Emily Davies

Senior government officials privately warn against firings during shutdown The Trump administration has said mass firings are coming, but officials have quietly warned several agencies that the move could violate appropriations law.

🚨Senior federal officials are privately warning against firings during a government shutdown, saying the strategy may violate appropriations law.

Trump & top aides have threatened mass firings if the Dems don't budge.

Scoop, with @hannahnatanson.bsky.social:

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Inside Trump’s decision to deploy the National Guard in D.C. President Donald Trump long had a playbook for deploying the National Guard in D.C. and a week ago had new motivation after a former aide was hurt in an attempted carjacking.

NEW: Inside Trump’s decision to deploy the National Guard in D.C.

Trump long had a playbook for such a move and had new motivation after a former aide was injured in an attempted carjacking.

Lots of new details, w/ ⁦‪Matt Viser and Perry Stein

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

He’s 14. He’s been to five funerals. Can he avoid his own? In D.C., where teens are increasingly getting shot and killed, Rashad Bates knows he could be next. So do the adults trying to keep him alive.

I also hope you can spend time with Rashad Bates, who at 14 had already lost five friends to gun violence in Washington.

In DC, violence touches many lives, but it most acutely impacts Black and historically underserved communities.

www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/int...

He could have been the GOP’s voice on crime, but his faith intervened Phillip Todd, a staffer for Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky), was nearly killed in a random attack in D.C. He took two years to figure out what he wanted to say.

As Trump focuses on crime in DC, I hope you will read this story about a Senate staffer targeted in a random stabbing.

Phillip Todd, a GOP aide to Rand Paul, survived — then struggled to square his faith & his party’s response to violence.

www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...

The Trump staffers who set out to reshape their alma maters Architects of pressure campaigns targeting U-Va. and Harvard were shaped by experiences as ideological minorities in liberal campus communities.

NEW: Trump officials who felt sidelined on liberal campuses are spearheading a federal crackdown on DEI at their own alma maters.

A deep dive into the people and power behind the push to change Harvard and UVA among others

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

President Trump just now vowed to "have troops everywhere" and said he was considering invoking the Insurrection Act to counter protests.

Asked how he would determine what qualifies as an insurrection, he said:

"The bar is what I think it is."

Tallying Trump’s online posting frenzy: 2,262 ‘truths’ in 132 days In his current term, the president has left his own record for social media missives in the dust. He posts day and night.

🚨Trump has posted ~ 2,262 times to Truth Social since his inauguration, more than 3X the number of tweets he sent during the same period of his first term.

A new look inside the president’s social media habits, with @drewharwell.com @ence.bsky.social

www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

Trump used pencils to sell tariffs. This factory in ‘Pencil City’ is split. At Musgrave Pencil Company in Shelbyville, Tennessee, politics rarely came up before this year. President Donald Trump’s tariff policies have changed that.

✏️Trump and Musk have used pencils to argue about tariffs.

So I went to the last American pencil factory in a town once known as "Pencil City" to see what its workers think.

The area is deeply Republican. Here is my dispatch, hope you will read:

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Emily Davies named White House Reporter

Today is my first day on @washingtonpost.com's White House team, a dream job at my hometown paper.

A big thank you to WaPo's Local desk, the section that shaped me & does crucial work.

Who should I meet? Where should I start?

My Signal is 202-412-9091.

www.washingtonpost.com/pr/2025/04/2...

The federal ‘5 things’ emails have fallen apart, as Elon Musk readies exit U.S. agencies maintain an inconsistent patchwork of policies relating to the DOGE leader’s demand that all federal employees submit weekly emails listing their accomplishments.

“Within the federal workforce, it is unclear what the email responses are being used for, if anything. There was never a central strategy for how to handle the replies, an email obtained by The Post shows.” @hannahnatanson.bsky.social @faizsays.bsky.social @emilydavies.bsky.social

Trump voters in the federal government are torn over his job cuts A majority of federal workers who voted for Trump agree with cuts in concept. But many voiced concern about the pace of change and potential impact on services.

Trump voters within the federal government (38% of feds) are torn about DOGE cuts, according to in-depth interviews by @emilydavies.bsky.social
“The individuals who were let go were of high, high quality,” said one Treasury Dept. employee in Idaho www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...

Internal White House document details layoff plans across U.S. agencies While officials stressed the estimates were subject to change, the snapshot suggests how agencies are meeting Trump’s mandate to shrink government.

Scoop: Internal White House document details layoff plans across U.S. agencies.

Officials stressed the estimates were subject to change.

If you have more information, my Signal is 202-412-9091.

W/ @jeffstein.bsky.social

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Yes please!

Hi Jeff, thank you for sharing. Any chance you can send me a DM or a Signal (202-412-9091)? Looking to learn more about the Wilson Center.

Thanks for reading and sharing!

