The Paper Trail: July 16, 2024

Delivered Tuesdays and Fridays, The Paper Trail is a curated collection of the government news you need to know. Sign up to get this newsletter delivered to your inbox.

Announcements

Applications are now open for a two-day intensive virtual Boot Camp on the art and practice of oversight and investigations hosted by POGO, the Levin Center for Oversight and Democracy, and The Lugar Center. This training is only open to staff in Congress. Apply at THIS LINK by July 22.

Join the Office of the Whistleblower Ombuds for its annual Lunch & Learn: Working with Whistleblowers and Support Agencies. This event will be held on July 29 at 12:00 noon in The Gold Room. Lunch will be served. This event is open to Members and Congressional staff. Learn more and register at https://whistleblower.house.gov/events.

Top stories for July 16, 2024

Secret Service faces serious questions about security footprint and rooftop access at Trump event: President Biden announced an independent review of the national security failures at Saturday’s rally, with results to be shared with the public. (Whitney Wild, Evan Perez, and Tierney Sneed, CNN)

🔎 See Also: Congress swiftly begins probes into attempted Trump assassination (Ellen Mitchell, The Hill)

🔎 See Also: Secret Service enhanced Trump’s protection in June, but DHS chief admits ‘failure’ during shooting (Eric Katz, Government Executive)

🔎 See Also: Police were warned of Trump rally shooter at least 86 seconds before gunfire, video shows (Jon Swaine et al., Washington Post)

Judge dismisses Trump’s Mar-a-Lago classified docs criminal case: Judge Aileen Cannon has dismissed the federal criminal case against Donald Trump, concluding that special counsel Jack Smith’s appointment violated the Constitution’s Appointments Clause. The Special Counsel said it will appeal the decision. (Kyle Cheney, Josh Gerstein, and Betsy Woodruff, Politico)

Bill to strengthen oversight of beleaguered Bureau of Prisons is cleared for president’s signature: The Federal Prison Oversight Act, sponsored by Rep. Lucy McBath (D-GA), advanced by unanimous consent after previously passing the House 392-2 in May. (Sean Michael Newhouse, Government Executive)

AT&T, Verizon tangle over 5G service for emergency responders: AT&T and Verizon are in a dispute over a plan to enhance 5G service for police, firefighters, and other emergency responders. Verizon claims the plan would unfairly benefit AT&T with a $14 billion advantage. (Drew FitzGerald, Wall Street Journal)

VA housing policy discriminates against disabled veterans, federal judge rules: A federal judge has ruled that the Department of Veterans Affairs discriminates against disabled veterans by outsourcing construction at its West Los Angeles campus, disqualifying some veterans from housing due to their income levels. (Doug Smith, Los Angeles Times)

Israel-Hamas War

Far-right groups that block aid to Gaza receive tax-deductible donations from US and Israel: Despite pledges to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza, the U.S. and Israel have allowed tax-deductible donations to far-right groups obstructing this aid. (Uri Blau, et al., Associated Press)

Political Misbehavior

Donald Trump wants to reinstate a spoils system in federal government by hiring political loyalists regardless of competence: The potential reemergence of Schedule F is not the first time a president has sought to install political loyalists in the federal civil service, but its impact could prove disastrous. (Sidney Shapiro and Joseph P. Tomain, Government Executive)

Analysis: A deep dive into Project 2025’s plan to subvert the rule of law and use the Department of Justice as an instrument for political oppression: If reelected, Donald Trump plans to use the Department of Justice to advance a right-wing agenda, potentially punishing state and federal officials who do not comply. (Jon May, Verdict)

Defense and Veterans Affairs

Pentagon confronts Gold Star divide among grieving military families: The Pentagon is grappling with differing views on who qualifies for the revered Gold Star status, with some families advocating for a strict interpretation and others seeking a more inclusive definition. (Dan Lamothe, Washington Post)

DOD’s generative AI task force will help set guardrails for broader use: The Pentagon’s new task force on generative artificial intelligence aims to create guidelines and identify infrastructure needs for the integration of emerging AI capabilities. (Edward Graham, NextGov)

VA awards AI tech sprint winners pilot contracts for ambient medical transcription services: The Department of Veterans Affairs announced its intent to issue sole source contracts for an AI-enabled healthcare dictation tool, following a recent AI tech sprint competition. (Caroline Nihill, FedScoop)

