halts cooperation with federal agencies among investigation concerns (Associated Press ([link removed]) )


Immigration
* CBP had access to more than 80,000 Flock AI cameras nationwide (404 Media ([link removed]) )
* Alligator Alcatraz being emptied of immigrant detainees, Florida says (Washington Post ([link removed]) )
* Kilmar Abrego Garcia detained by ICE during Baltimore check-in (NPR ([link removed]) )
* Federal agents arrest firefighters working on WA wildfire (Seattle Times ([link removed]) )
* ICE is constantly using Coast Guard planes to move immigrants (Rolling Stone ([link removed]) )
* Fast times at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Atlantic ([link removed]) )


LGBTQ+ Rights
* More US hospitals are ending gender-affirming care for minors. How this could impact patients (ABC News ([link removed]) )
* Anger and uncertainty after University of Michigan shuts down gender-affirming care for youth (Michigan Advance ([link removed]) )
* Michigan AG: U-M ‘cowardly’ for halting gender-affirming care for trans young people (Detroit Free Press ([link removed]) )
* Wisconsin LGBTQ+ mental health resources face funding challenges (Wisconsin Public Radio ([link removed]) )
* SC asks Supreme Court to bar transgender student from using bathroom of choice (South Carolina Daily Gazette ([link removed]) )


Abortion and Reproductive Rights
* Anti-abortion groups have a new strategy to end telehealth abortion (19th News ([link removed]) )
* New Trump rule to ban VA abortions for veterans even in cases of rape and incest (Guardian ([link removed]) )
* Texas lawmakers back citizen lawsuits to stop mail-order abortion pills (New York Times ([link removed]) )
* Missouri judge weighing whether new abortion ban should appear on 2026 ballot (Missouri Independent ([link removed]) )
* Federal judge OKs Medicaid defunding of Maine’s largest reproductive health care provider (Maine Morning Star ([link removed]) )


Threats to Education
* Trump cancels dozens of education grants — with more terminations on the horizon (Education Week ([link removed]) )
* For $65,000 a year, a teacher-less AI private school comes to Virginia (Washington Post ([link removed]) )
* 1 in 4 Texas school districts sign up for new Bible-infused curriculum (Texas Tribune ([link removed]) )
* Trump’s health department threatens to cut funding to Vermont and other states over ‘gender ideology’ in sex ed materials (Vermont Digger ([link removed]) )

Donate to American Oversight ([link removed])

Thank you again for following our latest news. We are grateful for your support and for helping us hold government accountable.
[link removed] Share ([link removed])
[link removed] Tweet ([link removed])
American Oversight
1030 15th Street NW
Suite B255
Washington, DC xxxxxx
USA
unsubscribe ([link removed])