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Danielle Brian @daniellebrian.bsky.social · 28/06/2025

The last man standing. Michael Horowitz was an excellent Inspector General put in an impossible situation. Now that he’s gone, there’s no one left in the executive branch to hold this the Trump Admin accountable. It’s Congress and the Courts or nothing. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

news.bloomberglaw.com

Veteran DOJ Watchdog’s Exit Spurs Fears of Lax Trump Oversight

The departure of the Justice Department’s longtime inspector general next week has former officials and other lawyers worried that an era of robust, independent oversight of law enforcement is ending ...

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Danielle Brian @daniellebrian.bsky.social · 27/06/2025

This is exactly what Congress doing their job looks like: Voting on a War Powers Resolution. The Congress and NOT POTUS has the power to initiate an act of war. And yes, we @POGOwatchdog were saying this during Obama and even earlier. This is not a partisan issue, it is a Constitutional one.

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Danielle Brian @daniellebrian.bsky.social · 27/06/2025

To be clear 90% of all this wouldn't be a problem if CONGRESS DID ITS JOB. Justice Jackson is right. This is an imperial executive embracing an imperial judiciary filling the void left by a feckless Congress.

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Danielle Brian @daniellebrian.bsky.social · 25/06/2025

THIS! On top of today’s Senate Judiciary hearing where judicial nominee Emil Bove is alleged to have encouraged DOJ to defy court orders. The Administration’s efforts to delegitimize the courts is breathtaking. And is a classic authoritarian move.

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Government Accountability Project @govacctproj.bsky.social · 24/06/2025

🗞️ THIS JUST IN: DOJ whistleblower Erez Reuveni says senior Trump official Emil Bove suggested defying court orders to carry out deportations. Our team represents Reuveni—and what he uncovered is alarming. Full story via NYT: www.nytimes.com/2025/06/24/u...

nytimes.com

Justice Dept. Leader Suggested Violating Court Orders, Whistle-Blower Says

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Danielle Brian @daniellebrian.bsky.social · 23/06/2025

Budgets ARE policy. There is no clearer example of Congress choosing to disempower itself than by cutting in half the budget of its own watchdog.

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Danielle Brian @daniellebrian.bsky.social · 22/06/2025

The president did not have the authority to bomb Iran without congressional approval. Yet again we are seeing how dangerous it is for Congress to cede its power. reassert-war-power

pogo.org

Congress Must Reclaim and Reassert War Power

The Constitution is clear: Congress, not the president, should be the branch deciding when our nation goes to war.

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Charles Gaba ✡️ @charlesgaba.com · 14/06/2025

Jesus. The juxtaposition of these two posts back to back is just...

10:30am:

"Brevard County Sheriff Sheriff Wayne Ivey: "If you throw a brick, a firebomb, or point a gun at one of our deputies, we will be notifying your family where to collect your remains at, because we will kill you graveyard dead."

10:49am:

law enforcement officials say they made a proactive check at Rep. Hortman's home after a lawmaker who lived nearby was shot and found a "police vehicle in the driveway with emergency lights and what appeared to be a police officer at the door coming out of the house." He was actually the gunman.

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Danielle Brian @daniellebrian.bsky.social · 10/06/2025

Quick reminder to POTUS, the First Amendment explicitly protects freedom of assembly and freedom of speech. Just because it’s your birthday doesn’t mean you get a different Constitution where you can use “very heavy force” to punish protected activities.

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Neil Gordon @neilegordon.bsky.social · 09/06/2025

"The tragedy at Kent State in 1970 is...an enduring warning against the militarization of civilian spaces." @pogo.org Executive Director @daniellebrian.bsky.social responds to President Trump’s deployment of the National Guard to Los Angeles www.pogo.org/post/preside...

pogo.org

President Trump's Federalizing the National Guard Is a Dangerous…

The administration must reverse this dangerous, unjustified course.

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Liza Goitein @lizagoitein.bsky.social · 08/06/2025

That’s alarming enough. But Trump has also authorized deployment of troops anywhere in the country where protests against ICE are occurring or are likely to occur, even if they are entirely peaceful. That is unprecedented and a clear abuse of the law. 2/19

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Liza Goitein @lizagoitein.bsky.social · 08/06/2025

Trump has federalized at least 2,000 National Guard forces and reportedly plans to deploy troops to Los Angeles over Governor Newsom’s objections. If that happens, it will be the first time since 1965 that a president has sent troops into a state without a state request. 1/19

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KatherineHawkins @krhawkins.bsky.social · 23/05/2025

You’ve also got Congress (at least the House) writing blank checks for a mass deportation campaign that is repeatedly violating court orders and trying to evade judicial review—and undercutting the contempt power. www.newsweek.com/hidden-provi...

newsweek.com

'Hidden' provision in Trump's big bill could disarm US Supreme Court

The provision would bar courts from enforcing contempt citations for violations of injunctions or temporary restraining orders unless a bond has been paid.

