Politics - BlogFlock

August 11, 2026 - Letters from an American

2026-08-12T03:56:41.000Z

Days off have been thin on the ground in 2026 as the news comes at us like a firehose.

But I’ve been on the road all day and am too tired even to read the news, let alone put it into a coherent narrative. So tonight just magically became a picture night.

Here’s a fresh water image, for a change, from a late afternoon swim at a local pond with my nephew.

I’ll be back at it tomorrow.

Trump's Tough Guy Aspirations - Letters from an American

2026-08-12T00:44:11.000Z

Is There Anyone Who Can Respond to My FOIA Requests? Anyone? - ProPublica

2026-08-11T09:00:00.000Z

Collage by Alex Bandoni/ProPublica. Source images: keko-ka/Getty Images.

I file a lot of Freedom of Information Act requests. I’ve been requesting staff lists from both Trump administrations, and I have tracked thousands of federal political appointees in order to publish financial disclosures in searchable databases.

Much of that data was sourced from the Office of Personnel Management, which maintains a trove of information about who works in the federal government. But that agency’s FOIA department was thrown into chaos as Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency fanned out across federal agencies to cut employees in early 2025.

Getting records from the agency has since become an increasingly Kafkaesque process, one that in early July of this year bounced me between three different seemingly abandoned email inboxes and two web portals. Aside from the fact that my once-routine requests now languish for months, just asking for documents has become its own kind of shell game.

“They just let the whole Privacy team go,” a now-former FOIA specialist at OPM told me by email in February 2025, referring to public records office staff. The specialist was cut the next day.

Here’s how the process worked at most agencies before the Trump administration and DOGE destroyed the offices that managed these requests: You would send a simple email with a text description of the documents you want. That’s it.

It didn’t mean you would get the records in the most timely manner, or would get the records you wanted at all. But it was a simple process, and it often worked.

According to OPM data, more than 600 government information specialists (staffers who administer FOIA and the Privacy Act) have resigned or been fired since the start of the second Trump administration. Within OPM itself, 12 information specialists left, seven of whom were laid off. (There was one new hire in that time period.)

Reached by phone, the former FOIA specialist told me the cuts made the office less efficient, less able to perform its function and threatened the statutory laws they are required to fulfill.

At the end of the 2025 fiscal year, over 1,600 FOIA requests were still in OPM’s backlog, seven times more than at the end of fiscal year 2024. The average processing time for a simple request at the agency slipped to over 84 days — twice as long as the year before.

Indeed, I noticed my records requests were taking longer, and they were increasingly steered toward web portals. Such was the case in early July, when I attempted to submit a request to OPM for human resources data. When I clicked “log in,” I was confronted with a message reading, “Something went wrong while processing your action. Please contact admin@ains.com for assistance if the problem persists.”

I emailed the address, but the message bounced back to me. AINS, it turned out, was no longer the name of the company — it is now known as Opexus. Opexus has received more than $50 million in federal contracts, according to a Bloomberg report, and has come under fire for lax cybersecurity standards after two of its employees were indicted for deleting and compromising government data. (One pleaded guilty in April, and the other was convicted in May). On its website, Opexus claims to process FOIA requests for 80% of federal institutions.

OPM’s website still listed contact information for a FOIA public liaison, someone who is supposed to help the public understand the records process and assist with requests. When I emailed the address, I got an automated response reading, “I am no longer at OPM. If you need assistance with a FOIA matter, please contact FOIA@opm.gov.”

So I did. I immediately got another automated message. This one told me to submit my request to the National FOIA Portal, a cross-government site that allows you to submit a FOIA request to any agency.

So I did that, too. Afterward, I finally got a response that acknowledged my request — from the same OPM portal that was throwing an error any time I tried to use it.

Stymied by the lack of response from the agency itself, I reached out to Opexus support, explaining that I was a FOIA requester and that the OPM site wasn’t working. I got a response from someone named Stephen, saying, “I have escalated this issue to our engineering team.” When I followed up a few days later, Stephen said, “I have identified the root cause of the issue and am currently working with the OPM administrator to implement the necessary fix.” Further questions on the support ticket thread weren’t answered.

On July 23, 13 days after I had filed the support ticket with Opexus, I got another response asking me again what error I was getting. I told them I was still getting the same message. A few hours later, I tried logging back in. The site was fixed.

In a statement, Opexus said it became aware of the issue on July 10 when a customer support case was opened. Incidentally, that was the day I had opened one. The statement noted access to the portal was restored on July 23, and that the issue did not prevent OPM from receiving FOIA requests through alternate submission methods. The company said that “there is no evidence that customer data was accessed, lost, or compromised” and that the issue was isolated to OPM’s portal.

The statement added that Opexus recognizes “how important uninterrupted access to FOIA request systems is for the public.”

OPM did not respond to a request for comment.

I’m still waiting for the records.

The post Is There Anyone Who Can Respond to My FOIA Requests? Anyone? appeared first on ProPublica.

August 10, 2026 - Letters from an American

2026-08-11T05:58:44.000Z

Remember when Mondays in August were lazy, quiet summer days? Those were good times.

Today, though, Trump’s war on Iran is demanding a resolution, and it is crystal clear that the Iranians believe they are in a position to dictate terms to the United States.

Iran and Oman have been negotiating terms for travel through the Strait of Hormuz, which runs between the two countries. Iran closed the strait when Trump and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu initiated strikes against Iran on February 28, 2026. Before the war, more than 20% of the world’s shipborne oil and even more than that of its shipborne fertilizer traveled through the strait, and their loss has dramatically impacted the global economy. Farmers around the world are having trouble obtaining fertilizer, and the price of oil—and the corresponding price of gasoline and diesel—have jumped dramatically.

On Saturday, Iranian officials laid out a series of demands the U.S. must meet before they will reopen the strait. They say the U.S. must lift the naval blockade of Iranian ports and withdraw the U.S. military, “permanently end the war against Iran and Iran’s allies in Lebanon, Gaza, Yemen, and Iraq,” and “never threaten nor insult Iran in any language,” essentially gagging Trump. They want an end to sanctions on Iran and the release of frozen Iranian assets. And they want reparations. All up front, as conditions for reopening the strait.

In the past, sanctions relief and the release of frozen assets were made conditional on an end to Iran’s nuclear program. Now such a negotiation doesn’t even appear to be on the table. And Iran is asserting its right to control traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint for global trade. Tolls on ships using the strait would provide significant funding for the Iranian regime.

Foreign policy scholar and diplomat Philip Gordon, who served in the Biden White House, wrote: “U.S. acceptance of Iranian control over the Strait of Hormuz is an extraordinary outcome only made conceivable by an administration that squandered legitimacy, alienated allies, attempted regime change in a war it had not adequately prepared for and that is being forced to accept a catastrophic outcome without viable alternatives.”

He suggested that “in other circumstances Iran’s closure of [the] Strait by brazenly attacking maritime traffic and neighbors’ civilian infrastructure would likely have justified and led to a united, global response—like the U.S.-led naval escort mission during the Iran-Iraq war, the global coalition that reversed Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in 1991, the multinational naval force enforcing UN sanctions in the Gulf in the 1990s, or the UN Security Council sanctions on the Iranian nuclear program in the 2010s—that led to the JCPOA.”

“Instead,” he wrote, “[the] US and other countries are now being forced to accept an outcome that would have been unthinkable before the war but seems to have become unavoidable because of it.”

Yesterday Trump told Barak Ravid of Axios, “We are low-keying it,” explaining: “We are only semi-negotiating with them. We are just watching Iran with its huge inflation and the fact they have no money.” He stressed that Iran’s in an economic crisis and that since oil prices have come down slightly in the U.S., gas prices have eased enough to provide some relief to consumers.

“It will work out,” Trump told Ravid. “It always works out. It’s like a chess game.”

But Trump’s mood had changed by today. At 12:31, he claimed Iranian negotiators had never before mentioned reparations for the damage done to Iran during the five month conflict, although the Memorandum of Understanding he signed on June 17 clearly calls for the establishment of a $300 billion fund for Iran’s reconstruction and economic development, suggesting either that Trump has forgotten what was in the agreement or didn’t know.

Trump posted: “I am likewise demanding compensation from Iran, for all of the people that they have killed and gravely wounded with their roadside bombs and many conflicts, for which they are famous…. I have instructed my representatives to put this firmly into any, and all, future negotiations.” An hour later, he added: “Also,…Iran should be responsible for the damages and death caused to the people of Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, and Gaza!”

Later, when a reporter asked Trump when he thought the Strait of Hormuz would open, he answered: “Well, it’s open now…. It’s open now. Look, the only one that has control of the Strait of Hormuz right now is the United States Navy.”

Iran apparently wants its part of the agreement up front because it doesn’t trust Trump to follow through once the strait is reopened, and there is reason to doubt that he will—or can—deliver on his promises. Yesterday, Netanyahu openly rejected the plan that Trump announced as a done deal less than two weeks ago to end the fighting in Gaza.

On July 30, Trump posted that his “Board of Peace reached a HISTORIC agreement for the COMPLETE DISARMAMENT of Hamas and all other armed groups in Gaza” in exchange for the withdrawal of Israeli forces there. “This is a monumental step toward lasting PEACE and SECURITY,” Trump wrote. “One year ago there was a violent raging war, humanitarian crisis and hostages kept in brutal captivity,” he wrote, but now there was a “historic breakthrough.” “CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL ON THIS AMAZING DEVELOPMENT, THAT EVERYBODY SAID COULD NEVER BE ACHIEVED!” he wrote.

At the time, Netanyahu expressed skepticism, but today he openly broke with Trump. When asked about the rejection, the White House told reporters to talk to the Board of Peace.

While much of the focus of the media has been on Trump’s bumbling in the Middle East, the administration has been busy working to reshape Latin American countries into right-wing protectorates of the United States. In Colombia’s recent election, Trump endorsed a right-wing millionaire lawyer who had never before run for office, Abelardo de la Espriella. De la Espriella holds both U.S. and Colombian citizenship and is a Republican who supports Trump.

De la Espriella won a close election, and as soon as he took office, replacing the leftist

Gustavo Petro, the U.S. pledged $1 billion in assistance to Colombia, “as part of a security package to support President (Abelardo) de la Esprilla’s administration in achieving our shared goals,” the White House said.

Tyler Pager, Julian E. Barnes, and Frances Robles of the New York Times reported on August 7 that the administration has been looking for a similarly cooperative leader for Cuba. In a search for “more regime alteration than regime change,” they write, the administration has “pressed its spy agencies to identify someone in the mold of Delcy Rodríguez, who became Venezuela’s interim president after U.S. forces captured the previous leader, Nicolás Maduro, in January. U.S. officials viewed Ms. Rodríguez as a pragmatist who could seamlessly assume power and would be willing to work closely with them,” the journalists report.

The plan appears to be to get Cuba to open its economy to private enterprise including U.S. businesses, buy oil from the U.S., and push out the Russian and Chinese intelligence operatives there. The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, Pager, Barnes, and Robles note, has secretly established a Cuba task force.

Their New York Times colleague Adam Entous reported on August 5 that the task force includes “case officers who recruit and manage spies, intelligence analysts, officers who conduct cyberoperations and officers who specialize in covert influence operations.” Sources told Entous that the plan appeared intended to create rifts among those in Cuba’s political elite to enable the rise of leaders willing to agree to Trump’s demands.

