Category «Congress»

House Democrats propose QR code ID requirement for ICE, CBP agents

Biometricupdate.com: “House Democrats introduced legislation that if passed would force federal immigration enforcement agents to wear a public-facing identification in the form of a clearly visible and scannable QR code during enforcement actions. The measure, H.R. 7233, was introduced last week by Rep. Ritchie Torre, a Democrat from New York, and referred to the House …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Congress, E-Records, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Legal Research, Legislation

New Report Highlighting Trump Family Corruption, Launch of Trump Digital Grift Tracker

[January 20, 2026] “Rep. Robert Garcia, Ranking Member of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, released a new report identifying how President Donald Trump has accepted digital kickbacks from foreign and criminal interests as President of the United States. The investigation by Oversight Democrats has found that President Trump and his family are exploiting …

Subjects: Congress, Cryptocurrency, Financial System, Government Documents, Legal Research

The FBI Has Gained Access to the Washington Post Newsroom – Press Freedom?

Gizmodo: “The FBI raided the home of The Washington Post reporter and “federal government whisperer” Hannah Natanson last week. The agency seized her private laptop, work laptop, work phone, a 1 TB portable hard drive, a Garmin running watch, and a voice recorder she uses for work, according to newly released court documents. For the …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Congress, Courts, E-Records, Free Speech, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Legal Research, Legislation, Privacy

‘I will not be intimidated’: Jack Smith says

Former Special Counsel Jack Smith testified in front of Congress for more than three hours, January 22, 2026 [Video]. “If asked whether to prosecute a former president based on the same facts today, I would do so regardless of whether that president was a Democrat or Republican. No one should be above the law in …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Congress, Free Speech, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Legal Research

Administration admits DOGE accessed personal Social Security data

Politico: “Trump administration concedes DOGE team may have misused Social Security data. Some DOGE personnel had more access to data than previously acknowledged, according to a court filing. Two members of Elon Musk’s DOGE team working at the Social Security Administration were secretly in touch with an advocacy group seeking to “overturn election results in …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Congress, Courts, E-Records, Government Documents, Legal Research, Legislation, Privacy

What’s Going on With the Epstein Files? Less than 1 percent of them have been released.

The Atlantic “If the Justice Department has legitimate reasons for its delay, it hasn’t thoroughly explained what they are. In a letter yesterday, Attorney General Pam Bondi and other DOJ officials framed the problem as purely logistical, citing “inevitable glitches due to the sheer volume of materials.” They noted that the department has put “over …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Congress, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Legal Research, Legislation

ICE Is Going on a Surveillance Shopping Spree

EFF – “With a budget for 2025 that is 10 times the size of the agency’s total surveillance spending over the last 13 years, ICE is going on a shopping spree, creating one of the largest, most comprehensive domestic surveillance machines in history….U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has a new budget under the current …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Congress, E-Records, Economy, Financial System, Government Documents, Knowledge Management, Legal Research

Trump – we shouldn’t have an election, ICE has federal immunity, may use insurrection act

Reuters – [snipped] ICE…”He said he would continue sending armed agents into cities, claiming that his efforts had taken “thousands of murderers out of our country.” There is no evidence to support that assertion…The president expressed frustration that his Republican Party could lose control of the U.S. House of Representatives or the Senate in this …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Congress, Free Speech, Government Documents, Legal Research

Trump Lays Out a Vision of Power Restrained Only by ‘My Own Morality

The New York Times Interview with President Donald Trump, January 8, 2026: “On topic after topic, President Trump made clear that he would be the arbiter of any limits to his authorities, not international law or treaties. President Trump declared on Wednesday evening that his power as commander in chief is constrained only by his …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Congress, Government Documents, Legal Research

ICE Is Going on a Surveillance Shopping Spree

Follow on to ICE boosts weapons spending 600% Via EFF: “U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has a new budget under the current administration, and they are going on a surveillance tech shopping spree. Standing at $28.7 billion dollars for the year 2025 (nearly triple their 2024 budget) and at least another $56.25 billion over …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Congress, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Defense, Economy, Food and Nutrition, Government Documents, Legal Research, Privacy

Never Forget The Facts About Jan 6 – Trump DOJ Scrubbed American History

U.S. Capitol Siege Resource Page – United States Department of Justice – Page not found. We are sorry, the page you’re looking for can’t be found on the Department of Justice website. ProPublica: Memory-Holing Jan. 6: What Happens When You Try to Make History Vanish? The Trump administration’s decision to delete a DOJ database of …

Subjects: Censorship, Congress, E-Government, E-Records, Education, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Social Media

The Trump Administration’s Continued War Against Science, Research, Public Health and the Rule of Law – Part 6

Via LLRX – The Trump Administration’s Continued War Against Science, Research, Public Health, and the Rule of Law – Part 6 – As we approach January 20, 2026, the one year mark of the second Trump administration, Americans are witnessing the exercise of vast, often illegal and unconstrained presidential powers, unprecedented in our history. The impact of …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Climate Change, Congress, Courts, Education, Energy, Environmental Law, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Health Care, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Medicine