Over the first 500 days of the new administration, there has not been a dramatic increase in whistleblower complaints. But new Trump policies, and a drive to cut federal budgets, may make all federal employees — especially those who challenge White House policies — much more vulnerable.
Mick Mulvaney now heads the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, an agency he once called a “sick, sad joke.” He’s made the bureau more industry-friendly, turning the consumer watchdog into more of a lapdog. Will his gambit work?
Millions of Facebook users likely had their privacy violated when the company’s lax controls allowed user data to be sold to Cambridge Analytica, which allegedly used the information to manipulate voters. As Facebook faces declining consumer trust and an eroding stock price, its executives promise changes. Will they be enough to keep our information safe?
Last Saturday, hundreds of thousands of people participated in the March for Our Lives, calling for gun restrictions. Where will this lead?
An annual celebration of open government felt more like a funeral last week as transparency advocates, journalists, and former federal officials bemoaned the Trump administration’s unprecedented push for secrecy.
As Congress prepares to pass a spending bill, the war against riders intensifies. When one party holds power in both the legislative and executive branches, these additional bill provisions may be the best way to amplify and solidify a partisan agenda.
Over his 30-year tenure on the US Supreme Court, Justice Anthony Kennedy has been the key vote on major issues. Though appointed by President Ronald Reagan, he has often disappointed conservatives, for example on abortion and same-sex marriage. But on democracy issues, his legacy is more mixed.
The memo controversy is a symptom of major problems plaguing US democracy. And neither side looks good.
In his State of the Union address, President Donald Trump urged Congress to pass a controversial bill promising greater access to untested drugs for terminally ill patients. But critics charge the bill would only deliver false hope and result in even less patient protection by removing FDA oversight.
As Congress struggles to agree on a long-overdue budget and spending bills, the devil is in the details as Republicans are trying to sneak through provisions that would harm the environment, public health and democracy.
After a federal official told staff not to use certain words in budget documents, the pushback was huge. But there might have been a method to this madness.