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KatherineHawkins @krhawkins.bsky.social · 23/05/2025

Right now neither is happening. You’ve got the Supreme Court staying lower court orders reining in DOGE and overruling Humphrey’s executor (major precedent limiting presidential power over independent agencies) on the shadow docket

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KatherineHawkins @krhawkins.bsky.social · 23/05/2025

It is really important right now that Congress back up the courts against executive contempt (like the rendition flights) and the courts back Congress against encroachments on Article I powers (like DOGE’s rampage)

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Joseph Nunn @josephanunn.bsky.social · 15/05/2025

The @nytimes.com is reporting that the Trump administration has requested deployment of 20,000+ National Guard members to help with immigration enforcement inside the U.S. This is an unprecedented move that raises a host of legal and practical concerns. 1/8

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Alexander Howard @digiphile.bsky.social · 15/05/2025

Per NextGov, it looks like DOGE & Musk’s claims about high rates of phone fraud at Social Security weren’t just inaccurate but spectacularly wrong. SSA looks likely to reverse policy on applying the antifraud tool to these benefit claims, which seems wise.

nextgov.com

DOGE went looking for phone fraud at SSA — and found almost none

Since SSA installed new anti-fraud checks on claims made over the phone, only two claims out of over 110,000 were found to likely be fraudulent, according to internal documents obtained by Nextgov/FCW...

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Danielle Brian @daniellebrian.bsky.social · 15/05/2025

STAGGERING blockbuster investigation The President has falsely been claiming "Fentanyl and other drugs are pouring over the border and flooding our communities" in order to justify exerting extraordinary powers through a national emergency.

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KatherineHawkins @krhawkins.bsky.social · 13/05/2025

I finally managed to write up my thoughts on the CECOT, and other, disappearances. I put a lot into this, please read and share. www.lawfaremedia.org/article/how-...

lawfaremedia.org

How Trump Is Disappearing Migrants

From CECOT to domestic jails, the Trump administration is engaging in incommunicado detention to cut migrants off from legal protections.

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Feral Human Rights Lawyer @natcad.bsky.social · 14/05/2025

@krhawkins.bsky.social ‘s piece on the ways that enforced disappearances of migrants has evolved and expanded is comprehensive and necessary reading for anyone documenting human rights abuses in the US and for policy advocacy orgs. We need legislation criminalizing enforced disappearance.

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Danielle Brian @daniellebrian.bsky.social · 11/05/2025

How is POTUS taking a luxury plane from a foreign government to be used through his Presidential library post-office not an illegal emolument?

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KatherineHawkins @krhawkins.bsky.social · 09/05/2025

It’s not *that* unusual to have government officials symbolically get arrested for trespass as part of planned civil disobedience but Ras Baraka’s arrest wasn’t that

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Project On Government Oversight @pogo.org · 08/05/2025

Congress must step in to protect due process & our constitutional rights. The administration’s pattern of removing people to prison systems in foreign countries without due process and trying to evade court oversight must end. Our rights are on the line.

politico.com

A Trump admin effort to deport immigrants to Libya would ‘clearly violate’ court order, judge says

Lawyers for immigrants from Laos, Vietnam and the Philippines rushed to court to stop what they called an “imminent” deportation flight to the war-torn African nation.

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Nick Schwellenbach @schwellenbach.bsky.social · 08/05/2025

The acting head of FEMA was fired after he told Congress that "I do not believe it is in the best interest the American people to eliminate the Federal Emergency Management Agency." Hurricane season starts in a few weeks. www.cnn.com/2025/05/08/p...

cnn.com

Trump’s acting FEMA chief fired day after breaking from the administration | CNN Politics

Cameron Hamilton, who was appointed by President Donald Trump, was escorted out of FEMA’s headquarters on Thursday, according to multiple sources familiar with the situation.

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Nick Schwellenbach @schwellenbach.bsky.social · 08/05/2025

@blumenthal.senate.gov says Trump's watchdog pick for the VA "is especially problematic because Ms. Mason has been point person in muzzling VA workers and directing them to sign Non-Disclosure Agreements" www.veterans.senate.gov/2025/5/blumenthal-statement-on-trump-nominating-loyalist

veterans.senate.gov

Blumenthal Statement on Trump Nominating Loyalist as VA's Top Watchdog Official

Blumenthal raises flag over nomination, stresses clear conflict of interest in nominating political official to independent oversight role

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Project On Government Oversight @pogo.org · 06/05/2025

In a letter to GEO Group as part of their oversight into the expansion of immigration detention, @JudiciaryDems cited POGO's investigation into the the revolving door between the private prison company and the federal government www.pogo.org/investigatio...

pogo.org

Private Prison Giant Hired ICE Detention Chief

GEO Group hired a top ICE official — one of many over the years — as the company stands to profit from the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

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Project On Government Oversight @pogo.org · 06/05/2025

The officer corps is expensive and bloated, so reducing 4-star positions is a good idea, as long as it is a true, cost-cutting reform — not a partisan punishment. We need a plan, not another 1/2 page memo with no details and no timeline.

cnn.com

Hegseth orders Pentagon to cut number of senior generals by 20% | CNN Politics

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has ordered senior Pentagon leadership to cut the number of four-star generals and admirals by at least 20% across the military, according to a memo signed by Hegseth...