Trump’s assumption of control over Venezuela seems to have been the model for attempts to take over other countries. Last September the Trump administration began strikes against small boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific that Trump claimed—without evidence—were being operated by narcoterrorists from Venezuela. Then the U.S. began to seize vessels allegedly carrying sanctioned Venezuelan oil. On January 3, 2026, in a nighttime raid, the Trump administration conducted airstrikes in Venezuela and removed Venezuela’s president Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, taking them to New York to face federal narcoterrorism and drug-trafficking charges.

Although opponents of Maduro, who had seized power after losing a presidential election, cheered the raid in the belief that Trump would help them put opposition candidate Edmundo González in power—exiled opposition leader María Corina Machado gave Trump her Nobel Peace Prize medal after the raid in an apparent attempt to create good will—in fact the administration supported Maduro’s vice president, Delcy Rodríguez. On January 5 it formally recognized her as Venezuela’s head of state.

Venezuela’s high court disagreed. It called Maduro’s absence a “kidnapping” and determined that under the country’s constitution, Rodríguez could act as president for 90 days, a period the National Assembly could extend for another 90 days. But if Maduro didn’t return after either 90 or 180 days, the absence must be considered permanent. At that point, the constitution requires elections to be held in 30 days.

When Rodríguez’s first 90 days were over, there was no public announcement that the National Assembly, which is controlled by her political party, had extended her acting presidency. July 3 marked 180 days since Maduro’s kidnapping.

As Antonio María Delgado of the Miami Herald reported, in late July the U.S. Department of Justice asked the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida to dismiss a lawsuit filed by three Americans against Rodríguez accusing the Maduro government, which was well known for human rights abuses, of torture. The Justice Department called for the dismissal on the grounds that Rodríguez is entitled to immunity as Venezuela’s head of state, thus underscoring that Trump intends for her to run the country. Delgado called it an “extraordinary step.”

Negotiations are underway for a new election, but opposition leader Machado has been excluded from them. On August 6, seven Democratic senators led by Adam Schiff (D-CA) wrote to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, reiterating that Rodríguez is still the acting president rather than the head of state,and putting the administration on notice that its “increased support of the same officials who contributed to the Venezuelan government’s lengthy and well-documented record of human rights abuses and violations is alarming, and we urge the State Department to re-commit to its long-standing practice of calling attention to human rights violations committed by the Venezuelan regime and exerting pressure on regime officials to end these abuses.”

An exclusive story tonight by Dan Lamothe, John Hudson, Andrew Ba Tran, and Joyce Sohyun Lee in the Washington Post revealed the utter cowardice behind Trump’s authoritarian aspirations.

Leaving Türkiye on July 8 after the NATO summit, the day after he had renewed strikes on Iran, Trump made a show of switching from the newly outfitted plane given to the U.S. by Qatar to an older plane that had served as Air Force One before Trump got the Qatari jet. The journalists who were traveling with the president and some of the White House staff moved with the president to the older plane for the leg of the trip that would take them to Britain.

But the journalists report that Trump and some of his aides secretly left the older plane in a container lowered into an airport catering truck and were transferred to a smaller plane for the trip. There had apparently been credible Iranian threats against Trump’s life, and so officials turned to a plan to hide him, even from senior U.S. officials. To do so, they left the journalists and staff on the plane that would use the Air Force One call sign, turning them into a decoy for an Iranian strike. White House staffers instructed journalists to lower their shades when they entered the plane.

Trump secretly reboarded the bigger plane in Britain and was filmed coming down its stairs, suggesting he had been on the flight. Then he boarded the Qatari jet, along with the press pool and the staffers who had been on Air Force One, for the trip from Türkiye. On the flight, Trump briefly spoke to reporters, who asked why they had been asked to lower their window shades on the previous flight.

It was “because you’re probably on a dangerous flight because of the sleaze bags that we have to deal with,” Trump said. He added that there are threats against his life “all the time” and that “I’m number one on their list, before you. But if I go, you go. Right?” “Perhaps someday you want to change professions.”

Bluesky national security commenter Angry Staffer wrote: “So, I completely understand secreting POTUS away from a credible assassination attempt. But leaving the entire Air Force One crew, press pool, etc. to play decoy is some sick sh*t.”

—

Notes:

https://www.axios.com/2026/08/09/trump-iran-interview

https://www.cnn.com/2026/06/17/middleeast/us-iran-war-mou-text-intl

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/08/world/middleeast/iran-us-oman-strait-of-hormuz.html?searchResultPosition=1

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/09/world/europe/iran-strait-hormuz-trump-deal.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/09/world/middleeast/israel-netanyahu-trump-15-point-plan-hamas-peace-gaza.html

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/progressive-candidate-concedes-colombian-presidential-election-to-outsider-endorsed-by-trump

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/abelardo-de-la-espriella-us-pledges-1-billion-security-assistance-colombia/

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/07/us/politics/us-search-cuba-leader.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/05/us/politics/cia-cuba-task-force.html

https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/IN12618

https://2021-2025.state.gov/office-of-the-spokesperson/releases/2025/01/condemning-nicolas-maduros-illegitimate-attempt-to-seize-power-in-venezuela-and-announcing-new-actions-against-maduro-and-his-representatives-and-to-support-the-venezuelan-people/

https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/15/americas/venezuela-machado-trump-meeting-nobel-intl-hnk

https://www.caracaschronicles.com/2026/03/09/what-the-venezuelan-constitution-says-when-the-president-is-absent/

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2026-04-06/venezuelas-delcy-rodriguez-remains-acting-president-after-her-initial-90-day-appointment-expired

https://english.elpais.com/international/2026-08-10/venezuelas-future-is-being-decided-in-a-new-negotiation-under-washingtons-watch.html

https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/seven-months-after-trump-intervention-us-senators-seek-venezuela-elections-2026-08-04/

https://punchbowl.news/schiff-letter-on-venezuela-human-rights/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/08/10/trump-flew-secrecy-amid-iran-threat-air-force-one-became-decoy/

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/10/us/politics/trump-plane-ruse.html

PhilGordonDC/status/2086434147304657097

Bluesky:

atrupar.com/post/3msqtvcjtzk2u

angrystaffer.bsky.social/post/3msrjidz2wk2f

Trump’s Truth:

statuses/40397

statuses/40702

statuses/40703

The Road to Resignation - Letters from an American

2026-08-10T20:00:48.000Z

More Than Half the Homes in East Omaha Have Unsafe Lead Levels. That Doesn’t Mean the EPA Will Clean Them Up. - ProPublica

2026-08-10T09:00:00.000Z

Omaha resident Natalie Thorpe’s 3-year-old tested high for lead as a baby. Thorpe’s yard has enough lead to be risky but not enough to qualify for government cleanup. Rebecca S. Gratz for ProPublica

Despite hundreds of millions of dollars spent on environmental cleanup, more than half the yards in a section of Omaha, Nebraska, that used to surround a lead smelter still have enough contamination to cause high blood-lead levels in kids, according to tests by the Flatwater Free Press and ProPublica.

The findings were consistent across the city’s older urban core — in the historically Black neighborhoods north of downtown, the predominantly Hispanic areas to the south and the more white and affluent areas in midtown. However, homes closest to where a lead smelter and other downtown factories operated tended to have slightly higher concentrations than those farther out.

As part of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Superfund program, the federal government and the city of Omaha have been attempting to remove lead from Omaha’s yards since the late 1990s.

The EPA’s cleanup standard for Omaha was set in 2009 and is based on health recommendations from 1994. Since then, research has shown that lower exposures can cause IQ loss in kids and heart attacks in adults. Twice in the last 15 years, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lowered what it considers a high blood-lead level. An EPA risk model found that to protect most kids according to those new health guidelines, soil levels would have to be below 100 parts per million — about 10 grains of rice in a 10-pound bucket of dirt.

The Flatwater Free Press and ProPublica tested 388 homes in the Omaha Superfund site and found that 208 had levels over 100 parts per million.

But the EPA has never required that level of cleanup in Omaha or as a national remediation standard. Current EPA policy for the Omaha cleanup site directs contractors to dig up and replace yards if tests show they contain more than 400 parts per million of lead — about a marble’s worth of the metal dispersed across a 10-gallon bucket of dirt. Last week, the Flatwater Free Press and ProPublica reported that 1 in 10 of the homes we tested that were remediated still has a lead concentration over that threshold.

The risk worries Natalie Thorpe, whose 3-year-old daughter tested high for lead as a baby. When the history and English teacher bought a house in Omaha, she knew about the Superfund site, but friends assured her the EPA had taken care of any problems with the dirt. Instead, her yard has enough lead to be risky but not enough to qualify for government cleanup.

“It feels a little bit like being a sitting duck,” Thorpe said.

Thorpe’s 3-year-old picks a tomato from their garden. Rebecca S. Gratz for ProPublica

EPA spokesperson Kellen Ashford said removing lead in soil is only one factor in protecting communities. Because no level of lead in the body is safe and it would be impossible to remove all lead from a site, the agency works with local health officials to protect the community from lead risks in other ways, he said.

Those include establishing the Omaha Lead Registry, a website where people can search for the highest lead level and remediation status of any property in the site. The EPA also funds the Douglas County Health Department’s lead poisoning prevention program, which performs home visits when a child tests high for exposure to the toxic metal.

Cleanup, combined with these other layers of protection, has led to a dramatic decline in elevated blood-lead levels in Omaha, Ashford said. (While the percentage of kids testing high for lead has dropped significantly, as it has nationally, kids in the Omaha site still test high for lead at rates above the national average.)

Work on lead has historically been focused on protecting people from extreme poisonings, often caused by paint, said Tom Neltner, who heads the lead poisoning prevention nonprofit Unleaded Kids. As more public health experts have acknowledged the risks of smaller exposures, they’ve had to examine soil more closely. Confronting that will require new research and renewed advocacy, he said.

But even with updated science, politics have complicated potential cleanups. The first step in any cleanup is to identify which properties deserve attention. So the EPA typically tests soil to screen for potential problem areas. If results hit a certain level of lead concentration, it kicks off a more in-depth process of monitoring that site and discussing cleanup options. In 2024, President Joe Biden’s EPA lowered that recommended screening level to as little as 100 parts per million.

Cleaning up to 100 parts per million would have carried enormous costs. About 40% of U.S. homes exceed those levels, according to a 2024 study by some of the country’s top researchers of lead-contaminated soil, and it could cost $500 billion to $1.4 trillion to clean up all of them. The authors argued the government could take a more cost-effective approach by covering lead-laced soil with clean soil or mulch rather than digging it out.

Last year, the Trump administration rolled back Biden’s standards in what it said was an effort to speed up cleanups of the highest-risk areas, raising the lowest screening level from 100 parts per million to 200 parts per million.

Thorpe and her daughter pick vegetables from their raised garden bed. Zinnias, basil, golden beets, squash and other plants grow in store-bought soil. Rebecca S. Gratz for ProPublica

However, some local and state governments, as well as other countries, have committed to standards of 100 parts per million or lower.

Norway recommends risk assessments for any dirt that children have regular access to that has more than 100 parts per million of lead in it. In 2006, the country required all playgrounds and daycares be remediated to that level.

