Natalie Alms
@almsnatalie.bsky.social
journalist who covers how the government works—or doesn't—at NOTUS. Previously at NextgovFCW. NC native, DC resident. tips - signal at nalms.41 and nataliealms@notus.com
Exclusive: Sen. Rand Paul published Anthony Fauci's diary entries without redacting the names or medical details of over 20 people, including people with cancer, Ebola or HIV. www.notus.org/health-scien...
Rand Paul’s Fauci Diary Dump Exposed Peoples’ Medical Histories
The Republican senator’s office published over 20 individuals’ health information without redaction.
notus.org
NEW: The Trump administration cut FEMA's workforce without a plan for what this would mean, leaving it at risk of being unprepared and without staff to respond to future emergencies. More 👇
Have you done anything to creatively protest the National Guard's presence in D.C. over the last year? Hit me up if you want to share! martinaustermuhle (at) notus (dot) com, or maustermuhle.09 on Signal.
Trump officials say they found 250,000 noncitizens on voter rolls in just four states. Those states don't know where the numbers came from, and some worry what the claims may portend for the midterms.
Trump's claims of 250,000 non-U.S. citizens on voter rolls leave some states baffled
Trump officials say they found 250,000 noncitizens on voter rolls in just four states. Those states don't know where the numbers came from, and some worry what the claims may portend for the midterms.
n.pr
NEW: The Trump administration is in the middle of finding out that it’s very hard — maybe even impossible — to regulate perceived “wokeness” out of artificial intelligence. Proposed contracting language is "infeasible" and "impossible," tech companies say. www.notus.org/agencies/tec...
Tech Companies Are Rejecting Trump’s Proposed ‘Woke’ AI Ban
The government’s proposed requirement for contractors’ AI systems to be “unbiased” are technically “infeasible,” businesses say.
notus.org
Scoop: The FDA's "Simple Reform" reorg has been officially approved by the administration. Changes to the agency's inspectorate and administrative staff will go into effect on October 1, 2026. More here: www.notus.org/agencies/fda...
The FDA Is Officially Codifying DOGE-Era Changes
The agency will stop specializing its field inspectors starting in October.
notus.org
The Trump administration is erasing the data that provides evidence of employee discrimination. If you stop measuring the problem, the problem disappears! (Via @almsnatalie.bsky.social) www.notus.org/agencies/tru...
The Trump Administration Moves to Stop Collecting Workplace Demographic Data
Democrats say the race, sex and ethnicity data is central to enforcing antidiscrimination laws.
notus.org
Boosie Badazz's estranged lobbyists have signed a new Trump pardon client www.notus.org/money/boosie...
Boosie Badazz’s Estranged MAGA Lobbyists Just Inked a New Trump Pardon Client
The rapper has accused Jack Burkman and Jacob Wohl of reneging on a promise to return $300,000 if they did not quickly secure a pardon.
notus.org
The Trump administration has moved to end a decades-old requirement for companies to report demographic data to the EEOC, in part due to concerns about reverse discrimination. Democrats say that the change will make it harder to enforce civil rights laws. www.notus.org/agencies/tru...
The Trump Administration Moves to Stop Collecting Workplace Demographic Data
Democrats say the race, sex and ethnicity data is central to enforcing antidiscrimination laws.
notus.org
Federal agencies that terminated more than a thousand research grants at the University of California admitted that they used keywords related to diversity to screen for projects. It’s an admission that lawyers for the researchers say is proof the agencies illegally cancelled nearly $2b in grants.
DEI keyword search led to billions in cancelled California university grants
The Trump administration cancelled $2 billion of research grants to UC professors. Their legal team says it has proof that was unconstitutional.
calmatters.org
ICYMI: The Trump administration is, yet again, pushing states to use a system to check their voter rolls that's raised concerns about voter disenfranchisement. More with @d-hawk.bsky.social here: www.notus.org/trump-white-...
State Officials and Experts Discount New Trump Push for Election Probes
DHS says states must use a system that’s raised concerns about voter disenfranchisement.
notus.org
Long, wonky read but worth it. A new Census Bureau policy altering privacy protections comes straight out of policy pushed by Russell Vought's think tank and a law suit backed by Stephen Miller's America First Legal talkingpointsmemo.com/news/right-w...
Right-Wing Groups Just Got a Big Win on the Census
A new Trump administration prohibition on privacy protections at the Census Bureau...
talkingpointsmemo.com
NEW: The head of Social Security keeps sending SSA field offices pretzel gift baskets from his daughter's company. Staff told me that they haven't had the intended effect of boosting morale... but they have raised questions about ethics. More here 👇 www.notus.org/agencies/soc...
The Social Security Chief Keeps Sending Staff His Daughter's Pretzels
Staff say the gesture isn't increasing morale, but it is raising ethics questions.
notus.org
The U.S. used to send refugee officers around the world. Now, they're only going to South Africa, where the Trump administration has singularly focused U.S. refugee resettlement efforts on the country’s white population. www.notus.org/immigration/...
