Accurate, Focused Research on Law, Technology and Knowledge Discovery Since 2002

Category Archives: Government Documents

What Trump Did on Day 1: Executive Orders

Here are list of the most significant moves the president made on Day 1. unpaywalled New York Times – [Note – All Presidential actions are published here]

  • Mr. Trump issued a sweeping grant of clemency to all of the nearly 1,600 people charged in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, issuing pardons to most of the defendants and commuting the sentences of 14 members of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers militia, most of whom were convicted of seditious conspiracy. The pardon order also directed the Justice Department to dismiss any pending indictments against people facing charges for the riot.
  • Mr. Trump moved to withdraw from the World Health Organization, an act that had been foreshadowed by the president’s frequent attacks against the health agency over its approach to the coronavirus pandemic. Public health experts say that the withdrawal will undermine America’s standing as a global health leader and make it harder to fight the next pandemi
  • A series of orders Mr. Trump signed set off a policy barrage aimed at sealing the nation’s borders to migrants and cracking down on immigrants already in the country. Those orders included a declaration of a national emergency to deploy the military to the border and a bid to cut off birthright citizenship for the children of noncitizens. Many of the orders test the legal limits of his authority, and birthright citizenship in particular is protected by the Constitution.
  • Mr. Trump signed an executive order aimed at delaying a federal ban of TikTok. It is unclear if that order could override the law that banned the social media app, but the measure instructs the attorney general not to take any action to enforce the ban for 75 days.
  • Mr. Trump signed an executive order to withdraw the United States from the Paris climate agreement, which would make America one of only four nations — along with Iran, Libya and Yemen — not party to the agreement, under which nations work together to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions.
  • Mr. Trump ordered a hiring freeze across the federal government that would remain in place pending the completion of a broader plan for reducing the federal work force, and mandating a full-time return to in-office work for government employees. The order singled out the Internal Revenue Service, which received a large financial boost from President Biden and Democrats in Congress, calling for the freeze to stay in place longer for that agency.
  • He gutted racial equity policies and protections for transgender people.
  • Mr. Trump ordered his administration to dismantle federal programs that promote diversity, equity and inclusion, and to gut Biden administration policies that protect transgender Americans.
  • Mr. Trump said he planned to impose a 25 percent tariff on products from Canada and Mexico starting on Feb. 1 because those nations were allowing “mass numbers of people to come in and fentanyl to come in.” He also said that he “may” impose a universal tariff on all imports, adding that “essentially all countries take advantage of the U.S.”
  • Not included in the Times articleRegulatory Freeze Pending Review – Do not propose or issue any rule in any manner, including by sending a rule to the Office of the Federal Register (the “OFR”), until a department or agency head appointed or designated by the President after noon on January 20, 2025, reviews and approves the rule.

First Lawsuits Filed Against Trump Administration For DOGE

MediasTouch: “The first lawsuits against the incoming Trump Administration have already been filed by several non-profit groups which allege that the Department of Government Efficiency “DOGE” violates federal transparency laws. The lawsuits allege that DOGE fails to comply with various transparency and ethics requirements as prescribed by the Federal Advisory Committee Act. DOGE is not… Continue Reading

The Powerful AI Tool That Cops (or Stalkers) Can Use to Geolocate Photos in Seconds

404 Media: “A powerful AI tool can predict with high accuracy the location of photos based on features inside the image itself—such as vegetation, architecture, and the distance between buildings—in seconds, with the company now marketing the tool to law enforcement officers and government agencies. Called GeoSpy, made by a firm called Graylark Technologies out… Continue Reading

FTC Surveillance Pricing Study – Wide Range of Personal Data Used to Set Individualized Consumer Prices

“The agency details interim insights from staff perspective examining how companies track consumer behaviors to inform surveillance pricing. The Federal Trade Commission’s initial findings from its surveillance pricing market study revealed that details like a person’s precise location or browser history can be frequently used to target individual consumers with different prices for the same… Continue Reading

Can you read cursive? It’s a superpower the National Archives is looking for

USA Today: “If you can read cursive, the National Archives would like a word. Or a few million. More than 200 years worth of U.S. documents need transcribing (or at least classifying) and the vast majority from the Revolutionary War era are handwritten in cursive – requiring people who know the flowing, looped form of… Continue Reading

FBI Warned Agents It Believes Phone Logs Hacked Last Year

Bloomberg  [unpaywalled] – “FBI leaders have warned that they believe hackers who broke into AT&T Inc.’s system last year stole months of their agents’ call and text logs, setting off a race within the bureau to protect the identities of confidential informants, a document reviewed by Bloomberg News shows. FBI officials told agents across the… Continue Reading

Toyota exposed as major funder of climate change deniers

Raw Story: “Nearly three decades after its introduction, the hybrid Toyota Prius is still associated with environmental action and the scientific consensus that fossil fuel emissions, including those from vehicles, must be reduced to avoid the worst effects of planetary heating. But a Tuesday report from watchdog group Public Citizen reveals how Toyota has spent… Continue Reading

When Do Parties Lie? Misinformation and Radical-Right Populism Across 26 Countries

Törnberg, P., & Chueri, J. (2025). When Do Parties Lie? Misinformation and Radical-Right Populism Across 26 Countries. The International Journal of Press/Politics, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/19401612241311886 “The spread of misinformation has emerged as a global concern. Academic attention has recently shifted to emphasize the role of political elites as drivers of misinformation. Yet, little is known of… Continue Reading

What Jack Smith Didn’t Say about the January 6 Investigation

Follow up to Special Counsel Report Says Trump Would Have Been Convicted in Election Case – critical facts and extensive commentary documentation via  Emptywheel – “As part of Kyle Cheney and Josh Gerstein’s summary of the Jack Smith report, they argued that “Smith [came] to Garland’s defense regarding his conduct of the January 6 investigation… Continue Reading

Big 3 Pharmacy Benefit Manager charging enormous markups on dozens of lifesaving drugs

“The Federal Trade Commission today published a second interim staff report on the prescription drug middleman industry, which focuses on pharmacy benefit managers’ (PBMs) influence over specialty generic drugs, including significant price markups by PBMs for cancer, HIV, and a variety of other critical drugs. Staff’s latest report found that the ‘Big 3 PBMs’—Caremark Rx,… Continue Reading

How a major bank cheated its customers out of $2 billion

Popular Information: “An explosive new lawsuit filed by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) alleges that Capital One bank cheated its customers out of $2 billion. According to the lawsuit, Capital One deceived and abused its depositors, baiting them with promises of high interest rates before switching the terms and paying little interest. The CFPB… Continue Reading

The home insurance crisis can’t be fixed with money alone

Semafor: “The devastating wildfires that are sweeping Los Angeles may accelerate the flight of home insurance companies from California in spite of recent regulatory changes aimed at retaining them, the state’s previous top insurance official told Semafor. At least two major fires are still raging largely uncontained, aided by ongoing high winds, and 24 people… Continue Reading