Even in the United States, some areas have lower limits. Minnesota requires replacing any soil that has more than 100 parts per million of lead around the home of a child with a high blood level, said Minnesota Department of Health spokesperson Scott Smith. In April, New Orleans announced plans to clean up its parks after an investigation by Verite News and KFF Health News found more than half of the 80 sites the organizations tested had levels above 100 parts per million.

California has cleaned up properties to 80 parts per million of lead, its screening level for potentially risky soil, though residents of properties exceeding that threshold more often receive safety education rather than a new lawn, said Seth John, a University of Southern California earth sciences professor.

Do You Live in Council Bluffs or Carter Lake, Iowa? Sign Up for Free Lead Testing of Your Soil.

An Omaha lead smelter spread dust that seeped into the soil and bodies of many residents. The EPA spent decades cleaning up the surrounding area — but not Council Bluffs, Carter Lake or Bellevue.

This summer the EPA is testing soil around Omaha as part of an investigation that may help the agency determine if it should expand the site’s boundaries or lower the amount of lead that would qualify for cleanup. The agency expects to share its findings by October 2027, Ashford said.

Earlier research suggests there may be more homes with lead-soil concentrations over 100 parts per million than the Flatwater Free Press and ProPublica identified: EPA testing found 84% of the Superfund site in Omaha — more than 36,000 properties — had areas with lead concentrations above 100 parts per million, according to a March 2024 email sent by an EPA manager to a Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy official.

But trying to determine what the agency might do in Omaha is difficult because the EPA has applied its new guidance in different ways, setting higher lead levels for cleanup at some Superfund sites and lower levels at others.

Without cleanup, there are several things Omaha residents can do to lower their risk, said Neltner of Unleaded Kids. Maintaining ground cover like grass reduces the amount of lead dust that can spread from the dirt to kids’ hands and bodies, he said. The EPA also recommends washing hands and taking shoes off inside.

Those are easy things that lower risk, Neltner said, but he noted that they’re not a long-term solution.

“We have to keep doing what we can,” he said. “We need our leadership at local, state and federal levels to support people in finding solutions.”

Thorpe’s 3-year-old daughter stands barefoot in her family’s garden. Rebecca S. Gratz for ProPublica

The post More Than Half the Homes in East Omaha Have Unsafe Lead Levels. That Doesn’t Mean the EPA Will Clean Them Up. appeared first on ProPublica.

August 9, 2026 - Letters from an American

2026-08-10T05:05:48.000Z

On August 9, 1974, Richard M. Nixon became the first president in U.S. history to resign.

The road to that resignation began in 1971, when Daniel Ellsberg, who was at the time an employee of the RAND Corporation and thus had access to a top-secret Pentagon study of the way U.S. leaders had made decisions about the Vietnam War, leaked that study to major U.S. newspapers, including the New York Times and the Washington Post.

The Pentagon Papers showed that every president from Harry S. Truman to Lyndon B. Johnson had lied to the public about events in Vietnam, and Nixon worried that “enemies” would follow the Pentagon Papers with a leak of information about his own decision-making to destroy his administration and hand the 1972 election to a Democrat.

The FBI seemed to Nixon reluctant to believe he was being stalked by enemies. So the president organized his own Special Investigations Unit out of the White House to stop leaks. And who stops leaks? Plumbers.

The plumbers burglarized the office of Ellsberg’s psychiatrist in California, hoping to find something to discredit him, then moved on to bigger targets. Together with the Committee to Re-elect the President (fittingly dubbed CREEP as its activities became known), they planted fake letters in newspapers declaring support for Nixon and hatred for his opponents, spied on Democrats, and hired vendors for Democratic rallies and then scarpered on the bills. Finally, they set out to wiretap the Washington, D.C., headquarters of the Democratic National Committee, in the fashionable Watergate office complex.

Early in the morning of June 17, 1972, Watergate security guard Frank Wills noticed that a door lock had been taped open. He ripped off the tape and closed the door, but on his next round, he found the door taped open again. Wills called the police, who arrested five men ransacking the DNC’s files.

The White House immediately denounced what it called a “third-rate burglary attempt,” and the Watergate break-in gained no traction before the 1972 election, which Nixon and Vice-President Spiro Agnew won with an astonishing 60.7% of the popular vote.

But Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, two young Washington Post reporters, followed the sloppy money trail back to the White House, and by March 1973 the scheme was unraveling. One of the burglars, James W. McCord Jr., wrote a letter to Judge John Sirica before his sentencing claiming he had lied at his trial to protect government officials. Sirica made the letter public, and White House counsel John Dean immediately began cooperating with prosecutors.

In April, three of Nixon’s top advisors resigned, and in May the president was forced to appoint former solicitor general of the United States Archibald Cox as a special prosecutor to investigate the affair. That same month, the Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, informally known as the Senate Watergate Committee, began nationally televised hearings. The committee’s chair was Sam Ervin (D-NC), a conservative Democrat who would not run for reelection in 1974 and thus was expected to be able to do the job without political grandstanding.

The hearings turned up the explosive testimony of John Dean, who said he had talked to Nixon about covering up the burglary more than 30 times, but there the investigation sat during the hot summer of 1973 as the committee churned through witnesses. And then, on July 13, 1973, deputy assistant to the president Alexander Butterfield revealed the bombshell news that conversations and phone calls in the Oval Office had been taped since 1971.

Nixon refused to provide copies of the tapes either to Cox or to the Senate committee. When Cox subpoenaed a number of the tapes, Nixon ordered Attorney General Elliot Richardson to fire him. In the October 20, 1973, “Saturday Night Massacre,” Richardson and his deputy, William Ruckelshaus, refused to execute Nixon’s order and resigned in protest; it was only the third man at the Justice Department—Solicitor General Robert Bork—who was willing to carry out the order firing Cox.

Popular outrage at the resignations and firing forced Nixon to ask Bork—now acting attorney general—to appoint a new special prosecutor, Leon Jaworski, a Democrat who had voted for Nixon, on November 1. On November 17, Nixon assured the American people that “I am not a crook.”

Like Cox before him, Jaworski was determined to hear the Oval Office tapes. He subpoenaed a number of them. Nixon fought the subpoenas on the grounds of executive privilege. On July 24, 1974, in U.S. v. Nixon, the Supreme Court sided unanimously with the prosecutor, saying that executive privilege “must be considered in light of our historic commitment to the rule of law. This is nowhere more profoundly manifest than in our view that ‘the twofold aim (of criminal justice) is that guilt shall not escape or innocence suffer.’... The very integrity of the judicial system and public confidence in the system depend on full disclosure of all the facts….”

Their hand forced, Nixon’s people released transcripts of the tapes. They were damning, not just in content but also in style. Nixon had cultivated an image of himself as a clean family man, but the tapes revealed a mean-spirited, foul-mouthed bully. Aware that the tapes would damage his image, Nixon had his swearing redacted. “[Expletive deleted]” trended.

In late July 1974, the House Committee on the Judiciary passed three articles of impeachment, charging the president with obstruction of justice, abuse of power, and contempt of Congress. Each article ended with the same statement: “In all of this, Richard M. Nixon has acted in a manner contrary to his trust as President and subversive of constitutional government, to the great prejudice of the cause of law and justice and to the manifest injury of the people of the United States. Wherefore Richard M. Nixon, by such conduct, warrants impeachment and trial, and removal from office.”

And then, on August 5, in response to a subpoena, the White House released a tape that proved to be the “smoking gun” Republicans had demanded before they would impeach and convict Nixon. Recorded on June 23, 1972, just six days after the Watergate break-in, the tape was a recording of Nixon and his aide H.R. Haldeman plotting to invoke national security to protect the president. Even if he hadn’t known of the crime itself—although the tape suggested that he had—Nixon clearly had been central to the cover-up. A delegation of Republican lawmakers went to the White House to tell Nixon that he must resign or be impeached by the full House and convicted by the Senate.

In his resignation speech, Nixon refused to acknowledge that he had done anything wrong. Instead, he told the American people he had to step down because he no longer had the support he needed in Congress to advance the national interest. He blamed the press, whose “leaks and accusations and innuendo” had been designed to destroy him. His disappointed supporters embraced the idea that there was a “liberal” conspiracy, spearheaded by the press, to bring down any Republican president.

[Nixon’s resignation letter from the National Archives, public domain.]

Week Eleven in 250 to 250 - Letters from an American

2026-08-09T21:40:05.000Z

This was the eleventh week of videos from the 250 to 250 Project that we’re producing to honor the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

It was another week of favorite stories and favorite people narrating, but I guess I feel that way every week. A number of this week’s videos were suggestions from the narrators themselves, making them even more fun for us than usual.

Our hope was for the videos to emphasize the agency of Americans—mostly everyday Americans—to change the country. Each falls into a category that defines what it means to be an American, including community, democracy, innovation, mobility, civil rights, education, conservation, and creativity. Having narrators choose their own topics added different facets of those stories to the ones we had previously chosen.

You can follow the project at the sites listed below, or under “videos” at my own YouTube page: Heather Cox Richardson. Or just wait until I send out the week’s roundup.

Norman Borlaug, Narrated by Tom Vilsack

Tom Vilsack is the former Secretary of Agriculture under the Obama and Biden administrations, the former governor of Iowa, and CEO of the World Food Prize Foundation. Vilsack is known for his significant contributions to global food challenge advocacy. Vilsack profiles Dr. Norman Borlaug, the Iowa-born scientist whose Green Revolution transformed global agriculture and saved more than a billion lives from famine.

Cherokee Phoenix, Narrated by Rebecca Nagle

is an award-winning journalist and citizen of Cherokee Nation. She is the host of the First America podcast. Nagle tells the story of the Cherokee Phoenix, the first Native-run newspaper in America, which fought for Cherokee land and sovereignty and still publishes today.

Route 66, Narrated by Ted Widmer

Professor Ted Widmer is a prominent American historian, award-winning historical author, and the former foreign policy speechwriter and senior advisor to President Bill Clinton. Widmer travels the history of Route 66, the iconic “Main Street of America” that carried Depression migrants, wartime troops, and postwar dreamers across the country.

Cornerstone of the Confederacy, Narrated by Vernon Burton

Vernon Burton, acclaimed American historian, author, and Judge Matthew Perry Distinguished Professor Emeritus, is globally recognized for his pioneering work on the American South, legal history, race relations, digital humanities, and the American Civil War. Burton examines the Confederacy’s Cornerstone Speech, in which Alexander Stephens declared slavery and white supremacy its founding principle—a claim the Union defeated and answered with the Reconstruction Amendments.

Dwayne McDuffie, Narrated by Al Letson

Peabody Award-winning storyteller and journalist, Al Letson, is an acclaimed writer and media host best known for the nationally broadcast investigative journalism show Reveal and for writing the limited series Mister Terrific: Year One for DC Comics. Letson profiles Dwayne McDuffie, the trailblazing writer and artist who brought realistic Black representation to comic books and animation.

Orange Plank Road, Narrated by Tyler McGraw

Digital historian Tyler McGraw is a writer for the Emerging Civil War community and host of the podcast The Unfiltered Historian. McGraw recounts how General U.S. Grant’s refusal to retreat at the 1864 Battle of the Wilderness marked the turning point that would wear the Confederacy down to surrender.

Indianapolis 500, Narrated by Lexy White

Lexy White is a social media producer, journalist and founder of Paddock Party LA, a social club dedicated to creating an inclusive community for female and queer Motorsport fans. White celebrates the Indianapolis 500, the storied race that fueled America’s car culture and became one of the nation’s greatest sporting traditions.

