Trump’s EPA Has Made It Harder to Track Toxic Chemical Plants
Bowing to the chemical industry lobby, the Environmental Protection Agency has quietly hid data that mapped out the locations of thousands of dangerous chemical facilities across the US.
73 Articles by: Katya Schwenk
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Katya Schwenk is a journalist based in Phoenix, Arizona.
Price Gougers Are Exploiting Trump’s Tariffs
“Price optimization” consultants are helping clients capitalize on Trump’s chaotic tariff rollout by using surveillance pricing tools, while Republican FTC chair Andrew Ferguson is reversing efforts to keep them in check.
Private Equity Is Getting Into the Airplane Repair Business
Private equity firms are increasingly gobbling up the companies that fix planes for commercial airlines, preying on an industry with already weakened oversight and further stoking the fears of aviation safety advocates.
Are Bail Bond Insurers Engaged in a Price-Fixing Conspiracy?
In California, an antitrust lawsuit is arguing that the insurance companies that underwrite bail bonds have for decades illegally colluded to keep bail bond premiums artificially high across the industry.
Private Airlines Are Making Billions on Deportations
The new GOP spending bill includes a $485 million budget hike for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. That likely means a windfall for the shadowy aviation contractors carrying out ICE’s deportation flights.
The Ugly Battle for Control of a Prison-Tech Empire
Smart Communications has made a killing from charging prison inmates for emails and phone calls. A messy legal struggle for control of the prison-tech empire is exposing the big business of profiting off mass incarceration.
Trump’s New Consumer Finance Regulator Loves Pleasing Banks
Donald Trump has announced the new chief of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: Jonathan McKernan, a former banking regulator who’s pushed to approve bank megamergers that harm consumers and that the CFPB has previously fought to prevent.
Trump’s Purges May Mean Less Oversight for Musk’s Businesses
Donald Trump has fired more than a dozen inspectors general, officials who provide independent oversight of federal agencies. At least five of them worked at agencies with previous or ongoing investigations of Elon Musk’s business practices.
Developers Lobby to Keep Building, Water Shortages Be Damned
Amid dangerous droughts, Arizona officials have attempted to address groundwater shortages by limiting development in the Phoenix metro area. Real estate interests have launched a dark money legal campaign to overturn the precedent-setting regulations.
Chemical Companies Want Trump’s EPA to Keep Their Secrets
Every year, dozens of accidents occur at high-risk chemical facilities. The chemical industry is pushing Donald Trump’s EPA to delete a public database that at least lets residents know whether a potential disaster could take place in their backyard.
Kyrsten Sinema Pivots to Crypto
Kyrsten Sinema accepted tens of thousands of dollars from crypto companies while in Congress. Now she’s leveraging those ties as a new adviser to Coinbase, the $73 billion crypto exchange platform.
Donald Trump Is Drawing Heavily From Project 2025
On day one of his second presidential term, Donald Trump signed a blizzard of executive orders. Nearly two-thirds of them came straight from Project 2025, the corporate-backed right-wing policy blueprint that Trump disavowed on the campaign trail.
Jared Kushner May Profit From Expanded Israeli Settlements
On Wednesday, Jared Kushner doubled his stake in a financial firm that stands to gain from turbocharging illegal Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory — just before the announcement of a cease-fire deal that Kushner may have helped advise on.
LA Real Estate Lobbied to Develop in High-Risk Fire Areas
In California, policymakers have long warned that continued development in high-risk wildfire zones was magnifying fires. But real estate interests have lobbied hard against any development restrictions, helping exacerbate the fires raging in Los Angeles now.
Private Equity Is Coming for Your 401(k) Savings
Thanks to Donald Trump’s support and Joe Biden’s failure to intervene, private equity is inching ever closer to tapping into the trillions of dollars sitting in Americans’ retirement savings plans.
The Rise of the French Fry Cartel
After decades of consolidation, just four firms now control at least 97% of the $68 billion frozen potato market. A new spate of antitrust lawsuits accuses them of brazen price-fixing.
Private Equity Is Set to Profit Off a Border Crackdown
As President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office, with plans for mass deportations and heightened surveillance of undocumented immigrants, the private equity firms that make money from immigration enforcement stand to profit handsomely.
Kamala Harris Didn’t Defend Lina Khan
Kamala Harris stayed silent during the election as big Democratic donors attacked chief antitrust regulator Lina Khan — at the same time Khan’s agency launched an investigation into the employer of Harris’s brother-in-law and top advisor.
Private Companies Will Cash In on Trump’s Immigration Policy
Now that a Trump White House is on the horizon, private prison companies and corporate interests are anticipating a return on their lobbying efforts to place millions of immigrants under electronic surveillance.
Trump Wants an Airline Lobbyist to Be Transportation Chief
Donald Trump’s pick to head the Department of Transportation, Sean Duffy, is a former airline industry lobbyist who has voted to make it harder to impose safety regulations on airlines. The industry is already celebrating his nomination.