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Category Archives: Legal Research

CFPB halts work after Trump appoints Bessent as acting head

Washington Post [unpaywalled]: “The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau halted much of its work to investigate and penalize corporate wrongdoing Monday, after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent — tapped to lead the watchdog on an acting basis — ordered an agency-wide review to “promote consistency” with the new Trump administration. Shortly after assuming the post, Bessent and… Continue Reading

Deferred Resignation Email to Federal Employees, January 28, 2025 – updated Feb 4, 2025

Via LLRX – Deferred Resignation Email to Federal Employees, January 28, 2025 – updated Feb 4, 2025 – I have updated this article with links to new documents pertaining to directives made by non government civilians to federal government employees to resign their jobs using a purported buyout offer. The emails and “offers” were not… Continue Reading

Data brokers can keep selling your social security number, says new CFPB chief

The Verge: “Treasure Secretary Scott Bessent has been named the Acting Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the bureau announced today. Bessent quickly instructed the agency to “to stop all rulemaking, communications, litigation, and other activities,” reports Bloomberg Law. A source inside the CFPB told Bloomberg Law that his order “appeared to shut… Continue Reading

Mapped: The Top Import Partner of Every U.S. State

Visual Capitalist: “The Trump administration is imposing a 25% tariff on imports from Mexico [this is on hold for one month – maybe] and Canada, along with a 10% tariff on imports from China. The U.S. President says he wants strong action to halt the flow of the opioid fentanyl and its precursor chemicals into… Continue Reading

Musk vows to cancel grants after gaining access to US Treasury payment system

FT.com: “Musk appeared to confirm on Saturday that DOGE had access to the Treasury system, which disperses trillions of dollars each year Elon Musk has vowed to unilaterally cancel hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of government grants after apparently gaining access to review the US Treasury’s vast payments system, a move that prompted the… Continue Reading

Litigation Tracker: Legal Challenges to Trump Administration Actions

Just Security: “This public resource tracks legal challenges to Trump administration actions. If you think we are missing anything, you can email us at [email protected]. Special thanks to  Just Security Student Staff Editors, Rick Da and Jeremy Venook, and to Matthew Fouracre. The Tracker is part of the Collection: Just Security’s Coverage of the Trump… Continue Reading

Surveillance Self-Defense Tips, Tools and How-tos for Safer Online Communications

Surveillance Self-Defense Tips, Tools and How-tos for Safer Online Communication A Project of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. We’re the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an independent non-profit working to protect online privacy for over thirty years. This is Surveillance Self-Defense: our expert guide to protecting you and your friends from online spying. Read the BASICS to find… Continue Reading

Brookings Reg Tracking

“As the Trump administration returns to office for a second term with renewed deregulatory ambitions, the executive branch and its agencies are implementing significant policy changes. The Brookings Center on Regulation and Markets Regulatory Tracker (“Reg Tracker”) has relaunched to track major regulatory and executive actions taken by the administration, with a particular focus on… Continue Reading

DOJ Jan 6 deleted info on all prosecutions from website

Scott MacFarlane‬ ‪@macfarlanenews.bsky.social‬ – Though the Justice Dept has deleted information about its Jan 6 prosecutions from its website, a federal judge has issued an order listing and chronicling all of the cases and prison terms. The information is Here: https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.231933/gov.uscourts.dcd.231933.176.0_1.pdf Continue Reading