Opinion: Overuse of National Guard threatens to undermine preparedness: The increasing number of nontraditional missions assigned to National Guard members is diverting resources from their core responsibilities, potentially undermining overall preparedness. (Major General Daryl Bohac (Ret.) et al., Military Times)

Business and Finance

Extreme heat is causing billions in damages that insurers won’t cover: Heat waves affecting millions of Americans are causing significant damage to infrastructure, agriculture, and power supplies. This damage, often hard to quantify, is largely not covered by insurance. Cities, regulators, and companies are raising concerns about the escalating costs, which reach tens of billions of dollars annually. (Jean Eaglesham, Wall Street Journal)

Biden administration says it wants to cap rent increases at 5% a year. Here’s what to know: In response to a 25% national rent increase since 2020, the Biden Administration is proposing a cap on annual rent hikes at 5% for corporate landlords. Those who exceed this limit would lose a significant tax break. (Aimee Picchi, CBS News)

Tech

OpenAI illegally barred staff from airing safety risks, whistleblowers say: Whistleblowers from OpenAI have lodged a complaint with the SEC, alleging that the company illegally prevented employees from alerting regulators about the serious risks posed by its technology. They are calling for an investigation into these practices. (Pranshu Verma, et al., Washington Post)

AT&T reportedly gave $370,000 to a hacker to delete its stolen customer data: AT&T allegedly paid $370,000 to a hacker to delete customer data stolen during a recent hacking incident, though remnants of the data may still be accessible. (Wes Davis, The Verge)

Infrastructure

FEMA tightens flood resilience rules for federally funded infrastructure: FEMA will soon implement a policy designed to protect federally funded construction projects from the increased flooding risks posed by climate change. (Julie Strupp, Smart Cities Dive)

Health Care

Amazon's health clinic pushed a misleading account of call center errors: One Medical, Amazon's primary care clinic, provided workers with talking points instructing them to claim that patients received necessary care, even when the call center failed to escalate potentially urgent calls to medical staff. (Caroline O'Donovan, Washington Post)

States set minimum staffing levels for nursing homes. Residents suffer when rules are ignored or waived: An acute shortage of nurses and aides in the nation's nearly 15,000 nursing homes is at the root of many of the most disturbing shortfalls in care for the 1.2 million Americans who live in them. (Jordan Rau, KFF Health News)

Finland is offering farmworkers bird flu shots. Some experts say the U.S. should, too: There's debate among experts in the U.S. about whether dairy cow workers should receive vaccination, with some highlighting CDC findings that this year's bird flu strain doesn't spread among people or cause severe illness, and uncertainties remain about the vaccine's effectiveness against these scenarios. (Amy Maxmen and Arthur Allen, KFF Health News)

COVID-19

COVID is rising, but some are cutting corners on safety. Is it making things worse?: The spread of COVID-19 continues to increase this summer, exacerbated by individuals who continue to work or travel while sick. (Rong-Gong Lin II, Los Angeles Times)

About 7 percent of U.S. adults have had long COVID, report says: Nearly 18 million U.S. adults, or about 7 percent, had experienced long COVID as of early last year. (Ian McMahan, Washington Post)

ICYMI

Immigration and Border Security:

→ How Immigration Law Magnifies the Injustice Inflicted by the War on Drugs

→ U.S. Immigration Officials Deport Record Number of Illegal Migrants

→ Border arrests plunge 29% in June to lowest of Biden's presidency

Other News:

→ New York judge throws out Rudy Giuliani's bankruptcy case

→ The ‘forever chemical' catching scientists' attention

→ Wealthy industry donors fuel Trump's conversion on cryptocurrency

→ With Chevron's end, Congress urgently needs a boost in technical expertise

→ Dollar General to pay $12 million for alleged violations including blocking exits

Upcoming Events

📌 Arizona and Pennsylvania's top officials on election security, disinformation and threats to democracy. Washington Post Live. Tuesday, July 16, 1:00 p.m. EDT.

Nominations & Appointments

Withdrawals

• April M. Perry - United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois
• Erik John Woodhouse - Head of the Office of Sanctions Coordination