She hoped Trump’s victory would change her life, but not like this Ryleigh Cooper is normally more focused on motherhood than politics. Then came DOGE.

She hoped Trump’s victory would change her life, but not like this.

I spent days with Ryleigh Cooper, a federal worker who lives in rural Michigan. Please read her story.

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

She hoped Trump’s victory would change her life, but not like this Ryleigh Cooper is normally more focused on motherhood than politics. Then came DOGE.

People’s reactions to these stories tend to be of the leopards-eating-faces variety but this is a great piece of reporting in part about how voters very disconnected from politics make their choices.

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

And we’re back! It’s Monday and @waytooearly.bsky.social is kicking your week off with:
☀️ @nancyayoussef.bsky.social
☕️ @emilydavies.bsky.social
🌞 @lmchervinsky.bsky.social
🌅 Brendan Buck

You up? We want to know why. Email waytooearly@msnbc.com. #WayTooEarly

Musk team kicks off federal layoffs as White House eyes big cuts The Trump administration’s plan for shrinking the civilian workforce is coming into increasingly clear view.

Elon Musk’s team has started laying off federal workers all across the government, @emilydavies.bsky.social, @jeffstein.bsky.social, @hannahnatanson.bsky.social, @lisarein.bsky.social and @tonyromm.bsky.social report

Trump expected to order a crackdown on D.C. crime, homeless encampments President Trump has called D.C. a ‘nightmare of murder and crime.’ He is considering an order to crack down on violent and petty crime and clear homeless encampments.

SCOOP: Trump is expected to issue executive order targeting D.C. crime, homeless encampments and graffiti.

Early drafts have also focused on home rule and protecting national monuments.

More here, w/ @hsu_spencer:

www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...

As Trump wages war against the federal bureaucracy, some workers fight back Undergirding a fight formed in group texts and between cubicles is a conviction that nonpartisan civil servants provide a necessary check on Trump’s power.

Signal groups, spoon emojis, barricades inside office buildings.

As Trump wages war against the federal bureaucracy, some workers fight back.

STORY from me:

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Federal layoffs ‘likely’ if too few employees choose to quit, memo says Workers have until Thursday to decide whether to take an offer to resign now and be paid through the end of September.

NEWS: Layoffs across federal government are "likely" if not enough workers take deferred resignation offer, internal email warns.

A supervisor in a division taken over by Elon Musk told staff to prepare for deep cuts.

From @faizsays and me:

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Hi everyone, this is Emily Davies with the Washington Post. I cover the federal workforce.

I’m hearing a lot about small (and large) acts of resistance from inside the government; I’m eager to hear from those of you finding your lines in the sand.

We can talk securely and anonymously on Signal.

Wild, wild reporting from @faizsays.bsky.social, @jeffstein.bsky.social & @emilydavies.bsky.social.

White House pauses all federal grants, sparking confusion The Trump administration has put a hold on all federal financial grants and loans, affecting tens of billions of dollars in payments.

Breaking: White House pauses all federal grants, sparking confusion via @jeffstein.bsky.social @jacobbogage.bsky.social @emilydavies.bsky.social www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

Federal workers fear job cuts, in-office mandates under Trump orders Fifteen percent of federal workers are based in the D.C. region, where cuts and changes will be felt acutely.

🚨Federal workers fear job cuts, in-office mandates under Trump orders.

If you are a federal worker, I'd love to hear from you. Reach me on Signal at 202-412-9091.

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

They planned Christmas Eve at church. He died at work the day before. Construction worker Edgar Cinfuentes was inside a D.C. townhouse Monday undergoing renovations. Parts of building collapsed, killing him.

They planned Christmas Eve at church. He died at work the day before. w/ @emilydavies.bsky.social wapo.st/3BLPuIH

They planned Christmas Eve at church. He died at work the day before. Construction worker Edgar Cinfuentes was inside a D.C. townhouse Monday undergoing renovations. Parts of building collapsed, killing him.

They planned to spend Christmas Eve together at the church where they got married seven years ago.

But now Melva Bonilla was standing on a street corner, and her husband was trapped under the rubble of a nearby building.

A tragic story:

www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...

Congress awards D.C. $90 million to fund federal activities, historic sum The money is a strategic victory in a big day for D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser, who in the wee hours of Saturday secured control of the decrepit RFK Stadium.

Congress has awarded D.C. $90 million to fund federal activities, a historic sum.

The allocation is yet another strategic victory in a historic day for D.C. Mayor Bowser, who in the wee hours of Saturday secured control of the decrepit RFK Stadium.

www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...

For fans at the Army-Navy game, it’s about football, not Trump While tens of thousands of people came to the Army-Navy game to be fans, not voters, Trump’s attention-grabbing roster of guests put politics front and center.

For fans at the Army-Navy game, it’s about football, not Trump.

Among even the most ardent supporters of Trump and his nominees, the show inside the President-elect’s box couldn’t hold a candle to the game.

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...