Coxey’s Army, Narrated by Maggie Bohara

Maggie Bohara is a writer and activist known for being the co-founder and director of the We Are America March (WAAM), a nonpartisan, volunteer-powered, and millennial-led, grassroots movement that organizes 160-mile walks to advocate for democracy and civil rights. Bohara tells how Jacob Coxey’s 1894 march of unemployed workers to Washington foreshadowed the New Deal’s public works programs.

Voting Rights Act, Narrated by Kevin M. Kruse

Dr. Kevin M. Kruse is a historian and Guggenheim Fellow whose work examines conflicts over race, rights, and religion. He is the author of White Flight and One Nation Under God, and co-editor of the New York Times bestseller Myth America. Kruse examines the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the crowning achievement of the civil rights era whose protections recent Supreme Court decisions have eroded.

“I Love Lucy,” Narrated by Fran Drescher

Fran Drescher is an iconic comedic actress, New York Times bestselling author, producer, healthcare advocate, and union leader best known for creating and starring in the hit sitcom “The Nanny” and who served as the president of SAG-AFTRA during the historic 2023 actors’ strike. Drescher celebrates “I Love Lucy,” the groundbreaking 1951 sitcom whose innovations—and its star Lucille Ball—set the standard for television comedy.

“Boys in Blue” Speech, Narrated by Tom Nichols

Dr. Tom Nichols is a bestselling author, political commentator, five-time undefeated Jeopardy! champion, and Professor Emeritus of national security affairs at the U.S. Naval War College. Here, Nichols profiles President James A. Garfield, who defied his era to champion Black civil rights more forcefully than any president until President Lyndon Johnson.

Robert Smalls, Narrated by Victoria A. Smalls

Victoria A. Smalls is a Gullah native of South Carolina, award-winning Gullah Geechee cultural preservationist, artist and curator, specializing in Reconstruction Era history, and Founder/Principal Consultant of Smalls Cultural Resources. Here, she tells how Robert Smalls escaped slavery by commandeering a Confederate ship and rose to become a Union captain and U.S. congressman.

Bretton Woods, Narrated by Senator Maggie Hassan

Senator Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire is a lawmaker and attorney who is one of only three women in American history elected as both a U.S. Senator and a state governor. Hassan explains how the 1944 Bretton Woods conference in New Hampshire helped to create the modern global economic order.

Resigning the Presidency - Letters from an American

2026-08-09T18:48:36.000Z

August 8, 2026 - Letters from an American

2026-08-09T05:55:40.000Z

At 4:00 this morning, just before they left for a five-week recess, Senate Republicans confirmed Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to the position of Attorney General of the United States. This makes President Donald J. Trump’s personal criminal lawyer the top law enforcement officer of the country.

The attorney general is supposed to be the lawyer for the people of the United States.

Some Republicans, like 92-year-old Senate Judiciary Committee chair Chuck Grassley of Iowa, were enthusiastic about Blanche. “Mr. Blanche is a tough, fair prosecutor dedicated to ⁠the rule of law, and his leadership instills that same zeal throughout the entire Justice Department,” Grassley said.

Other Republicans were more skeptical but said if they didn’t confirm Blanche, Trump would choose someone worse. Perhaps in a permanent rather than an acting capacity, they said, he would be more likely to resist Trump’s pressure.

Republican senators played a very different role in the United States 52 years ago.

In late July 1974 the House Committee on the Judiciary had passed three articles of impeachment, charging the president with obstruction of justice, abuse of power, and contempt of Congress over his handling of the break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C.

The House would almost certainly send those articles of impeachment to the Senate, but what would happen there was not clear.

And then, on August 5, in response to a subpoena, the White House released a tape recorded on June 23, 1972, just six days after the Watergate break-in, that showed Nixon and his aide H.R. Haldeman plotting to invoke national security to protect the president.

Even Republican senators, who had not wanted to convict their president, knew the game was over. A delegation went to the White House to deliver the news to the president that he must resign or be impeached by the full House and convicted by the Senate.

On August 8, 1974, Richard Nixon spoke to the American people to tell them he was resigning the presidency of the United States.

“Throughout the long and difficult period of Watergate, I have felt it was my duty to persevere, to make every possible effort to complete the term of office to which you elected me,” he said. “In the past few days, however,” he continued, “it has become evident to me that I no longer have a strong enough political base in the Congress to justify continuing that effort….”

“From the discussions I have had with Congressional and other leaders, I have concluded that because of the Watergate matter, I might not have the support of the Congress that I would consider necessary to back the very difficult decisions and carry out the duties of this office in the way the interests of the Nation will require.”

“To leave office before my term is completed is abhorrent to every instinct in my body,” he said. “But as President, I must put the interests of America first. America needs a full-time President and a full-time Congress, particularly at this time with problems we face at home and abroad….

“Therefore, I shall resign the Presidency effective at noon tomorrow.”

—

Notes:

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/senate-republicans-narrowly-confirm-todd-blanche-attorney-general-2026-08-08/

https://millercenter.org/the-presidency/presidential-speeches/august-8-1974-address-nation-announcing-decision-resign-office

Trump’s Protestations - Letters from an American

2026-08-09T00:56:34.000Z

CREW statement on Blanche’s confirmation as attorney general - News - CREW | Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington

2026-08-08T13:23:02.000Z

The post CREW statement on Blanche’s confirmation as <span class="dewidow">attorney general</span> appeared first on CREW | Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.

Pluralistic: Digital sewer socialism (08 Aug 2026) - doge – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow

2026-08-08T09:04:00.000Z

Today's links

Digital sewer socialism: Mamdani's Public Interest Technologists are what DOGE should have been.
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
Object permanence: Robot garage takes hostages; Thermostat ransomware; Correlate audience exhalations; Judges x TOR; Expectations management.
Upcoming appearances: Edinburgh, Sydney, Melbourne, Brighton, London, South Bend.
Recent appearances: Where I've been.
Latest books: You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Upcoming books: Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Colophon: All the rest.

Digital sewer socialism (permalink)

Hardly a day goes by without my getting an email from someone looking for a way to do good with technology. From computer science students thinking about post-grad careers to seasoned coders with decades of experience, there's an army of hackers looking for a way to turn their expertise into public goods.

There's a name for this movement: it's called "Public Interest Technology" and the people who work in it are called "public interest technologists." There've always been techies who understood the link between tech and public wellbeing and who committed themselves to working for the betterment of society, but their numbers swelled as Big Tech companies saturated their markets and switched from growing by making products people like, to locking in their users and then extracting more value from their technological prisoners:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/04/24/naming-names/#prabhakar-raghavan

It was the era when (in the words of Facebook's Jeff Hammerbacher) "The best minds of my generation are thinking about how to make people click ads":

https://quoteinvestigator.com/2017/06/12/click/

For organizations like the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the growing cohort of hackers who wanted to hack for good was great news. Our staff technologist group swelled from a couple of overworked computer scientists helping lawyers and activists with campaigns to a series of increasingly ambitious software projects, from Privacy Badger (a tracking-blocker that every web user needs):

https://privacybadger.org/

To Let's Encrypt and Certbot, projects that forever changed the internet's default state, so that today, nearly all online communications are encrypted and resistant to mass surveillance:

https://certbot.eff.org/

Other opportunities for public interest technologists proliferated. Bruce Schneier created the canonical resource page for Public Interest Technologists, including career opportunities for would-be public interest technologists:

https://public-interest-tech.com/

But the motherlode of public interest technologist opportunities wasn't the nonprofit sector – it was the public sector. It started with the UK's Government Digital Service, a group of public-spirited hackers (many of them ex- of the BBC, where they'd been tempest-tossed by endless internal power-struggles over the role of the internet in public service media) who retooled many of the UK government's most important administrative front-ends. For several glorious years, Britons delighted to the daily marvel of having their routine interactions with their government transformed from clunky, broken web-pages to slick, superbly thought through online processes that had all the polish of Amazon or Google, but without any of the gamesmanship, manipulation or privacy invasions:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_Digital_Service

Despite many attempts at official sabotage by a string of increasingly shambolic UK governments, the GDS still exists, and it still does amazing work, even though it operates today with a fraction of the official support that it enjoyed at its inception. The last time I renewed my UK passport, I was gobsmacked by how easy and sensible the process was. Local authorities have gotten in on the act, too: I renewed my absentee voting registration with Hackney Council last week and it was as simple as scanning a QR code, affirming my details, and clicking "submit."

Around the world, a generation of public sector technologists duplicated and improved on the UK GDS's work. In Taiwan, a rogue public interest hacker named Audrey Tang led a group of digital guerrillas in creating shadow versions of every Taiwanese government website that scraped and remade the entire digital presence of the Taiwanese state to make public information and services accessible, legible and useful to its people. After the next election, Tang was named Taiwan's first ever Minister of Digital Affairs (today, she is a Taiwanese "Ambassador-At-Large"):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audrey_Tang

In the USA, Jen Pahlka went from running a ragtag "civic hacking" org called Code For America to helping to found the United States Digital Service under Obama, bringing some of that UK GDS spirit to America's dreadful online presence, which had been largely built and maintained by beltway bandits who'd billed handsomely and delivered some of the internet's greatest crimes against usability:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Digital_Service

But the USDS's legacy is bitter. In 2025, USDS was effectively dismantled and replaced with DOGE, Elon Musk's handpicked team of tech-bro cultists who set out to dismantle as much of the US government as possible, deliberately sabotaging the usability of America's governmental systems to make it harder for the public to access the services they are entitled to and pay for with their taxes.

My own run-in with this was my attempt to get a certificate of citizenship for my daughter when she turned 18: all I could find was an online form that started by requiring me to list the dates and flight numbers for every trip I'd taken to the USA from the time I was born to the day I became a US citizen, a 50+ year period that started with a trip to visit my snowbird grandparents in Florida when I was six months old. The entire support and advice service for the US Customs and Immigration Service has been replaced with a DOGE chatbot that repeatedly emails and texts links to the form, no matter what question you ask, and no matter whether you call, email or use the website's chat interface:

https://pluralistic.net/2026/02/06/doge-ball/#n-600

Many of the DOGE kids were monsters. The most chilling DOGE story I've heard was the anonymous testimony of NIH officials who begged the DOGE children who were dismantling their work to spare some long-running cancer research projects whose great promise would be vaporized if they were interrupted. The DOGE kids laughed at these entreaties, saying that once Musk had perfected "General AI" we wouldn't need cancer research, because their tame AI god would cure cancer.

But not every DOGE operator was a digital arsonist. Take Dan Berulis, a DOGE staffer who came out of the private sector and later turned whistleblower over the group's activities, who now faces assassination attempts:

https://www.wired.com/story/he-blew-the-whistle-on-doge-then-his-brakes-were-cut/

Berulis joined DOGE to improve America's digital infrastructure, not to dismantle it. When he talks about his motives, he sounds like an early GDS pioneer, one of Audrey Tang's direct-action government data scrapers, or one of the Code For America hackers who followed Pahlka to USDS:

https://www.npr.org/2025/04/15/nx-s1-5355896/doge-nlrb-elon-musk-spacex-security

DOGE was a catastrophe. It left America's government digital presence in far worse shape than it found it, and even the modest savings it claimed to have made from all this destruction turn out to be lies:

https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/elon-musk-doge-made-big-110000036.html

But as Berulis demonstrates, there is a bipartisan group of skilled, ethical technologists who are desperate to do meaningful public interest work. Their numbers swell every day, as Big Tech continues to curdle – no longer merely sclerotic and enshittifying monopolies, now active participants in Trump's authoritarian dismantling of democracy itself:

https://pluralistic.net/2025/10/06/america-with-chinese-characteristics/#orphaned-syrian-refugees-need-not-apply

Tech bosses' gleeful mass layoffs mean that tech workers can no longer count on good treatment and stable, high-earning careers; at the same time, tech bosses' betrayal of democracy makes the prospect of working for a tech company far more ethically dubious than mere ad-tech optimizations. The result is a bumper crop of geeks looking for ways to do good with their lives and skills – as all the emails in my inbox asking for advice about this attests.

