Kirsten Berg

How the Trump Administration Abandoned Plans for a Major Cut in Disability Benefits for Older Workers After meeting with advocates, the Trump administration confirmed it has scrapped a controversial regulation that would have cut disability benefits for older workers.

NEW: A proposed regulation would have denied disability benefits to at least 830,000 older blue-collar workers.

But after reporting from ProPublica and others, the Trump administration has killed the plan.

What the Trump Administration’s Videos From a Chicago Immigration Raid Don’t Show Detained and deported Venezuelans tell their stories of what happened when immigration agents raided their apartment building. 

NEW: The Trump administration’s slickly produced videos of an immigration raid at a Chicago apartment building in September showed federal agents rappelling from a helicopter and banging down doors.

These are the stories of the people who were inside.

How ProPublica Investigated a Bird Flu Outbreak in America’s Heartland Early this year, bird flu ripped through 80 farms in Ohio and Indiana. Using genetic markers, wind simulations, satellite imagery, property records and more, we found that the virus could’ve been airb...

NEW: Egg producers suspect bird flu is traveling through the air. The USDA didn’t test the theory after a disastrous Midwestern outbreak.

Here’s how we did.

By @natlash.bsky.social

Tracking the spread of bird flu using genetic markers, satellite imagery, property records, and more reminds me of John Snow’s Cholera investigation/map. Howe’s Hens is the modern day Broad Street Pump. Amazing work from @natlash.bsky.social & @chrisalcantara.com. www.propublica.org/article/meth...

“I Lost Everything”: Venezuelans Were Rounded Up in a Dramatic Midnight Raid but Never Charged With a Crime Authorities said Tren de Aragua “terrorists” had taken over the building. A ProPublica investigation found little evidence to back up the government’s claims. For the first time, the Venezuelans arres...

Check out our story here, which was a big collaborative effort from @melissa-sanchez.bsky.social, @jodiscohen.bsky.social, @tchristianmiller.bsky.social, Sebastian Rotella, & me. Data & research from Nick McMillan, @kirstenberg.bsky.social, & Gabriel Sandoval
www.propublica.org/article/chic...

“I Lost Everything”: Venezuelans Were Rounded Up in a Dramatic Midnight Raid but Never Charged With a Crime Authorities said Tren de Aragua “terrorists” had taken over the building. A ProPublica investigation found little evidence to back up the government’s claims. For the first time, the Venezuelans arres...

You probably saw videos of a nighttime raid in Chicago. Agents rappelling from a helicopter, bursting down doors, questioning brown-skinned immigrants.

We investigated -- and found little evidence to support the government’s claims about Tren de Aragua.

www.propublica.org/article/chic...

Student journalists ousted from immigration court in Maryland Student journalists Lillian Glaros and Ruby Siefken were ordered out of an immigration court in Hyattsville, Maryland, on Oct. 28, …

Two @cnsmd.bsky.social student reporters were ousted from an immigration court in Hyattsville, MD, on Oct. 28 and told not to return without proper authorization.

A week later, they came back with a letter from the DOJ saying they didn’t need permission to observe.

🚨BREAKING: STRIKERS WIN!

The order affirms what we’ve said all along: The PG’s lawless union-busting cannot stand. We made sure it didn’t. We’re taking back what they stole from us. We won this strike.

How Trump is Building a Violent, Shadowy Federal Police Force Trump’s DHS appointees have dismantled civil rights guardrails, protected agents’ anonymity and encouraged them to wear masks, threatened groups that stood in their way, and overwhelmed legal challeng...

NEW: Trump’s DHS appointees have:
• Dismantled civil rights guardrails,
• Protected agents’ anonymity and encouraged them to wear masks,
• Threatened groups that stood in their way, and overwhelmed legal challenges to their arrests & tactics.

By @davidmcswane.bsky.social @hannahallam.bsky.social

Russell Vought, Trump’s Shadow President From the wholesale gutting of federal agencies to the ongoing government shutdown, Russell Vought has drawn the road map for Trump’s second term. Vought has consolidated power to an extent that inside...

