Some Issues and Topics Our Reporters Will Be Following in a Second Trump Presidency — and How to Get in Touch
During Donald Trump’s second presidency, ProPublica will continue our focus on the areas most in need of scrutiny. Here are some of the issues our reporters will be watching — and how to get in touch with them.
Now that Donald Trump is the president-elect for the second time, we will once again turn our focus to the areas most in need of scrutiny at this moment in history. As our editor-in-chief wrote yesterday, that’s what our more than 150 working journalists do.
We will watch closely as the Trump/Vance administration takes shape and makes plans. To find stories, we will, as always, rely on insights from people closest to the issues. Concerned public servants are some of our most important sources. This has never been more true. If you are a federal employee, is there unfinished business — a sensitive project, a little-known but key policy, an important lawsuit — you worry will be quashed or left to molder? Are there records, research or databases you feel strongly should be preserved?
We appreciate the difficult situations people weigh as they decide whether to reach out to us, and we take source privacy very seriously. Read more about ProPublica’s approach to investigative journalism in our ethics code. If you have tips, documents, data or stories the public should know about, you can contact all of our journalists at propublica.org/tips. Here’s information on how to do so securely. And if you don’t have a specific tip or story in mind, we could still use your help. Sign up to be a member of our federal worker source network to stay in touch.
We will tell you more about our whole team and about our coverage plans in the months to come. We work across a number of beats and disciplines, from tax policy to education to health care. We have data reporters who can handle complicated datasets and public records specialists eager to strategize.
Here are just a few examples of the topics we’re thinking about, plus contact information for some reporters on the beat:
Rule of Law
Trump’s Business Interests
Immigration
Trump and Billionaires
Foreign Affairs/Policy
Environmental Regulations
Religious and Conservative Policy
Technology
Reproductive Health
Federal Poverty Policy
Health Care Policy
This is just a small sample of our reporting team. We will continue to share our areas of interest as the news develops. You can hear more from our journalists about their work by signing up for our Dispatches newsletter.
Donald Trump has said he will overturn a law that helps communities better weather the effects of climate change. If he follows through, he’ll be reversing an initiative that has disproportionately benefited areas that make up his base.
As HUD secretary, Scott Turner would oversee billions in housing aid, but as a Texas state legislator he voted against protections for poor tenants and has called government assistance “one of the most destructive things for the family.”
The former representative from Missouri, who once pushed to abolish the IRS, has marketed himself as a certified tax and business advisor after attending only a three-day seminar.
As Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy prepare for their roles as co-heads of the Department of Government Efficiency, they might look at the wasteful practices and spending by federal agencies ProPublica reporting has surfaced.
There have been internal concerns that Trump Media could be misleading investors, a source said. But with its largest shareholder about to be president, experts doubt the SEC is up to the job of investigating Truth Social’s parent company.
We’ll be devoting a significant part of our staff to detailing what are expected to be dramatic changes in the role of the federal government in the lives of Americans.
Outraged by the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, a wilderness survival trainer spent years undercover climbing the ranks of right-wing militias.
He didn’t tell police or the FBI. He didn’t tell family or friends. The one person he told was a ProPublica reporter.
Donald Trump has said he will overturn a law that helps communities better weather the effects of climate change. If he follows through, he’ll be reversing an initiative that has disproportionately benefited areas that make up his base.
Israel has repeatedly crossed the Biden administration’s human rights red lines. But the U.S. continued to send weapons. Exclusive records and interviews reveal what happened inside the State Department.
Cecelia Lewis was asked to apply for a Georgia school district’s first-ever administrator job devoted to diversity, equity and inclusion. A group of parents — coached by local and national anti-CRT groups — had other plans.
Donald Trump’s pick to lead the federal health agency has vowed to replace hundreds of staffers and shift research away from infectious diseases and vaccines. Such an overhaul could imperil the development of life-saving treatments, experts warn.
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