Enter NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who has made "public excellence" the cornerstone of his politics, hiring the most skilled workers he can find and then giving them all the authority and resources they need to fix 100,000 potholes, bring New York's worst landlords to justice, and deliver every day for all the people of New York:

https://pluralistic.net/2025/11/15/unconscionability/#standalone-authority

Mamdani has just unveiled his Public Interest Technology (PIT) Crews: five "game changing" teams of public interest hackers who will remake NYC's digital services:

https://www.nyc.gov/mayors-office/news/2026/07/transcript–mayor-mamdani-launches–public-interest-technology–

Writing for Wired, Steven "Hackers" Levy paints a portrait of New York's PIT Crews, describing them as "what DOGE should have been":

https://www.wired.com/story/mamdani-assembles-his-nyc-tech-team/

I'll go farther than that: the PIT Crews – and Mamdani's project as a whole – is delivering the entire failed promise of DOGE. Unlike Musk and Trump, Mamdani is actually rooting out fraud and waste. The reason Mamdani can do this – and the reason billionaires can't – is that the fraud and waste that undermines governments at all levels come from the super-rich, with their tax-dodging, their no-bid contracts, their addiction to public subsidies.

Musk owes his riches to federal bailouts and contracts: if he wants to "eliminate government fraud and waste" he should turn over his files to an IRS inspector (if he can find a survivor of the DOGE massacre) and surrender himself for a lengthy prison sentence. For Musk, "government fraud and waste" is a single mom on food stamps who misses a box on a 600-page form because she's exhausted from working three jobs to make rent – not a no-bid contractor trousering billions in public funds for projects that overcharge and underdeliver.

Mamdani's PIT Crews are "small groups of engineers and designers will strive to change the hidebound and confusing nature of current city services by using state-of-art skills to rapidly whip up specialized apps that solve real problems." Mamdani says that they'll "raise expectations on what government can deliver, because we really can deliver."

As Levy describes it, the big difference between the Obama-era USDS and 2026's PIT Crews is "a skeptical, almost adversarial, stance toward Big Tech." NYC's PIT Crews explicitly recruit top-tier hacker talent who want to "make software that doesn't serve advertisers, the military, or the pocketbooks of centibillionaires."

Their inaugural chief is Lisa Gelobter, a veteran of both tech firms and the USDS, who says that "Without technology, policy is just words written on a piece of paper." The first project on her roster is implementing "Click to Cancel," a policy inaugurated by Lina Khan, Biden's FTC Chief – and then dismantled by Trump. Under Click to Cancel, companies are required to create one-click workflows to cancel subscriptions and memberships, ending the pernicious, incredibly profitable practice of trapping people with impossible-to-halt recurring billings. Today, Khan is running Mamdani's Economic Development Board, and her Click to Cancel rule is back – for New Yorkers, at least:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/22/lina-khan-nyc-economic-development-board

NYC PIT Crew's new Click to Cancel site will be live when the policy takes effect on Oct 1. It's a whistleblower site that will make it easy to report merchants who make it hard to get shut of their online Roach Motels (users check in, but they don't check out). It's estimated the Click to Cancel rule will save New Yorkers $160m in the first year alone – but only if Mamdani can enforce it, which is why this website is so critical.

This focus on meat-and-potatoes service delivery was once dismissed as "sewer socialism," an unserious form of progressive politics with an undue focus on improving people's daily lives at the expense of high-flying political change. Today, Mamdani is at the vanguard of an army of proud sewer socialists, who say that once you deliver for people in their day-to-day existence, they will trust you and back you when you fight for deep, structural changes (and the corollary: if you can't deliver for people in their daily lives, why should they trust you when you claim that you'll make everything better?):

https://prospect.org/2026/04/10/zohran-mamdani-getting-new-york-city-believe-in-government/

3,000 techies applied for 35 jobs with NYC's PIT Crews, and, as Levy writes, many of them are high-flying senior coders who are willing to take a massive pay-cut and forfeit their stock options to do something that's both technically excellent and meaningful to their users' lives.

It's a clear message to other leaders, at every level of government. Many of the most skilled, ambitious people in every field want to make the world a better place. Every city, county and state could use a squadron of PIT Crews, and there's an army of coders who would give anything for the chance to give everything to make a better world.

Hey look at this (permalink)

What Was the Internet? https://www.bostonreview.net/articles/what-was-the-internet/
BMW Suddenly Blasts Its Cars’ Internal Screens With Aggressive Advertisements https://futurism.com/advanced-transport/bmw-suddenly-blasts-cars-advertisements
People in the midwest know what a livestream is https://www.garbageday.email/p/people-in-the-midwest-know-what-a-livestream-is
how Google can go legit https://blog.zgp.org/how-google-can-go-legit/
The Yardstick That Ate the Market https://itsg13.substack.com/p/the-yardstick-that-ate-the-market

Object permanence (permalink)

#25yrsago Moscow's pirate music market https://web.archive.org/web/20010912203143/https://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,45908,00.html

#25yrsago Webcomics v trad comics https://web.archive.org/web/20010821073756/https://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2001/08/09/comics/index.html

#25yrsago Aussie teens are addicted to their phones https://web.archive.org/web/20010818220523/http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/story_5807.asp

#20yrsago Canadian librarians decry “Captain Copyright” https://web.archive.org/web/20060813004140/https://cla.ca/Access_Copyright_CptCopy_let_Final_.pdf

#20yrsago TiVo/Macrovision screw up breaks devices again https://zatznotfunny.com/2006-08/tivo-macrovision-and-the-stealth-broadcast-flag/

#20yrsago Will the Supreme Court strike down the TSA’s secret laws? https://papersplease.org/gilmore/

#20yrsago Robot garage loses software license, strands parkers https://web.archive.org/web/20060809213517/https://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,71554-0.html?tw=wn_index_1

#15yrsago Typewriter-part penguin https://web.archive.org/web/20111116020049/http://jemayer.tumblr.com/post/8674700147

#15yrsago Choosing Android because you don’t trust Google https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2011/aug/09/technology-failure-more-important-than-success

#15yrsago HOWTO sound Canadian https://web.archive.org/web/20110610104919/http://www.oed.com/public/canadianenglish

#15yrsago Lev Grossman’s The Magician King: fantasy sequel, the banality of magic and the magic of banality https://memex.craphound.com/2011/08/09/lev-grossmans-the-magician-king-fantasy-sequel-the-banality-of-magic-and-the-magic-of-banality/

#10yrsago Rosie the Riveter, Ghostbusters edition https://www.deviantart.com/hugohugo/art/We-Can-Bust-It-621803816

#10yrsago Thai telcoms regulator wants tourists to use location-tracking SIMs https://web.archive.org/web/20160812182254/https://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/Thailand-mulls-location-tracking-tourist-SIM-cards-30292551.html

#10yrsago Mysterious medical research consortium: we should own volunteers’ clinical trial data for 5 years https://www.techdirt.com/2016/08/08/medical-researchers-want-up-to-five-years-exclusivity-clinical-trial-data-derived-volunteers/

#10yrsago Illegal “Warranty Void If Removed” still ubiquitous: they’re on the Xbox One S https://web.archive.org/web/20160809092923/https://motherboard.vice.com/read/the-xbox-one-s-still-uses-microsofts-illegal-warranty-void-if-removed-sticker

#10yrsago Your medical data: misappropriated by health-tech companies, off-limits to you https://web.archive.org/web/20180806230935/https://www.wired.com/2016/02/our-medical-data-must-become-free/

#10yrsago Return of Dieselgate: 3 more hidden programs found in VW Audi/Porsche firmware https://www.reuters.com/article/us-volkswagen-emissions-audi-idUSKCN10I0PB/

#10yrsago Timelapse of pills dissolving: “decaying clowns” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rY3X4xafs0

#10yrsago Proof-of-concept ransomware for smart thermostats demoed at Defcon https://web.archive.org/web/20161020083358/https://www.pentestpartners.com/blog/thermostat-ransomware-a-lesson-in-iot-security/

#10yrsago Compounds in human exhalations during movies vary in response to suspense and comedy https://www.nature.com/articles/srep25464

#10yrsago How racist traffic stops criminalize black people, and what to do about it https://www.vox.com/2016/8/5/12364580/police-overcriminalization-net-widening

#10yrsago Chicago cops switched off bodycams and high-fived after shooting unarmed black teen https://web.archive.org/web/20160807194244/http://www.theroot.com/articles/news/2016/08/chicago-pd-paul-oneal-video/

#10yrsago DoJ to judges: use Tor to protect your internet connection https://web.archive.org/web/20160807025945/http://motherboard.vice.com/read/department-of-justice-official-tells-hundred-federal-judges-to-use-tor

#5yrsago Expectations management pluralistic.net/2021/08/08/expectations-management-part-v/

#5yrsago When your boss wants an AI camera in your bedroom https://pluralistic.net/2021/08/09/computer-says-no/#disciplinary-tech

#5yrsago The 22 Murders of Madison May https://pluralistic.net/2021/08/09/computer-says-no/#existential-crisis

#1yrago Millionaire on billionaire violence https://pluralistic.net/2025/08/09/elite-disunity/#awoken-giants

Upcoming appearances (permalink)

Virtual: EFFecting Change: Who the Machine Serves, Aug 12
https://www.eff.org/event/effecting-change-who-machine-serves
Edinburgh International Book Festival with Jimmy Wales, Aug 17
https://www.edbookfest.co.uk/events/the-front-list-cory-doctorow-and-jimmy-wales
Sydney: The Festival of Dangerous Ideas, Aug 23-24
https://festivalofdangerousideas.com/program/
Melbourne: Enshittification at the Wheeler Centre, Aug 25
https://www.wheelercentre.com/events-tickets/season-2026/cory-doctorow-enshittification
Brighton: The Reverse Centaur's Guide to Life After AI with Carole Cadwalladr (Brighton Dome), Sep 8
https://brightondome.org/whats-on/LSC-cory-doctorow-the-reverse-centaurs-guide-to-life-after-ai/
London: The Reverse Centaur's Guide to Life After AI with Riley Quinn (Foyle's Picadilly), Sep 9
https://www.foyles.co.uk/events/enshittification-cory-doctorow-riley-quinn
South Bend: An Evening With Cory Doctorow (Notre Dame), Oct 6
https://franco.nd.edu/events/2026/10/06/an-evening-with-cory-doctorow/
Vancouver: BC Policy Solutions Gala, Nov 12
https://bcpolicy.ca/gala/

Recent appearances (permalink)