An unelected life-long bureaucrat attempts to wipe out the federal government and policies that he personally disagrees with. Great reporting by @andykroll.bsky.social with research by @kirstenberg.bsky.social for @propublica.org
www.propublica.org/article/russ...

Donald Trump’s Deep-State Wrecking Ball Russell Vought is using the White House budget office to lay waste to the federal bureaucracy—firing workers, decimating agencies, and testing the rule of law.

🚨NEW: After we revealed Russ Vought's "put them in trauma" video, I spent the next year reporting on him, his influence, and his vision for America.

Yes, I got *new* recordings & videos of Vought.

Here is the story.

A @propublica.org + @newyorker.com collab: www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

"Critically, there is no way to know the complete scope of these stops since the government itself does not track them."

An astonishing amount of work that went into shining a light on the details in this remarkable void.

From one of our donors: “I make a monthly donation to ProPublica because I value the work of the ProPublica reporters. They deserve a fair contract”

From a ProPublica reader: “They’re asking for reasonable job security protections and a fair contract. How you act and meet this moment has significant implications for the wider world.”

From a former ProPublican: “Hi Robin and Steve! I loved working at ProPublica and believed strongly in its mission. I still do. … Please agree to the contract, because it’s the least that hard-working ProPublicans deserve.”

From a ProPublica reader: “Do the right thing, ProPublica—we’re watching.”

Many of the signers also eloquently shared why they support our union and our calls for the contract rights we deserve, including Just Cause job security, steward representation throughout the disciplinary process and guardrails around artificial intelligence implementation.

ProPublica Guild Secretary Jeff Ernsthausen presents CEO Robin Sparkman with our petition signatures.

ProPublica Guild members gather in CEO Robin Sparkman’s office delivering petition signatures.

ProPublica Guild members gather in CEO Robin Sparkman’s office delivering petition signatures.

ProPublica Guild members gather in the hallway outside CEO Robin Sparkman’s office, delivering petition signatures.

Today we delivered to senior management in NY a petition signed by 1,300 ProPublica readers, donors and supporters, as well as fellow journalists at peer newsrooms and former ProPublicans. It’s clear that we have wide support for a fair contract NOW.

Evictions rising in DC as housing costs increase New data shows evictions have surged past pre-pandemic levels, fueled by shrinking aid, high rents, and weakened tenant protections.

"Every day I wake up, I feel like I am in a mental obstacle course."

New data shows evictions in D.C. have surged past pre-pandemic levels, fueled by shrinking aid, high rents, and weakened tenant protections.

In partnership with @streetsensedc.bsky.social and the Investigative Reporting Workshop:

I made a whole "Just Cause" cake for this. Please share and sign our petition to help us get a fair contract asap -- And so I never have to repeat the experience of positioning fish-shaped sprinkles with tweezers. actionnetwork.org/petitions/te...

What the Helen of Troy Happened to the Trees at the Kennedy Center!?! Willow trees gone - PoPville Thanks to P. for sending this jarring sight from the Kennedy Center: "Willow trees on the Kennedy center terrace razed: Before the cutting: Updates when/if more is learned.

Scroll down post for a before photo/river view: www.popville.com/2025/10/dc-t...

ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network Selects Five New Partners for Its 50 State Initiative ProPublica is an independent, non-profit newsroom that produces investigative journalism in the public interest.

Welcome to @propublica.org's latest Local Reporting Network partners!

So excited to continue working with @richardawebster.bsky.social at @veritenews.org investigating Louisiana's criminal justice policies and beyond

And to collab with Holly McDede at @kqednews.kqed.org, my hometown public radio!

Trading on Tom Homan: Inside the Push to Cash in on the Trump Administration’s Deportation Campaign A Pennsylvania businessman who had Tom Homan on his payroll led companies to believe his connections to the future border czar could help advance their bids for government work, industry executives said.

NEW: In the lead-up to Trump’s second term, a PA businessman hired Tom Homan as a consultant and said he could put together a group of companies wanting to get in line to win contracts for a massive immigration enforcement plan, sources said.

