- "One of the NOAA labs slated to be shut down [in Trump's budget] is the National Severe Storms Lab in Norman, Oklahoma, which works to improve flash flood forecasting among other hazards from severe thunderstorms..." (CNN)
- "Trump's approach to economic statecraft is to impose pressure and get leverage and try to get the best deal possible," he said.
But "for whatever reason, with Russia, he doesn't want to have any leverage over Putin."
...
"In April, the Trump Administration quietly lifted limits that had been placed on the wife of a Russian oligarch. Her husband, Boris Rotenberg, is a childhood friend of Putin's and has been a central figure in his inner circle for decades..."
...
"Trump also shuttered the KleptoCapture task force, a DOJ unit formed in 2022 to identify and seize assets of sanctioned Russian oligarchs.
The unit coordinated investigations across agencies, leading to high-profile seizures of yachts, real estate, private jets..." (New York Times)
- Trump screws active-duty servicemembers out of $80m they were due to be reimbursed after bank scam: (Associated Press)
- "CoreCivic has repeatedly shown that it is incapable of running a humane facility. Now, the company flouts city approval to move forward with an ICE center based on false promises."
In filings, the city argued the company previously ran an "absolute hell hole"
(The Guardian)
- Why some fear government data on the U.S. economy is losing integrity
"Economists say recent developments have only deepened their concerns. Last month, the BLS said it is surveying fewer outlets for the consumer price index — the most widely used benchmark for inflation — because of staffing shortages in certain cities. While officials said that shouldn't affect the overall CPI, they acknowledged it could increase volatility in some of its components.
Separately, the BLS had previously said it would reduce the number of households sampled for a survey that underpins the official unemployment rate and other labor-market indicators, before walking back the plan.
Still, other little-noticed changes are proceeding, such as the bureau's discontinuing the calculation and publishing of wholesale pricing data on hundreds of products in the producer price index. And the Trump administration has disbanded a pair of technical advisory committees that helped the government develop its data." (Washington Post)
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