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 in the Oval Office this week.
Though the president quickly walked his statement back, 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 — and calculated to strong-arm the central bank into political alignment while undermining its independence.
On Monday, Trump cited unsubstantiated allegations of mortgage fraud levied at Cook 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 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 argue that Pulte’s allegations do not provide sufficient cause for Cook’s dismissal, and economists have warned 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 for Trump purporting to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, which the president flaunted at a July meeting with Congressional Republicans, reportedly asking them if he should follow through.
Pulte has also made criminal referrals against 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 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.
“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. “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” text messages. But after the New York Times 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 to leadership at DHS and the National Archives demanding immediate action to recover and preserve missing records and prevent further destruction.
In its denial 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 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, including in the Signalgate 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 was recently appointed to a key election integrity role at the agency. Honey — who worked on Arizona’s notorious “audit” of the 2020 election 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 and reported on Honey’s significant involvement in the far-right election denial movement, including her role in the effort to dismantle the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC).
Records 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 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 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 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 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 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, 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)
White House fires CDC director who says RFK Jr. is ‘weaponizing public health’ (Washington Post)
Trump cancels Kamala Harris’s Secret Service protection (New York Times)
Lewandowski’s veto power over DHS contracts frustrates admin officials: ‘Corey is part of the problem’ (Politico)
FEMA staffers warn that Trump officials’ actions risk a Katrina-level disaster (Washington Post)
Some FEMA staff are put on leave after signing dissent letter (Associated Press)
Trump privately presses top Indiana Republicans to redistrict during White House meeting (Politico)
Trump family crypto empire expands with Crypto.com partnership (ABC News)
Trump Pentagon weighing equity stakes in defense contractors like Lockheed, says Lutnick (CNBC)
Voting Rights
Appeals court says Pennsylvania mail ballots can’t be thrown out over misdated envelopes (Politico)
In big win for voters, Pennsylvania must count undated mail-in ballots, court rules (Democracy Docket)
Mail voting is under attack (again) (Voting Rights Lab)
Trump ordered Texas to gerrymander 5 new Republican-leaning congressional districts — this is how other states can fight back (Centers for American Progress)
In the States
NC elections board allows for elimination of Sunday voting, avoids Trump's immigration request (WRAL)
Alaska vowed to resolve murders of Indigenous people. Now it refuses to provide their names. (ProPublica)
‘Dreamers’ now excluded from enrolling in ACA Marketplace, other changes ‘up in the air’ (News from the States)
State’s top election official balks at DOJ request for sensitive voter information (Maryland Matters)
Oklahoma State Board of Education calls its own meeting after Walters ‘refused to schedule’ (Oklahoma Voice)
National News
FDA rescinds emergency use authorizations for Covid-19 vaccines (The Hill)
House Oversight Committee Democrats say most Epstein files turned over by DOJ were already public (CNN)
The DOJ sued the federal district bench in Maryland. A judge just dismissed the case (NPR)
License plate camera company halts cooperation with federal agencies among investigation concerns (Associated Press)
Immigration
CBP had access to more than 80,000 Flock AI cameras nationwide (404 Media)
Alligator Alcatraz being emptied of immigrant detainees, Florida says (Washington Post)
Kilmar Abrego Garcia detained by ICE during Baltimore check-in (NPR)
Federal agents arrest firefighters working on WA wildfire (Seattle Times)
ICE is constantly using Coast Guard planes to move immigrants (Rolling Stone)
Fast times at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Atlantic)
LGBTQ+ Rights
More US hospitals are ending gender-affirming care for minors. How this could impact patients (ABC News)
Anger and uncertainty after University of Michigan shuts down gender-affirming care for youth (Michigan Advance)
Michigan AG: U-M ‘cowardly’ for halting gender-affirming care for trans young people (Detroit Free Press)
Wisconsin LGBTQ+ mental health resources face funding challenges (Wisconsin Public Radio)
SC asks Supreme Court to bar transgender student from using bathroom of choice (South Carolina Daily Gazette)
Abortion and Reproductive Rights
Anti-abortion groups have a new strategy to end telehealth abortion (19th News)
New Trump rule to ban VA abortions for veterans even in cases of rape and incest (Guardian)
Texas lawmakers back citizen lawsuits to stop mail-order abortion pills (New York Times)
Missouri judge weighing whether new abortion ban should appear on 2026 ballot (Missouri Independent)
Federal judge OKs Medicaid defunding of Maine’s largest reproductive health care provider (Maine Morning Star)
Threats to Education
Trump cancels dozens of education grants — with more terminations on the horizon (Education Week)
For $65,000 a year, a teacher-less AI private school comes to Virginia (Washington Post)
1 in 4 Texas school districts sign up for new Bible-infused curriculum (Texas Tribune)
Trump’s health department threatens to cut funding to Vermont and other states over ‘gender ideology’ in sex ed materials (Vermont Digger)