Do You Work For the Federal Government? ProPublica Wants To Hear From You. We’re doubling down on our coverage of government agencies and federal policy. With your help, we can dig deeper.

Federal workers and contractors: We understand the difficult situations you may be weighing as you decide whether to reach out. All of our reporters take source privacy very seriously.

If you have information you can share with us, here's how to get in touch 👇

there are thousands of federal staffers with stories to tell. share yours. propublica.org/tips

Exciting news! The second @propublica.org metro ad on @wmata.com has been spotted in the wild on a metro car!

There are thousands of federal staffers with stories to tell. Share yours.

propublica.org/tips

The Trump-Appointed Diplomat Accused of Shielding El Salvador’s President From Law Enforcement A previously undisclosed State Department report and interviews reveal accusations that U.S. Ambassador Ronald D. Johnson shielded Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele from U.S. and Salvadoran law enforc...

Bukele wanted the contractor on the corruption investigation gone, according to a report obtained by @propublica.org.

In Ambassador Ronald D. Johnson, he had a powerful American friend—and a friendship that lasted long after Johnson left his post:

www.propublica.org/article/amba...

In 2020, President Nayib Bukele went to the U.S. ambassador with an extraordinary request.

Salvadoran authorities had intercepted a conversation between a journalist and a U.S. embassy contractor working with an FBI-led task force investigating corruption among high-level aides to the president.

1/ In August 2020, the president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, made an extraordinary request to President Trump’s ambassador, Ronald Johnson. A previously undisclosed report tells what happened next, according to a new ProPublica investigation. 🧵 ⬇️

The Trump-Appointed Diplomat Accused of Shielding El Salvador’s President From Law Enforcement A previously undisclosed State Department report and interviews reveal accusations that U.S. Ambassador Ronald D. Johnson shielded Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele from U.S. and Salvadoran law enforc...

NEW: “(Ambassador) Johnson wasn’t just recruiting Bukele. What’s remarkable is that Bukele was recruiting him,” one former Trump administration official told @propublica.org.

“They were recruiting each other. It was a relationship in which Bukele had power.”

Millions Could Lose Housing Aid Under Trump Plan Drafts of unpublished rules obtained by ProPublica detail plans that would open the door to full-time work requirements, two-year limits on living in federally supported housing and stripping aid from...

The rules from the Department of Housing and Urban Development would allow major changes to public housing and Section 8 vouchers:

- full-time work requirements
- 2-year time limits
- stripping aid from whole families if one member is in the country illegally

www.propublica.org/article/trum...

NIH Launches New Multimillion-Dollar Initiative to Reduce U.S. Stillbirth Rate Clinical teams across the country are forming a five-year, $37 million consortium to research stillbirth, a long-neglected public health concern. “There’s no question that the ProPublica reporting was...

GOOD NEWS.

Clinical teams across the country are forming a five-year, $37 million consortium to research stillbirth, a neglected public health concern.

“There’s no question that the ProPublica reporting was intimately tied to this,” one expert said.

Specifically, @deldeib.bsky.social's reporting.

Kristi Noem Fast-Tracked Millions in Disaster Aid to Florida Tourist Attraction After Campaign Donor Intervened The DHS chief has been widely criticized for slowing down FEMA’s response after natural disasters. Texts and emails obtained by ProPublica point to an effective way to get help faster: have one of Noe...

NEW: Kristi Noem has been widely criticized for slowing down FEMA's response to natural disasters.

But she fast-tracked $11 million+ to fix a Florida tourist attraction — after one of her big donors reached out. www.propublica.org/article/kris...

Seen on the DC metro:

RFK Jr. Vowed to Find the Environmental Causes of Autism. Then He Shut Down Research Trying to Do Just That. While touting a $50 million initiative to identify the causes of autism, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is helping lead an administration that is rolling back protections against pollution and toxic chemicals,...

Trump repeatedly expressed his concern about autism yesterday when he told pregnant women not to take Tylenol.

The research on Tylenol is mixed, some studies show an association, some don't.

It's worth noting how his administration has undermined autism science

www.propublica.org/article/rfk-...