Natalie Alms

DOJ's internal watchdog warns about conditions at Terre Haute federal prison, in a document that they can't post to the interwebs because of the government shutdown.

www.documentcloud.org/documents/26...

Trump administration knocks out at least 15 oversight websites, saying IGs 'lied to the public' It's not a shutdown issue: the White House is withholding funds from the umbrella organization for the government's inspectors general.

Trump administration knocks out at least 15 oversight websites, saying IGs 'lied to the public'

www.nextgov.com/digital-gove...

If anyone needs an old watchdog report and is having trouble accessing it with so many IG websites down, the Payment Integrity Alliance has archived all reports from Oversight. gov from 2010 up through Sept. 26 here: programintegrity.org/search/

My count of now unaccessible watchdog websites is now up to 16 after OMB witheld funds from a central watchdog council that operates many OIG websites.

This means the reports housed on these websites aren't accessible, nor are links for whistleblowers.

Add to the list the OIG websites for National Archives and Records Administration and the website for the International Trade Commission.

The NLRB OIG website is also down with a 404 message, and the Smithsonian website with a 403 message.

So are the OIG websites for Americorps, Architect of the Capitol and the Export Import Bank.

FTC OIG is also down with a difference message "Bad request"

OIG websites for USDA, Ed, DOJ, Interior, VA, EPA, NRC, OPM, TIGTA are down.

Government watchdog websites go dark as OMB withholds funds from IG committee The Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency is funded largely through a no-year revolving account, rather than the regular appropriations that lapsed Oct. 1.

www.nextgov.com/digital-gove...

Government watchdog websites go dark as OMB withholds funds from IG committee The Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency is funded largely through a no-year revolving account, rather than the regular appropriations that lapsed Oct. 1.

NEW: At least 10 watchdog websites are dark after OMB withheld funds from a watchdog council, removing access to thousands of watchdog reports and required whistleblower links.

OMB's move to withhold funds - which has received Republican pushback - is separate from the shutdown.

Trump Administration Defunds Federal Watchdog Office

If top Republicans in the Senate aren't successful in their aim for the White House to reverse a decision to effectively shutter the independent watchdog entity, CIGIE, the website I check daily for new oversight reports will go dark tomorrow.

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/30/u...

White House seeks industry input as it crafts “anti-woke” AI guidelines Critics have said that the July executive order on “woke” AI could chill free speech, despite the administration’s stated focus on protecting it.

The White House Office of Management and Budget is piecing together guidance on AI to prevent "woke AI" in the federal government.

This comes as agencies are getting blowback from contracting with xAI after it called itself "MechaHitler."

www.nextgov.com/artificial-i...

POLITICO Pro: Energy Dept. adds ‘climate change’ and ‘emissions’ to banned words list It is the latest in a series of Trump administration efforts to dispute, silence or downplay climate change.

Now on the Energy Dept’s banned words list: “Climate change,” “green” and “emissions.”

subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2025...

The Interior Department is taking steps to implement layoffs After a series of delays, DOI is preparing RIF lists as it looks to implement significant personnel cuts in the coming weeks.

www.govexec.com/workforce/20...

The Interior Department is taking steps to implement layoffs After a series of delays, DOI is preparing RIF lists as it looks to implement significant personnel cuts in the coming weeks.

NEW: The Interior Department is moving forward planning for layoffs that could, along with other staffing losses, shrink the department by over a third since Trump took office.

Interior is using AutoRIF for the layoffs, & those working on them have been forced to sign NDAs 👇

WHO rejects Trump’s claims of link between Tylenol and autism Body says research has found ‘no consistent association’ and urges pregnant women to follow doctors’ advice The World Health Organization (WHO) is pushing back against contested claims by the Trump administration that acetaminophen use during pregnancy heightens the risk of autism, further underscoring that no scientific consensus supports such a connection. “Extensive research, including large-scale studies over the past decade, has found no consistent association,” the agency said in a Wednesday statement. Continue reading...

WHO rejects Trump’s claims of link between Tylenol and autism

IRS announces the phased end of paper check refunds The Trump White House set a Sept. 30 deadline for the Treasury Department to stop cutting paper checks, although the IRS said it will still be issuing a “limited number” of checks where there is no al...

NEW: The IRS is phasing out paper checks for tax refunds next week. It's still working on the guidance for waivers to the requirement

www.nextgov.com/digital-gove...