Trump Is Deploying Every U.S. Refugee Officer to Just One Country
Inside Trump's program to bring Afrikaners to the U.S.
notus.org
🏛️CONFLICTING OPINIONS: Four Republican-led states must be allowed to use a federal database to search for noncitizens on their voter registration rolls, a federal judge in Florida ruled. But a previous ruling by a federal judge in D.C. blocked access to the database. Here's what could happen next:
Florida judge lets Republican-led states use DHS citizenship database for voter purges, contradicting D.C. judge’s order
"This Court is not bound by Judge Sooknanan’s order, and with all due respect, the Court disagrees with the conclusions in that order," Judge Wetherwell wrote.
democracydocket.com
New from me: The Chief Design Officer of the United States, Trump's pick to rebrand the US government, just boosted the John Birch Society twice in recent days. He did so to claim immigrants are driving up housing prices. He is also a founder of AirBNB. 🧵 donmoynihan.substack.com/p/trumps-chi...
Trump's Chief Design Officer Just Boosted the John Birch Society
Joe Gebbia, the founder of AirBNB, blames immigrants for rising housing costs
donmoynihan.substack.com
When even scientists are shocked by extreme weather, the only conclusion to draw: we're in trouble. Must-read story by @eroston.bsky.social 🎁🔗 www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...
What this article unfortunately leaves out is that fired National Endowment for the Humanities program staff had to *~interview~* for the very same jobs from which they were fired last year. And the agency gave far fewer "offers" for people to return than the 116 positions they slashed. #NEH
Natalie Alms@almsnatalie.bsky.social · last mo.Last year, DOGE laid of the National Endowment for the Humanities' 2024 employee of the year. This year, NEH asked if she wanted to come back to the agency. As DOGE's mandate ends on July 4, the government is hiring again. www.notus.org/agencies/dog...
Last year, DOGE laid of the National Endowment for the Humanities' 2024 employee of the year. This year, NEH asked if she wanted to come back to the agency. As DOGE's mandate ends on July 4, the government is hiring again. www.notus.org/agencies/dog...
DOGE Is Officially Ending. Agencies Are Hiring Again.
The government is even encouraging agencies to bring more services in-house.
notus.org
We have Slaughter and Cook. By a 6–3 vote, SCOTUS overturns Humphrey's Executor and lets Trump fire heads of independent agencies. But by a 5–4 vote, it refuses to let him fire Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve. www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25p... www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25p...
The war against ‘woke’ could end US science as we know it
The war against ‘woke’ could end US science as we know it
If this rule change goes forward, science in the U.S. as we know it will not exist anymore.
buff.ly
Climate Change Fueling Europe’s Ferocious Heat Wave, Scientists Find www.nytimes.com/2026/06/26/c...
Is Climate Change Fueling Europe’s Heat Wave? Yes, Researchers Say.
nytimes.com
The Reflecting Pool contracts are just one example of a massive increase in “urgency” exception spending this year exempted from normal review. In a normal year, this would be $3-6 billion. So far in 2026, it is $28 billion, mostly in homeland security. donmoynihan.substack.com/p/what-the-r...
President Donald Trump’s vision for a national database of eligible voters may be faltering. Even if Trump wins legal battles over this effort, current and former govt officials are skeptical that the administration could logistically create voter lists by November. More 👇
The Brennan Center for Justice sued the Trump administration Thursday seeking records on whether the Department of Justice has created lists of voters for states to remove from the rolls. www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...
Pro-voting group sues Trump DOJ over its alleged voter purge lists
Brennan says DOJ sought extraordinary power to tell states which voters to remove from the rolls — and now wants a court to force the Trump administration to disclose whether it has already created th...
democracydocket.com
we've watched federal gender identity and sexual orientation data disappear for the past year and a half. in the wake of callais, could race and ethnicity data be next? big ol' story from @almsnatalie.bsky.social www.notus.org/us-news/trum...
Trump Has ‘Almost Completely’ Erased LGBTQ+ Data. Is Race Next?
The Supreme Court has given researchers more reason to fear the loss of race data.
notus.org
The federal government has deleted gender identity and/or sexual orientation data from hundreds of datasets since Trump took office. Now, data watchers worry that race and ethnicity data could be next. www.notus.org/us-news/trum...
Trump Has ‘Almost Completely’ Erased LGBTQ+ Data. Is Race Next?
The Supreme Court has given researchers more reason to fear the loss of race data.
notus.org
"They will also receive a packet of literature that provides a sanitized, Trump-approved view of American and South African history, one that criticizes racial equity and civil rights laws and promotes claims of discrimination against white people." www.nytimes.com/2026/06/23/u...
A Look Inside the Welcome Bags Planned for White South African Refugees
nytimes.com
At least 40 people have drowned in France over the last five days as the country endured a scorching heat wave, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu of France said on Tuesday. Most of the drowning victims were young, many of them teenagers, and swimming in unsupervised areas.
40 People Drown in France as Heat Wave Persists
Most of the victims, swimming in unsupervised areas, were young, officials said.
nyti.ms
