Category «Legal Research»

Researcher Captures Contents of ‘DEI.gov’ Before It Was Hidden Behind a Password

404 Media [unpaywalled] “A German researcher captured the contents of the White House’s “DEI.gov” during a brief period when it was not password protected. The capture shows that the site contains a list of vague, alleged government-funded tasks and their costs, without sources or context, like “$1.3 million to Arab and Jewish photographers,” “$1.5 million …

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

Commencing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy

EXECUTIVE ORDER February 19, 2025. By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered: Section 1.  Purpose.  It is the policy of my Administration to dramatically reduce the size of the Federal Government, while increasing its accountability to the American …

Subjects: Economy, Education, Financial System, Government Documents, Health Care, Legal Research, Medicine

America’s Last Best Thing

Frederick Joseph, On Trump’s National Park Layoffs and the Erosion of America’s Public Land: “…The national parks, they tell us, were created to preserve America’s most beautiful places. This is the story, the myth of preservation, the thing Ken Burns made into poetry. But what they do not tell you—at least, not loudly—is that these …

Subjects: Climate Change, Environmental Law, Government Documents, Legal Research

Trump expected to take control of USPS, fire postal board, officials say

Washington Post [unpaywalled]: “This is something that does not belong to the president or the White House. It belongs to the American people. That goes for everything else they’re trying to steal too.” The move threatens to upend trillions of dollars in e-commerce business and the 250-year-old Postal Service. President Donald Trump is preparing to …

Subjects: E-Commerce, Economy, Financial System, Government Documents, Legal Research

Falsehood of DOGE savings tracker that wants you to think it’s transparent

Fast Company: “The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has updated its website, and in theory, it’s a model of government transparency. The site lists savings the department claims to have made from cuts, along with bar charts and tables that purport to show the department’s work and the size and scope of the federal government. …

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

Were you fired by President Trump?

The Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, Democratic Staff, is surveying the impact of the Trump Administration’s mass firings of federal employees from science agencies. If you were terminated from your position since January 20, 2025, please fill out this brief survey. While anonymous submissions will be helpful to the Committee’s efforts, we encourage you …

Subjects: Congress, Government Documents, Legal Research

 A Digital Extension of Historical Bias: Arab Americans and the New Frontier of Algorithmic Discrimination

Via LLRX – A Digital Extension of Historical Bias: Arab Americans and the New Frontier of Algorithmic Discrimination – The integration of artificial intelligence into U.S. national security operations has automated and amplified discriminatory practices established in the post-9/11 era, creating unprecedented barriers for Arab Americans. This paper by Natalie Abdou examines how AI systems …

Subjects: AI, Civil Liberties, Government Documents, Internet, Legal Research, Patriot Act, Privacy, Transportation

Site tracks how much of Project 2025 has been implemented

Project 2025 Tracker – The site tracks overall progress now at 34% as well as well as detailed objectives specific to each government agency. This is a significant and very disconcerting tool. Thanks go out to the folks at the free project you can support via Patreon. See also Searchable Full Project 2025 Text: Mandate …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Climate Change, Congress, Courts, E-Government, E-Records, Environmental Law, Free Speech, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Legal Research

Trump Cancels The SEC’s Westlaw Subscription

Above the Law: “The new administration has made it clear that they don’t have much interest in enforcing the nation’s securities laws. Except maybe as an avenue to accuse companies of dishonoring shareholders by promoting ESG initiatives. The point is, Trump has a meme coin to sell and a media company stock to fluff so …

Subjects: Censorship, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Securities Law

DOGE Has ‘God Mode’ Access to Government Data

The Atlantic [unpaywalled]: “The president’s special commission now has an unprecedented ability to view and manipulate information at many federal agencies. The employee’s account, along with the accounts of several others across federal agencies, offers the clearest portrait yet of just how deep DOGE has burrowed into the systems of the federal government—and the sensitive …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Data Governance, E-Government, Economy, Financial System, Government Documents, Legal Research, Privacy

DOGE Claimed It Saved $8 Billion in One Contract. It Was Actually $8 Million.

The New York Times: “The biggest single line item on the website of Elon Musk’s cost-cutting team appears to include an error. The Department of Government Efficiency, the federal cost-cutting initiative championed by Elon Musk, published on Monday a list of government contracts it has canceled, together amounting to about $16 billion in savings itemized …

Subjects: E-Government, E-Records, Economy, Financial System, Government Documents, Legal Research