State Department hopes to use agentic AI to assist employee tasks, CIO says That kind of autonomous action would go beyond the current capabilities of the agency’s AI chatbot, StateChat.

The State Department is building beyond genAI towards "AI agents that will take actions for humans," its tech head said yesterday.

Still, it's had trouble getting pickup for its existing genAI bot, which only about half of its workforce uses.

www.nextgov.com/artificial-i...

go Deacs!

Democrats launch ethics investigation into AI and crypto czar David Sacks Sacks’ role as a special government employee limits him to a 130-day period of service within a single year.

Sen. Warren, Rep. Stansbury and six other lawmakers want to know if White House AI and crypto czar David Sacks has overstayed his 130 day limit as a special government employee.

Sacks remains "deeply invested in the crypto and AI companies," they say.

www.nextgov.com/people/2025/...

www.finance.senate.gov/imo/media/do...

The data at the center of a recent whistleblower complaint hasn't been "accessed, leaked, hacked, or shared in any unauthorized fashion," the SSA Commissioner says in response to Republican oversight.

The whistleblower resigned last month, saying his position was "untenable."

DOGE caucus co-chair says the cost-cutting unit’s work will continue Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas, said he is focused on using data to weed out fraud across the government.

NEW: Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas, the co-chair of the congressional Department of Government Efficiency Caucus, says that DOGE is pushing forward.

www.nextgov.com/modernizatio...

Agriculture taps DOGE associate as its tech lead, reassigning previous CIO Sam Berry, who’s been at USDA for months as part of the Department of Government Efficiency, is the agency's new chief information officer.

The Agriculture Department has installed a new DOGE associate as the head of its technology, sidelining its longtime CIO to a new role

www.nextgov.com/people/2025/...

NEW: Stephen Ehikian - the DOGE-affiliated former head of the General Services Administration - says he left GSA in a better position than it was in when he started.

Feds who left GSA are in "higher productive use in the private sector." GSA can now "build back," he said. 👇

UK Ambassador Told Epstein ‘I Think the World of You,’ Emails Reveal Peter Mandelson, the prominent Labour politician who was named British ambassador to the US this year, expressed steadfast support and offered to discuss Epstein’s now-infamous 2008 case with his cont...

EXCLUSIVE: @bloomberg.com has obtained more than 100 previously undisclosed emails between UK Ambassador Peter Mandelson and Jeffrey Epstein from 2005 through 2010 that reveal Mandelson's steadfast support for Epstein after Epstein was charged with sex crimes

🎁 www.bloomberg.com/features/202...

From reckoning to retreat: Journalism’s DEI efforts are in decline Diversity-related newsroom jobs haven't totally disappeared — but they also haven't stuck.

A third of jobs related to race, diversity, and equality that were created in U.S. newsrooms since 2020 are gone as of this summer. 

@hanaatameez.bsky.social with a months-long investigation and new data on American journalism's turn away from DEI initiatives. www.niemanlab.org/2025/09/from...

Mike Crapo - Senate Finance chairman and Republican - wants information from SSA about the recent whistleblower allegations that DOGE uploaded the confidential information of hundreds of millions of Americans into an insecure cloud server. 👀
t.co/dtwAUoiCIt

Stephen Ehikian says GSA is primed for a ‘build back’ phase after his departure The former acting head of GSA is now working at enterprise AI company C3 AI, which sees growing opportunity for federal, state and local business.

The agency has lost thousands of employees through layoffs and voluntary departures.

Ehikian is now the CEO of C3AI.

“We do not have enough engineers in governments... We are one of many partners that can be of service to the government."
www.nextgov.com/modernizatio...

NEW: Stephen Ehikian - the DOGE-affiliated former head of the General Services Administration - says he left GSA in a better position than it was in when he started.

Feds who left GSA are in "higher productive use in the private sector." GSA can now "build back," he said. 👇

The Untold Saga of What Happened When DOGE Stormed Social Security DOGE has ignored urgently needed reforms and upgrades at the Social Security Administration, according to dozens of insiders and 15 hours of candid interviews with the former acting chief of the agenc...

NEW: Ignoring urgently needed reforms in favor of fruitlessly trying to find evidence of fraud, DOGE descended on the Social Security Administration “thinking it should work like a McDonald’s,” the agency’s former acting chief reveals to ProPublica.