The AI Enshittification Bubble (Hidden Forces)
https://hiddenforces.io/podcasts/the-ai-enshittification-bubble-cory-doctorow/
F@#$ the AI Overlords (On The Media)
https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm/articles/f-the-ai-overlords
Why AI Won't Replace Workers, But Will Crash The Economy (Smart Cookies)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRRmUuxJolY
AI and the Enshittification Era (The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dAIJRjb-Bw
AI is not inevitable (Betakit)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbiTVkq1WHo

Latest books (permalink)

"The Reverse-Centaur's Guide to AI," a short book about being a better AI critic, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, June 2026
https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374621568/thereversecentaursguidetolifeafterai/
"Canny Valley": A limited edition collection of the collages I create for Pluralistic, self-published, September 2025 https://pluralistic.net/2025/09/04/illustrious/#chairman-bruce
"Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It," Farrar, Straus, Giroux, October 7 2025
https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374619329/enshittification/
"Picks and Shovels": a sequel to "Red Team Blues," about the heroic era of the PC, Tor Books (US), Head of Zeus (UK), February 2025 (https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250865908/picksandshovels).
"The Bezzle": a sequel to "Red Team Blues," about prison-tech and other grifts, Tor Books (US), Head of Zeus (UK), February 2024 (thebezzle.org).
"The Lost Cause:" a solarpunk novel of hope in the climate emergency, Tor Books (US), Head of Zeus (UK), November 2023 (http://lost-cause.org).
"The Internet Con": A nonfiction book about interoperability and Big Tech (Verso) September 2023 (http://seizethemeansofcomputation.org). Signed copies at Book Soup (https://www.booksoup.com/book/9781804291245).
"Red Team Blues": "A grabby, compulsive thriller that will leave you knowing more about how the world works than you did before." Tor Books http://redteamblues.com.
"Chokepoint Capitalism: How to Beat Big Tech, Tame Big Content, and Get Artists Paid, with Rebecca Giblin", on how to unrig the markets for creative labor, Beacon Press/Scribe 2022 https://chokepointcapitalism.com

Upcoming books (permalink)

"The Post-American Internet," a geopolitical sequel of sorts to Enshittification, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2027
"Unauthorized Bread": a middle-grades graphic novel adapted from my novella about refugees, toasters and DRM, FirstSecond, April 20, 2027
"Enshittification, Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It" (the graphic novel), Firstsecond, 2027
"The Memex Method," Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 2027

Colophon (permalink)

Today's top sources:

Currently writing:

“Once Is Enemy Action,” a science fiction novel about the origins of modern technofascism. Friday's words: 564 (2916 total).

"The Post-American Internet," a sequel to "Enshittification," about the better world the rest of us get to have now that Trump has torched America. Fourth draft completed. Submitted to editor.
A Little Brother short story about DIY insulin PLANNING

This work – excluding any serialized fiction – is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. That means you can use it any way you like, including commercially, provided that you attribute it to me, Cory Doctorow, and include a link to pluralistic.net.

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Quotations and images are not included in this license; they are included either under a limitation or exception to copyright, or on the basis of a separate license. Please exercise caution.

How to get Pluralistic:

Blog (no ads, tracking, or data-collection):

Pluralistic.net

Newsletter (no ads, tracking, or data-collection):

https://pluralistic.net/plura-list

Mastodon (no ads, tracking, or data-collection):

https://mamot.fr/@pluralistic

Bluesky (no ads, possible tracking and data-collection):

https://bsky.app/profile/doctorow.pluralistic.net

Medium (no ads, paywalled):

https://doctorow.medium.com/

Tumblr (mass-scale, unrestricted, third-party surveillance and advertising):

https://mostlysignssomeportents.tumblr.com/tagged/pluralistic

"When life gives you SARS, you make sarsaparilla" -Joey "Accordion Guy" DeVilla

READ CAREFULLY: By reading this, you agree, on behalf of your employer, to release me from all obligations and waivers arising from any and all NON-NEGOTIATED agreements, licenses, terms-of-service, shrinkwrap, clickwrap, browsewrap, confidentiality, non-disclosure, non-compete and acceptable use policies ("BOGUS AGREEMENTS") that I have entered into with your employer, its partners, licensors, agents and assigns, in perpetuity, without prejudice to my ongoing rights and privileges. You further represent that you have the authority to release me from any BOGUS AGREEMENTS on behalf of your employer.

ISSN: 3066-764X

August 7, 2026 - Letters from an American

2026-08-08T06:29:19.000Z

On Tuesday, August 4, Erin Banco, Mike Stone, and Jonathan Landay of Reuters reported that the U.S. has used “virtually all” of its highly accurate long-range missiles that can strike accurately from a safe distance. Sources told the journalists that the dwindling missile supplies could make it more difficult for the U.S. to deter Russia and China.

The journalists reported that the shortages contributed to President Donald J. Trump’s decision not to resume massive strikes against Iran.

At 12:34 on Thursday morning, Trump denied the story, posting that “[t]he U.S. has massive amounts of ‘munitions,’ especially of certain types. Additionally, large amounts are being manufactured and shipped to the U.S. as needed. Defense companies are building the largest number of plants and factories in our country’s history. The ‘leakers’ of these treasonous statements are being hunted down. Long term jail sentences will be sought!”

Despite Trump’s protestations, Tara Copp, Natalie Allison, and Noah Robertson of the Washington Post reported yesterday morning that Trump exploded at Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over the issue. Sources told the journalists that at the cabinet meeting Trump held at Camp David last Friday, Trump appeared to confront Hegseth with his concern that he had been misled about weapons shortages. The journalists reported that Trump is increasingly frustrated with Hegseth, who was enthusiastic about striking Iran and helped to convince Trump it would be a quick victory.

Hegseth allegedly responded by blaming Deputy Secretary of Defense Stephen Feinberg, the private equity billionaire who is pushing Congress to pass a $1.5 trillion military budget while at the same time he is overseeing the newly created Economic Defense Unit (EDU) in the Defense Department. The EDU is directing government investment in private sector defense contractors and has cut deals for the government to start taking equity stakes in those businesses.

Yesterday Alexander Ward, Josh Dawsey, Lara Seligman, and Meridith McGraw of the Wall Street Journal reported that Trump has ordered investigations into who has been leaking information about the weapons shortages, and that Trump called Feinberg to talk about speeding up production. Hegseth joined the call. The journalists also reported that Vice President J.D. Vance talked to Republican senators on Thursday to defend the administration’s handling of the war on Iran.

Also yesterday, Seligman and Yoko Kubota of the Wall Street Journal reported that U.S. intelligence assesses that the depletion of U.S. munitions has made it more likely that Russia will try to fracture the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) alliance in the next few years by attacking a NATO nation.

Global affairs columnist David Rothkopf wrote today in the Daily Beast that replenishing the munitions stockpiles Hegseth and Trump have depleted will take years and will cost hundreds of billions of dollars.

Rothkopf reports that experts in the military and former employees of the Defense Department consider Hegseth’s record “to be the most egregious example of defense management malpractice in our history. And,” Rothkopf wrote, “that’s saying something since this is the country that gave us the Vietnam War, the Iraq War, the Afghanistan War, blank check support for Israeli genocide in Gaza, and drunken sailor levels of defense spending that have actually weakened us while, in so doing, strengthening our rivals worldwide.”

Numbers released by the Department of Labor this morning showed that the U.S. economy shed 23,000 positions in July, a significant drop from the 83,000 new jobs economists had predicted. The department also revised the jobs numbers from May and June down by more than 100,000 jobs. “That’s a big kick in the guts,” economist Justin Wolfers wrote. “[O]ver the past three months, the US economy created about -200K fewer jobs than we had thought.” “Revise down your views substantially,” he added.

The unemployment rate fell to 4.1% as nearly a million people stopped looking for work over the past two months. Carl Quintanilla of CNBC noted Schwab’s observation that “[t]he labor force participation rate has given up all gains since February 2021.” According to the National Women’s Law Center, women make up the vast majority of the labor force decline.

Republican senators have responded to the crisis in national security and the slowing economy by voting to hold Dr. Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress for invoking his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent in a Senate Homeland Security and Government Oversight Committee hearing on July 29. As the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health, Fauci was part of Trump’s Coronavirus Task Force.

As Chris Iorfida of CBC News notes, Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) has helped to lead those who blame Fauci for the origins of Covid, for masking protocols and shutting down churches and schools, and of exaggerating death tolls, attacking him to whip up their base. Paul has said repeatedly he would like to see Fauci behind bars. Before he left office, former President Joe Biden issued a preemptive pardon for Fauci to prevent MAGA Republicans from vindictive prosecution.

Although Fauci has testified before Congress more than 200 times, including more than 20 times about Covid, he took the Fifth when Paul pulled him in front of the committee the Kentucky senator chairs last week. The day before Fauci’s testimony, Paul posted on social media: “If Anthony Fauci comes before my committee tomorrow and perjures himself, his pre-emptive pardon from Joe Biden will not protect him.”

In his statement before testifying, Fauci said, “Given Senator Paul’s obvious obsession with calling for my prosecution, his repeated slanderous comments about me, and recently his publicly releasing my unredacted personal diary aimed at embarrassing and intimidating me, the only conclusion I can reach is that the sole reason he is calling me before this committee is to get me to say something, anything, that could vindicate his repeated public pledges that I end up, in his words, ‘behind bars.’”

And so Fauci invoked his Fifth Amendment rights more than 100 times as Republican senators taunted and berated him. On Thursday, Paul led the Republicans on the Senate Homeland Security Committee to hold Fauci in contempt of Congress for failing to comply with a federal subpoena by refusing to answer their questions. All Democrats voted no.

Normally, a contempt vote would then go to the full Senate, where it would need 60 votes, but Paul likely knows there are not 60 senators willing to agree to the measure. So, as Sabrina Siddiqui and

Sadie Gurman of the Wall Street Journal report, he is bypassing the Senate and asking Vice President J.D. Vance to certify the report and refer it directly to the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, Jeanine Pirro.

Meanwhile, Trump continues to insist that vandals, not a poor installation, caused the damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, and to demand that Pirro prosecute the wrongdoers. He continues to insist that Olympian David Hearn, whom the Department of Justice indicted for the damage, be prosecuted, despite Pirro’s move to drop the indictment, claiming the problems came from the installation itself.

“U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro should re-visit her hastily made decision, especially since it turned out that the ‘gentleman’ involved is a big player in ActBlue, a disgraceful fundraising SCAM, and is represented by a TRUMP DERANGED SLEAZEBAG, Political Hack Lawyer, Norm Eisen,” the president of the United States posted.

Trump was, perhaps, even more incensed by today’s ruling by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. Two of the three judges upheld a lower court’s decision that Trump cannot build his ballroom without congressional approval.

“Each President is a temporary tenant, not the owner, of the White House and its Executive Residence. The President has no—and claims no—constitutionally assigned authority over that property, which is designed and maintained for the use of all Presidents, current and future, and for the American people,” the court wrote. “We are aware of no instance in American history in which a President unilaterally and using privately collected funds demolished substantial portions of the White House that Congress authorized to be built and American taxpayers paid for. Until now.”

They noted that Trump tore down the East Wing of the White House with no review and no advance notice, and quoted the district court’s finding that the “government’s concerns regarding the safety and security of the White House…[are] a problem of the President’s own making!”