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Project On Government Oversight @pogo.org · 07/05/2025

This news is appalling, and blatantly unconstitutional. The administration’s continued rejection of due process threatens our constitutional order. Congress must pressure this administration to end these shocking rights violations.

nytimes.com

Trump Administration Plans to Send Migrants to Libya on a Military Flight

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Project On Government Oversight @pogo.org · 07/05/2025

Thank you @delauro.house.gov, @murray.senate.gov, Rep. Tom Cole, and Senator Susan Collins for pushing the administration to restore this essential spending website! This is information that the public has the right to know.

nytimes.com

Bipartisan House and Senate Leaders Urge White House to Restore Spending Website

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Danielle Brian @daniellebrian.bsky.social · 01/05/2025

You’re wondering what can be done? Here’s a specific example: Trump falsely declared a national emergency in order to engage in his tariff wars. A simple majority vote in Congress can stop it. That almost happened yesterday.

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Project On Government Oversight @pogo.org · 16/04/2025

Apparently the Trump admin thinks “court order” is just a suggestion. Judges aren’t having it — and neither should the public. 📣 Our system only works if power can be checked. #ContemptOfCourt #DemocracyUnderThreat

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Danielle Brian @daniellebrian.bsky.social · 16/04/2025

This is a pivotal moment for our constitutional system of checks and balances.

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Project On Government Oversight @pogo.org · 14/04/2025

Comments from the president of El Salvador in the Oval Office today, claiming he doesn't have the "power" to return the Maryland man wrongly deported from the U.S., is absolutely ridiculous. The courts have ruled that Garcia must be returned to the U.S. www.usatoday.com/story/news/p...

usatoday.com

Wrongly deported man not leaving El Salvador prison, Bukele says at Trump meeting

Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland sheet metal worker, was wrongfully deported to a notorious prison in El Salvador.

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Project On Government Oversight @pogo.org · 14/04/2025

Secretary of State Marco Rubio doesn't seem to understand that the government has to follow the law. The administration illegally deported a man. It has to bring him back.

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Danielle Brian @daniellebrian.bsky.social · 12/04/2025

More escalation to justify abusing “emergency” executive powers.

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Danielle Brian @daniellebrian.bsky.social · 11/04/2025

Our country has a long history of deliberately keeping domestic law enforcement at arms length from our military for a reason. Making the Army Secy also the Director of ATF is a dramatic step towards blurring that line, sending us closer to a military state.

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CBPWatch @cbpwatch.bsky.social · 11/04/2025

The Supreme Court’s unanimous opinion in the Abrego Garcia case is: 1) the obvious outcome given the government’s admission that it wrongfully deported him 2) a huge relief (and personally a surprise to me that it’s unanimous) 3) not the end of the story—now comes the question of enforcing the order

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CBPWatch @cbpwatch.bsky.social · 08/04/2025

The problem is that this is often practically impossible, a fact that the Supreme Court majority must know based on the facts of this case, but studiously ignores.

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CBPWatch @cbpwatch.bsky.social · 08/04/2025

The Supreme Court issued a terrible decision tonight, holding that the only way for people to challenge their detention and possible rendition under the Alien Enemies Act is by filing a habeas petition in the judicial district where they are being detained.

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Danielle Brian @daniellebrian.bsky.social · 25/03/2025

“We will never know if SpaceX would authentically win competitions for these awards because all of the offices in government intended to prevent corruption and conflicts of interest have been beheaded or defunded,” said Danielle Brian, the executive director of @POGOwatchdog.

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Nick Schwellenbach @schwellenbach.bsky.social · 23/03/2025

“These new directives are not only wasting government manpower and taxpayer dollars. They’re also resulting in worse services for Americans.” www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

washingtonpost.com

Opinion | How DOGE is making government almost comically inefficient

It’s as though “efficiency” isn’t the actual goal.

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KatherineHawkins @krhawkins.bsky.social · 24/03/2025

DHS claims, presented evidence that many ppl disappeared to El Salvador never were Tren de Aragua, that “every single one of the these people were here illegally.” That’s: 1. Irrelevant 2. False

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KatherineHawkins @krhawkins.bsky.social · 21/03/2025

Evidence that sending ppl to El Salvador is expressly because of torturous prison conditions there, and that if courts don’t stand up it might not stop with noncitizens bsky.app/profile/atru...

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