Katya Schwenk is a journalist based in Phoenix, Arizona.
Republican senator Mike Lee is blocking the appointment of the head of the Office of Government Ethics until after Inauguration Day. The tactic is meant to give Donald Trump the power to handpick his own ethics overseer if he wins the election.
If Donald Trump wins the election and keeps his promise to appoint Elon Musk to a prominent government position, Musk could reap one of the largest personalized tax breaks in US history — on top of the massive tax cuts Trump wants to give billionaires.
The for-profit bail industry is behind a new federal effort to criminalize charitable efforts designed to help people who can’t afford to post bail. The legislation is part of a national wave of attacks on bail reforms.
As Hurricane Milton bears down on their districts, two Republican representatives backed by fossil fuel companies are pushing legislation that claims the climate crisis is a “false emergency.”
This week, a Georgia chemical plant suffered yet another accident, releasing toxic fumes into an Atlanta suburb for at least the fourth time. The plant falls into a yawning regulatory loophole that chemical industry lobbying has kept open for years.
The wealthiest members of Congress from both parties — including vice presidential candidate J. D. Vance — have millions invested collectively in private equity funds. In many cases, they are not required to disclose details about these investments.
One of the world’s largest payment processing companies is charging parents exorbitant fees to load money into students’ meal accounts. The operation is now facing federal scrutiny.
Texas is about to open its business courts, a new legal system backed by Big Oil that is expected to have immediate impacts on environmental cases in the state. The courts’ judges were handpicked by Gov. Greg Abbott, a major recipient of oil industry cash.
A cadre of lawyers tied to conservative activist Leonard Leo is spearheading a series of legal attacks on voting rights in critical swing states. The operation aims to suppress voters, with the potential to tip the scales during the election this fall.
J. D. Vance has cosponsored 24 GOP attempts to gut Biden administration consumer protections, from air quality standards to cracking down on junk fees. His voting record offers a glimpse of what’s to come under a potential second Trump administration.
The airline industry’s top lobbying group, Airlines for America, is pushing back against the Biden administration’s rule requiring that consumers get automatically refunded for flights that are delayed or canceled.
A major Democratic donor and Microsoft board member is pressuring Kamala Harris to dismiss the government’s top antitrust regulator, who has launched an aggressive crackdown on corporate power since taking office.
On Friday, an update to a cybersecurity program took down Microsoft systems across the globe. Microsoft has resisted efforts to regulate a root cause of this chaos: the concentration of digital infrastructure in the hands of a few tech giants.
The Tax Foundation’s TaxEDU curriculum teaches students that corporate tax cuts help workers. With backing from the Koch network and big oil, the right-wing nonprofit is implanting this agenda in public schools.
Finance giants like Fidelity and Schwab are pushing “donor-advised funds” that enable the ultrawealthy to funnel cash to far-right extremist groups anonymously under the guise of charitable giving. Project 2025 has benefited enormously.
Despite the assassination attempt on Donald Trump, guns are allowed just outside the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. That’s thanks to the gun lobby, which fought for a state law that prohibits cities from restricting guns on public property.
The Supreme Court just gutted a key federal bribery statute this week, handing down a ruling that allows powerful interests to give gifts to politicians as rewards for favors.
Private prisons across the US are lobbying lawmakers for stricter sentencing laws. Benefiting from increased occupancy rates, these corporations are filling their pockets and enriching their shareholders.
Boeing is facing scrutiny from the Justice Department that could lead to criminal charges. But a department official involved in the case formerly consulted on behalf of the company — just one among many such officials with close corporate connections.
Since the 2023 East Palestine derailment disaster, the railroad industry has continued to lobby against federal safety regulations, even as new data suggests that recent increases in train length have made derailments more likely.