A judge Trump appointed dissented, saying the ballroom likely falls under the president’s authority to make improvements to the Executive Residence for security purposes.

The court stayed its decision in order to enable Trump to appeal to the Supreme Court, which he said he will do. On social media, he posted: “The Military and Secret Service are viewing this horrendous, politically motivated, and unlawful ruling as a National Security threat to our Nation in that the entire Complex is being built for the protection of our Country and, additionally, all future Presidents.”

He added that “the desperately needed, and totally secure Ballroom, which is being built ahead of schedule and under budget, is a Gift from President Trump and Great Patriots of the United States of America. There will be no expense to the American Taxpayer.” In fact, as Sarah Blaskey and Jonathan O’Connell reported in the Washington Post in June, officials from the federal government have already committed taxpayer money for more than half of the cost of the ballroom.

Later, Trump posted again, saying of presidents: “We are not tenants, who pay rent and do all other things that a tenant must do, we are PRESIDENTS, elected by the people of the United States States of America, and have many rights, including the right to fix, renovate, secure, protect, and beautify the White House grounds.”

Then he posted AI images of himself with famous World War II–era generals George S. Patton and Douglas MacArthur; two images with the caption “TRUMP 2028,” one saying “Just kidding!” and the other without comment; two images suggesting the roof of the ballroom would have the “great and very important military asset” of a drone port; two images claiming to show “Vandalism” at the reflecting pool; an article claiming he had “won the Iran War’; and an image making fun of Biden for allegedly having a poor golf handicap.

At polling website Fifty Plus One today, Cooper Burton and Mary Radcliffe noted that voters are even more concerned about inflation and prices now than they were in 2024, by a significant margin. In October 2024, 24% of Americans identified inflation as the nation’s most important issue. In a poll released this week, those numbers had jumped to 36%.

—

Notes:

https://www.reuters.com/world/us-has-used-virtually-all-its-long-range-precision-missiles-during-iran-war-2026-08-04/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/08/05/trump-hegseth-clashed-camp-david-over-iran-missile-depletion-concerns/

https://www.wsj.com/politics/national-security/private-equity-billionaire-shakes-up-pentagon-7264fec0

https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-worst-case-of-defense-department-malpractice-in-americas-history/

https://www.wsj.com/politics/national-security/trump-orders-leak-probe-after-venting-about-media-coverage-of-munitions-stockpile-bdd0251b?st=DfJ5rj

https://www.politico.com/news/2026/08/07/jobs-trump-economy-midterms-fed-01028617

https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm

https://www.wsj.com/economy/jobs/july-jobs-report-unemployment-0d7c08a7

https://www.wsj.com/world/europe/u-s-intel-finds-putin-could-test-natos-resolve-with-limited-incursion-e3b02e2c?mod=hp_lead_pos1

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/us-senate-fauci-testimony-stakes-9.7288490

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5997913-fauci-invokes-fifth-covid-hearing-senate/

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/06/us/politics/fauci-contempt-of-congress.html

https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/is-fauci-in-legal-trouble-what-to-know-after-contempt-vote-88adb3d3

https://apnews.com/article/fauci-congress-justice-department-c068561f3d2adddd0a659e099c212c49

https://apnews.com/article/trump-ballroom-court-ruling-1528247275ec6103da892d271d4ee883

https://media.cadc.uscourts.gov/opinions/docs/2026/08/26-5123-2187096.pdf

https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2026/06/16/records-reveal-600m-estimate-trumps-ballroom-project-with-half-taxpayers/

FiftyPlusOne

Affordability concerns are even more important to voters than in 2024

Welcome to The Trendline, the FiftyPlusOne.news weekly polling roundup. Subscribe to get it delivered straight to your inbox and get bundled access to our polling website…

14 hours ago · 22 likes · FiftyPlusOne, Cooper Burton, and Mary Radcliffe

https://nwlc.org/press-release/july-jobs-report-women-accounted-for-100-percent-of-the-labor-force-decline/

Trumpstruth:

Bluesky:

justinwolfers.bsky.social/post/3msikvcxh272b

carlquintanilla.bsky.social/post/3msinuevwls2l

The Voting Rights Act - Letters from an American

2026-08-07T20:18:24.000Z

House Democrats Demand Answers From Trump’s VA on Vets Struggling to Access Mental Healthcare - ProPublica

2026-08-07T10:00:00.000Z

Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins received a letter signed by more than 60 lawmakers citing a recent ProPublica investigation that detailed how the agency has failed to provide veterans with adequate mental healthcare. Samuel Corum/Getty Images

What Happened: More than 60 House Democrats are pressing Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins for answers about how the agency’s mental healthcare has been increasingly strained under President Donald Trump’s second administration. The lawmakers sent the secretary a letter last week asking questions about the state of VA care, citing a ProPublica investigation from this spring that revealed the agency’s mental health workforce has been plummeting and veterans have been left in the lurch.

What They Said: The letter was spearheaded by Rep. Judy Chu, who is a psychologist and represents a district in Southern California. “Caring for our nation’s Veterans is a fundamental responsibility,” the letter says. “That includes ensuring access to high-quality mental health care.”

The lawmakers demanded that the VA disclose details about its shortage of mental health providers and the impact on veterans. It also pushed the agency to lay out how long veterans have to wait for care.

As ProPublica has detailed, while the VA has long had a shortfall of mental health providers, the situation has gotten far worse under the current Trump administration. Hundreds of mental health staffers have left the VA and not been replaced.

Background: ProPublica’s investigation recounted the troubling experiences of both mental health providers and of veterans seeking care.

With so many staffers leaving and not being replaced, the remaining providers have often been stretched remarkably thin.

A psychologist who worked for a VA in Arizona recounted how some of her one-on-one sessions were replaced with online group sessions that included as many as 35 veterans. The therapist said their remaining individual sessions were sometimes limited to as little as 16 minutes.

“It was always bad,” said the psychologist. “And now it’s at a breaking point.”

In VA exit surveys that ProPublica obtained, mental health staffers who quit often wrote that they were no longer able to provide high-quality care.

“Mental Health is understaffed, burned out,” wrote one New York-based staffer who was leaving. “There is not enough mental health care for the Veterans who need the services.”

Veterans, meanwhile, have started to fall through the cracks.

Jason Beaman, a Navy and Army vet, was shuffled among therapists who later left until he finally had enough. “I just quit. I don’t want to mess with the therapist anymore,” Beaman told us this spring.

Why It Matters: After Trump returned to office last year, his administration promised to deliver veterans “the highest quality care.”

The VA is the country’s largest healthcare system, serving 9 million veterans. Those men and women face many mental health issues at a higher rate than the general population. They die by suicide at roughly twice the rate.

VA mental health staff have developed deep expertise in addressing the particular needs of vets. Indeed, studies have shown that vets get better care at the VA than through private providers.

“VA psychologists are best in class,” said Russell Lemle, former chief psychologist for the San Francisco VA Health Care System and now a senior policy analyst at the Veterans Healthcare Policy Institute. “When you lose them, the veterans are the ones who pay the price.”

ProPublica reported that in January, the department had around 500 fewer psychologists and psychiatrists than it had at the same time last year. Recent VA data shows those head counts continue to decline.

Response: In response to questions from ProPublica, VA spokesperson Quinn Slaven defended the agency. “The Trump Administration is solely focused on measuring VA’s success by how well it serves Veterans,” Slaven wrote in an email. “This commonsense approach has led to dramatic improvements for Veterans, families, caregivers, and survivors across the country.”

Slaven said that the VA completed a record number of mental healthcare appointments in the past fiscal year while also lowering veterans’ wait times.

The VA previously declined our request for an interview. Instead, spokesperson Peter Kasperowicz accused ProPublica of attempting to mislead the public by “cherry picking issues that are limited to a handful of sites and in many cases were worse under the Biden Administration.”

After ProPublica shared the findings of its investigation and the names of veterans who would appear in it, the agency reached out to several to inquire about their care and offer help.

The congressional letter gives the VA until Aug. 14 to respond.

Read the Investigation

The post House Democrats Demand Answers From Trump’s VA on Vets Struggling to Access Mental Healthcare appeared first on ProPublica.

What Is the Trump Administration Doing With Foreign Aid Money? - ProPublica

2026-08-07T09:00:00.000Z

In a 2025 meeting, U.S. President Donald Trump held up a printed article from American Thinker while accusing South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa of state-sanctioned violence against white farmers in South Africa. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Since he returned to office, President Donald Trump’s administration has upended foreign aid. It’s labeled well-established, long-running programs as “not aligned with American interests” and slashed their budgets.

Still, the billions of taxpayer dollars Congress has allocated for foreign aid programs must be spent; lawmakers have insisted the government continue to fund humanitarian aid, global health and pro-democracy causes around the world. With most of the old programs now gone, however, we wanted to know: What is the Trump administration doing with that money now?

Recently, we published our investigation that found one answer to that question in a little-known bureau of the State Department that has dramatically transformed under Trump. For decades, the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, known as DRL, has supported human rights in some of the most oppressive countries in the world. Now, our reporting found, it’s planning to direct funds to controversial groups supporting right-wing causes in Europe and elsewhere.

Our full story lays out some of the groups the government has considered funding, which include a British free-speech organization that has fought against bans on “gay conversion therapy” and a British American think tank created this year to focus on “existential threats to Britain, to America, and to our shared Judeo-Christian civilisation.” (Administration officials dropped that grant after significant pushback from Congress.)

One proposed grant particularly caught our attention: Trump administration officials suggested funding research on crime against minority populations in South Africa.

It’s clear from sources we spoke with that the key targeted minority population in question is the white ethnic group known as Afrikaners. Afrikaners were responsible for creating the nation’s infamous and brutal racially segregated apartheid system. Previously, DRL staff had been told to begin the process of awarding funds to a group called Lex Libertas, which was founded by a controversial figure who has called for Afrikaner self-governance. The group is currently fundraising to place 3,000 white crosses on the National Mall in remembrance of attacks on South African farmers.

The proposed grant was later opened up to allow a broader set of invited groups to apply for $1 million of funding, though it is still intended for the same purpose, according to people with knowledge of the process. The State Department declined to say whether Lex Libertas will be among those invited to compete, citing ongoing deliberations, but said the Trump administration has serious concerns about the human rights situation in South Africa that need to be addressed. Lex Libertas did not respond to questions about the organization or the proposed grant.

Former diplomats who have worked extensively on human rights told us they were shocked that the victimization of white South Africans would be prioritized over the serious issues elsewhere in the region.

“It’s laughable to suggest that on the African continent, the prime issue of human rights concern is whites in South Africa,” one former agency official said when we asked him about the grant. South Africa is plagued by violence, but extensive research has found that white South African farmers are not victims of crime at higher rates than other groups.

Experts also described the proposed grant to fund research into violence against Afrikaners as keeping with the Trump administration’s overall stance toward South Africa.

For decades, the U.S. relationship with the country has been symbolized by our massive support for HIV care, Mattie Webb, a professor at the Virginia Military Institute who studies South Africa and U.S. foreign policy, told us.

Since Trump returned to office, there’s been a stark shift as the administration has strengthened ties with borderline white nationalist groups that are considered fringe in South Africa.

“The U.S. is very clearly shifting its priorities away from aid that would benefit far more people in South Africa to this narrow focus on the white minority,” Webb said.

