Getting Out of DOGE

Today’s notice: “A complete shit show.” Exclusive energy policy polling. Government shutdown looking realer. But first: Handle with care.

DOGE vs. the Volcanoes

Elon Musk promised that the Department of Government Efficiency would move fast and break things, and in six short weeks, he has kept that promise. In doing so, he and the Trump administration have attracted a flurry of lawsuits, fired thousands of federal workers and have seen the courts block several DOGE initiatives.

But sometimes in Washington, political embarrassment is more powerful than a court order when it comes to walking things back.

As NOTUS’ Anna Kramer reported Thursday, the government abandoned a plan to cancel the lease on a New Mexico building that Dept. of Energy staff warned was critical to emergency preparedness around nuclear waste created by weapons production. Anna was the first to reveal that particular DOGE scheme. Her story created quite a stir among nuclear safety experts, a group one generally prefers to embody a chill, nothing-to-see-here vibe.

Anna has now scooped another potential DOGE surprise: Observatories used to monitor volcanic activity near populated areas in Hawaii and Alaska are now also on the chopping block. These are places where hundreds of thousands of Americans are hoping someone official is paying attention to their local active volcano so they can, you know, not think about living near an active volcano 24/7.

As we have seen in the past with DOGE, elected officials do not seem to be entirely in the loop. “This is exactly what we’re doing right now, is finding out what is actually happening,” Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski told NOTUS.

Lawmakers and cabinet officials have been showing signs of exhaustion with the many surprises DOGE throws their way, and it seems Donald Trump may be taking some of those complaints to heart. On Thursday, he convened his cabinet to tell them, yes, they were still in charge of their own agencies and they could “keep all the people you want, everybody that you need.” He expects Musk’s team to use a “‘scalpel’ rather than the ‘hatchet’” when hacking away at staffing levels.

And yet… Anna reports that agencies are also planning to fire the experts who could help relocate some of the observatories or preserve the leases for the buildings.

Read the story.

Don’t Be Misled by the House’s Misconduct Settlements

The #MeToo era prompted changes in how the legislative branch settles workplace rights claims, but it also came with changes to how that data is publicly reported, which has made it harder to tell whether those changes to accountability laws are even working.

NOTUS looked at the data that is available, and it indicates that the number and cost of settlements from claims in legislative branch offices have decreased. Current and former members of the House Administration Committee, which oversees workplace protections, took heart in that apparent decrease. But there’s a significant caveat here: Not every payout has to be reported now.

A staffer involved in a lengthy workplace discrimination claim, as a third-party witness, told NOTUS the process devolved into “a complete shit show” at their office, suggesting there might be more room for improvement than Congress is currently considering.

Read the story.

Front Page

• As Trump Weighs Deportation, Some Republicans Say Ukrainian Refugees Should Remain in U.S.: “I want to keep these people here,” Sen. Lindsey Graham told NOTUS.
• California Democrats Aren’t On Board With Newsom’s Take on Transgender Athletes: Rep. Mark Takano, chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus, said that trans people must be protected.
• States Are Targeting Trump’s Education Department Cuts in a New Lawsuit: The president said he is still considering how to dismantle the department.

NOTUS Exclusive: Trump’s Pollsters Find Support for Renewable Energy*

*Plus fossil fuels. NOTUS’ Reese Gorman got a look at fresh polling showing support for government-backed renewables expansion, as well as fossil fuel exploration and new nuclear plants — the so-called “all-of-the-above” energy policy approach. Fabrizio, Lee & Associates polled 1,500 registered voters nationally last month for the Restoring Energy Dominance Coalition, finding 51% support among all respondents for that kind of policy. That number rose to 65% among Republicans. Pollster Tony Fabrizio is a long-time Trump insider, advising all three of the president’s campaigns.

The RED Coalition poll also found strong support for tax incentive programs that create renewable energy jobs. Elected Republicans have generally supported all-of-the-above policies, but NOTUS has reported that some GOP renewables supporters have been caught off guard by White House moves to limit wind farms. Plus, Republicans are eyeing some of those tax credits as possible pay-fors for their tax cuts.

Read the poll.

Welcome to Shutdown Gymnastics

A shutdown is now a week away, and all eyes are on Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer.

Democratic leaders have insisted that, if they are going to help advance a spending bill, they’ll receive assurances that Trump will use congressionally approved funds for their intended purposes and that they’ll be treated like serious negotiating partners.

Republicans cannot fund the government themselves: It requires 60 Senate votes and the GOP has just 53 seats. It’s unclear if or when a shutdown stares Democrats in the eye, they will blink and deliver the votes.

Democrats did ultimately back a three-month stopgap bill in December. But for now, NOTUS’ Tinashe Chingarande reports, Democrats aren’t sounding like they’d happily go along with a Republican plan without concessions.

“They run the floor, not us,” Rep. Jim Clyburn told NOTUS.

Meanwhile, Republicans are facing their own funding dilemma. A continuing resolution to October would keep funding programs slashed by DOGE. Since codifying those cuts in a CR would cross a bright red line for Democrats, Republicans are strategizing over how to solve the problem, including with a potential “rescissions” package.

The consensus? It’s easier said than done, members tell NOTUS’ Ursula Perano and Riley Rogerson.

“You got to have a deliberative process to arrive the right place,” House Appropriations Committee Chair Tom Cole told reporters.

Read Tinashe’s story. | Read Ursula and Riley’s story.

Not Us

We know NOTUS reporters can’t cover it all. Here’s some other great hits by… not us.

• How Many Immigrants Will Die in U.S. Custody? By Jack Herrera at The New Yorker
• Buying a $250 Residency Card From a Tropical Island Let Me Bypass U.S. Crypto Laws by Joseph Cox at 404 Media
• Secretive D.C. Influence Project Appears to Be Running a Group House for Right-Wing Lawmakers by Justin Elliott, Joshua Kaplan and Alex Mierjeski at ProPublica

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