Category «Government Documents»

Social Security Website Crashes as DOGE-Linked Disruption at the Agency Continues

Gizmodo: “Key parts of the Social Security website have proven inaccessible over the past week, and the agency now says that it is probing the cause of the service disruptions. The problems come not long after the agency compelled retirees to seek help more exclusively online, as it attempts to downsize its phone operations. Last …

Subjects: E-Government, E-Records, Economy, Financial System, Government Documents, Search Engines

Inspector general will scrutinize Hegseth’s disclosures in Signal chat

Follow up to Here Are the Attack Plans That Trump’s Advisers Shared on Signal – the Washington Post [no paywall] – “The inquiry follows revelations that top administration officials used the unclassified messaging platform to coordinate military strikes in Yemen…The Pentagon inspector general’s office said Thursday that it will scrutinize disclosures made by Defense Secretary …

Subjects: Congress, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Defense, E-Records, Government Documents, Legal Research

LLRX March 2025 Issue – 8 new articles 7 new columns

LLRX.com March 2025 Issue Censor, purge, defund: how Trump is following the authoritarian playbook on science and universities – Professor of Operational Research Christina Pagel Climate and DEI Deleted From Government Websites, Federal Workers Fired, Colleges Erase Programs, Law Firms Blackballed, Holocaust Denied – This March 27, 2025 update by Sabrina I. Pacifici chronicles Trump’s …

Subjects: AI, Censorship, Civil Liberties, Climate Change, Cybersecurity, E-Government, E-Records, Economy, Education, Environmental Law, Free Speech, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Health Care, Medicine, Privacy

U.S. Government demands new internal passport for citizens

BoingBoing: “Starting May 7, 2025, I’ll need a REAL ID to fly from Houston to New Orleans. Apparently, my current driver’s license — you know, the one issued by my state government — isn’t “real” enough anymore. Remember when we used to mock totalitarian regimes for requiring “internal passports?” Now we get to mock ourselves! …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, E-Records, Government Documents, Privacy, Transportation

RFK Jr.‘s bloodbath at HHS: Blowback grows as losses become clearer

ACLU sues National Institutes of Health for ‘ideological purge’ of research projects – The lawsuit says NIH has canceled more than 670 research grants, which were due more than $1.1 billion in funding. Ars Technica: “Last week, Health Secretary and anti-vaccine advocate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced the Trump administration would hack off nearly a …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, E-Government, Government Documents, Health Care, HIV/AIDS, Medicine

How to leak to a journalist

Nieman Lab – “Planning to leak? Read these tips first. There’s a lot out there to leak. The second Trump administration, historically unfriendly to the press, has thrown Washington into chaos. Tens of thousands of federal employees have been placed on leave or fired as billionaire Elon Musk’s DOGE tries to gut the government. And …

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

2025 National Trade Estimate Killing US Economy

On March 31, 2025 the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) submitted the 2025 National Trade Estimate (NTE) to President Trump and Congress. The NTE is an annual report detailing foreign trade barriers faced by U.S. exporters and USTR’s efforts to reduce those barriers. …The findings of the 2025 NTE underscore President Trump’s …

Subjects: Economy, Financial System, Government Documents, Legal Research

Ten weeks that shook the world

FT.com – On many fronts, and with deliberate haste, America is vaporising its soft power – “The US looks bound for a recession this year owing to the president’s actions. Civilisations are not murdered, said the historian Arnold Toynbee. They die from suicide. Though military clout and geographic fortune will sustain America, its republic is …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, E-Government, Economy, Education, Financial System, Government Documents, Health Care, Legal Research, Medicine

Inside Elite Law Firms, Protests and Quitting After Trump Deals

The New York Times [no paywall] – The discontent does not appear to be resonating with leaders at Paul Weiss and Skadden, but it could hamstring their recruitment efforts. Ever since the elite law firms Paul Weiss and Skadden reached deals with President Trump to scuttle executive orders that could have crippled their businesses, the …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Courts, Free Speech, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Marketing

NOAA All AWS Services will soon be offline

“We are so glad you joined us. Safeguarding Research & Culture (SRC) — Distributing Cultural Memory “As researchers we often say ‘we need the data’. Today, the data needs us.” — Kathy Reid. NOAA all services, specifically Amazon Web Servies (URGENT) – Requests AWS Services for NOAA will be going offline as soon as tomorrow …

Subjects: Censorship, Climate Change, E-Government, Environmental Law, Government Documents

DOGE Put a College Student in Charge of Using AI to Rewrite Regulations

Wired [no paywall] – A DOGE operative has been tasked with using AI to propose rewrites to the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s regulations—an effort sources are told will roll out across government…A young man with no government experience who has yet to even complete his undergraduate degree is working for Elon Musk’s so-called …

Subjects: AI, E-Government, E-Records, Education, Financial System, Government Documents, Housing, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research