In the last 18 months, Trump has argued there is a genocide of white South Africans and used claims that white people are subjected to disproportionate violence to justify cutting off U.S. funding for HIV treatment and research. And even as he’s barred nearly all new refugees from the United States, he’s welcomed white South Africans, fast-tracking their entry.

There have long been tensions between South Africa and the U.S., former diplomats told us, but the aid the U.S. provided saved lives and helped sustain a working relationship that is vital to U.S. national security and economic interests. Now, by seeking to fund a movement antagonistic to the South African government, the U.S. risks driving a wedge between the two nations.

Other grants also raised red flags for experts and lawmakers. Political appointees at the State Department are considering funding a British free-speech organization that has fought bans on discredited therapy practices that attempt to convert gay people to heterosexuality. That proposed $5 million grant would provide support for people facing “deplatforming” and advocate against “restrictive online safety and hate speech laws,” according to a document we reviewed. (The organization’s founder said it had “neither applied for nor been awarded a grant from the US State Department or any other branch of the US Government” but did not respond to our other questions.) And a call for proposals recently released by the bureau would fund research, conferences and cultural engagements in wealthy democracies to develop “civilizational self-confidence in Europe.”

Not all the proposed funding is directed to controversial groups, our reporting found. But even some of the grants slated to fund more traditional human rights projects skirt federal requirements for competitive bidding that are meant to deter waste, fraud and abuse. Instead, officials are trying to direct millions to handpicked organizations, according to sources and documents.

In response to questions about our reporting, the State Department stressed that the process of awarding grants is ongoing and that multiple offices provide input, writing that “programs are still in active deliberation and receipt of a grant is not guaranteed to any organization that does not meet all requirement and standards for federal grants.”

We are continuing to report on foreign aid and the Trump administration’s policies in South Africa. If you have tips or information we should know about either of these issues, please feel free to get in touch with us! Reach out via phone or Signal to Anna Maria Barry-Jester at 408-504-8131 or Sharon Lerner at 718-877-5236.

The post What Is the Trump Administration Doing With Foreign Aid Money? appeared first on ProPublica.

August 6, 2026 - Letters from an American

2026-08-07T04:45:46.000Z

Sixty-one years ago, on August 6, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act. The need for the law was explained in its full title: “An Act to enforce the fifteenth amendment to the Constitution, and for other purposes.”

In the wake of the Civil War, Americans tried to create a new nation in which the law treated Black men and white men as equals. In 1865 they ratified the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, outlawing enslavement except as punishment for crimes. In 1868 they adjusted the Constitution again, guaranteeing that anyone born or naturalized in the United States—except certain Indigenous Americans—was a citizen, opening up suffrage to Black men. In 1870, after Georgia legislators expelled their newly seated Black colleagues, Americans defended the right of Black men to vote by adding that right to the Constitution.

All three of those amendments—the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth—gave Congress the power to enforce them. In 1870, Congress established the Department of Justice to do just that. Reactionary white southerners had been using state laws, and the unwillingness of state judges and juries to protect Black Americans from white gangs and cheating employers, to keep Black people subservient. White men organized as the Ku Klux Klan to terrorize Black men and to keep them and their white allies from voting to change that system. In 1870 the federal government stepped in to protect Black rights and prosecute members of the Ku Klux Klan.

With federal power now behind the Constitutional protection of equality, threatening jail for those who violated the law, white opponents of Black voting changed their argument against it.

In 1871 they began to say that they had no problem with Black men voting on racial grounds; their objection to Black voting was that Black men, just out of enslavement, were poor and uneducated. They were voting for lawmakers who promised them public services, like roads and schools, that could only be paid for with tax levies.

The idea that Black voters were socialists—they actually used that term in 1871—meant that white northerners who had fought to replace the hierarchical society of the Old South with a society based on equality began to change their tune. They looked the other way as white men kept Black men from voting, first with terrorism and then with grandfather clauses that cut out Black men without mentioning race by permitting a man to vote if his grandfather had voted, literacy tests in which white registrars got to decide who passed, poll taxes, and so on. States also cut up districts unevenly to favor the Democrats, who ran an all-white, segregationist party. By 1880 the South was solidly Democratic, and it would remain so until 1964.

Southern states always held elections. It was just foreordained that Democrats would win them.

Black Americans never accepted this state of affairs, but their opposition did not gain powerful national traction until after World War II.

During that war, Americans from all walks of life had turned out to defeat fascism, a government system based on the idea that some people are better than others. Americans defended democracy and, for all that Black Americans fought in segregated units, and that race riots broke out in cities across the country during the war years, and that the government interned Japanese Americans, lawmakers began to recognize that the nation could not effectively define itself as a democracy if Black and Brown people lived in substandard housing, received substandard educations, could not advance from menial jobs, and could not vote to change any of those circumstances.

Meanwhile, Black Americans and people of color who had fought for the nation overseas brought home their determination to be treated equally, especially as the financial collapse of European nations loosened their grip on their former African and Asian colonies and launched new nations.

Those interested in advancing Black rights turned, once again, to the federal government to overrule discriminatory state laws. Spurred by lawyers Thurgood Marshall and Constance Baker Motley, judges used the due process clause and the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to argue that the protections in the Bill of Rights applied to the states, that is, the states could not deprive any American of equality. In 1954 the Supreme Court under Chief Justice Earl Warren, the Republican former governor of California, used this doctrine when it handed down the Brown v. Board of Education decision declaring segregated schools unconstitutional.

White reactionaries responded with violence, but Black Americans continued to stand up for their rights. In 1957 and 1960, under pressure from Republican president Dwight Eisenhower, Congress passed civil rights acts designed to empower the federal government to enforce the laws protecting Black voting.

In 1961 the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and the Council of Federated Organizations (COFO) began intensive efforts to register voters and to organize communities to support political change. Because only 6.7% of Black Mississippians were registered, Mississippi became a focal point, and in the “Freedom Summer” of 1964, organized under Bob Moses, volunteers set out to register voters. On June 21, Ku Klux Klan members, at least one of whom was a law enforcement officer, murdered organizers James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner near Philadelphia, Mississippi, and, when discovered, laughed at the idea they would be punished for the murders.

That year, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which strengthened voting rights. When Black Americans still couldn’t register to vote, on March 7, 1965, in Selma, Alabama, marchers set out for Montgomery to demonstrate that they were being kept from registering. Law enforcement officers on horseback met them with clubs on the Edmund Pettus Bridge. The officers beat the marchers, fracturing the skull of young John Lewis (who would go on to serve 17 terms in Congress).

On March 15, President Johnson called for Congress to pass legislation defending Americans’ right to vote. It did. And on this day in 1965, the Voting Rights Act became law. It became such a fundamental part of our legal system that Congress repeatedly reauthorized it, by large margins, as recently as 2006.

But in the 2013 Shelby County v. Holder decision, the Supreme Court under Chief Justice John Roberts struck down the provision of the law requiring that states with histories of voter discrimination get approval from the Department of Justice before they changed their voting laws. Immediately, the legislatures of those states, now dominated by Republicans, began to pass measures to suppress voting by Democrats and, by extension, people of color. In the wake of the 2020 election, Republican-dominated states increased the rate of voter suppression, and on July 1, 2021, the Supreme Court permitted such suppression with the Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee decision.

On April 29 of this year, the Supreme Court continued the assault on the Voting Rights Act. In Louisiana v. Callais it rejected the longstanding interpretation that sometimes, in order to guarantee Black representation in government, states have had to create districts that are made up primarily of Black Americans. By a vote of 6–3, with the right-wing justices in the majority, the Supreme Court in April declared Louisiana’s construction of a majority-minority district unconstitutional under the Fifteenth Amendment. It was, they said, an unconstitutional racial gerrymander.

A 2024 study by the Brennan Center of nearly a billion vote records over 14 years showed that the racial voting gap is growing almost twice as fast in places that used to be covered by the preclearance requirement. Another recent study showed that in Alabama, the gap between white and Black voter turnout in the 2024 election was the highest since at least 2008. If nonwhite voters in Alabama had voted at the same rate as white voters, more than 200,000 additional ballots would have been cast.

In 1957, when he was Senate majority leader, Lyndon Johnson called for the protection of Black voting, saying: “This right to vote is the basic right without which all others are meaningless. It gives people, people as individuals, control over their own destinies.”

Upon signing the Voting Rights Act in 1965, he said to the American people: “I pledge you that we will not delay, or we will not hesitate, or we will not turn aside until Americans of every race and color and origin in this country have the same right as all others to share in the process of democracy.”

—

Notes:

https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/people-color-are-being-deterred-voting

https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/growing-racial-disparities-voter-turnout-2008-2022

https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/alabamas-racial-turnout-gap-hit-16-year-high-2024

https://millercenter.org/the-presidency/presidential-speeches/august-6-1965-remarks-signing-voting-rights-act

Politics Chat, August 6, 2026 - Letters from an American

2026-08-07T02:08:16.000Z

Politics Chat, August 6, 2026 - Letters from an American

2026-08-06T23:59:22.000Z

Politics - BlogFlock

August 11, 2026 - Letters from an American

Trump's Tough Guy Aspirations - Letters from an American

Is There Anyone Who Can Respond to My FOIA Requests? Anyone? - ProPublica

August 10, 2026 - Letters from an American

The Road to Resignation - Letters from an American

More Than Half the Homes in East Omaha Have Unsafe Lead Levels. That Doesn’t Mean the EPA Will Clean Them Up. - ProPublica

Do You Live in Council Bluffs or Carter Lake, Iowa? Sign Up for Free Lead Testing of Your Soil.

August 9, 2026 - Letters from an American

Week Eleven in 250 to 250 - Letters from an American

Norman Borlaug, Narrated by Tom Vilsack

Cherokee Phoenix, Narrated by Rebecca Nagle

Route 66, Narrated by Ted Widmer

Cornerstone of the Confederacy, Narrated by Vernon Burton

Dwayne McDuffie, Narrated by Al Letson

Orange Plank Road, Narrated by Tyler McGraw

Indianapolis 500, Narrated by Lexy White

Coxey’s Army, Narrated by Maggie Bohara

Voting Rights Act, Narrated by Kevin M. Kruse

“I Love Lucy,” Narrated by Fran Drescher

“Boys in Blue” Speech, Narrated by Tom Nichols

Robert Smalls, Narrated by Victoria A. Smalls

Bretton Woods, Narrated by Senator Maggie Hassan

Resigning the Presidency - Letters from an American

August 8, 2026 - Letters from an American

Trump’s Protestations - Letters from an American

CREW statement on Blanche’s confirmation as attorney general - News - CREW | Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington

Pluralistic: Digital sewer socialism (08 Aug 2026) - doge – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow

Today's links

Digital sewer socialism (permalink)

Hey look at this (permalink)

Object permanence (permalink)

Upcoming appearances (permalink)

Recent appearances (permalink)

Latest books (permalink)

Upcoming books (permalink)

Colophon (permalink)

How to get Pluralistic:

August 7, 2026 - Letters from an American

The Voting Rights Act - Letters from an American

House Democrats Demand Answers From Trump’s VA on Vets Struggling to Access Mental Healthcare - ProPublica

Read the Investigation

What Is the Trump Administration Doing With Foreign Aid Money? - ProPublica

Read More

August 6, 2026 - Letters from an American

Politics Chat, August 6, 2026 - Letters from an American

Politics Chat, August 6, 2026 - Letters from an American