What We’re Watching
During Donald Trump’s second presidency, ProPublica will 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 securely.
Learn more about our reporting team. We will continue to share our areas of interest as the news develops.

Sharon Lerner
I cover health and the environment and the agencies that govern them, including the Environmental Protection Agency.

Andy Kroll
I cover justice and the rule of law, including the Justice Department, U.S. attorneys and the courts.

Melissa Sanchez
I report on immigration and labor, and I am based in Chicago.

Jesse Coburn
I cover housing and transportation, including the companies working in those fields and the regulators overseeing them.
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.
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ICE Awarded a $3.8 Billion Contract to Hold Immigrants on a Military Base. Days Later, It Was Canceled.
The administration still intends to move ahead with the plan to build a tent detention camp at Fort Bliss, sources said. It’s a job that promises to be highly sought after as Trump officials plan to pour billions of dollars into new detention facilities.
Labor Department Official Warns That Staff Who Speak With Journalists Face “Serious Legal Consequences”
Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer’s chief of staff issued the warning as department employees have spoken to the news media about harms they see resulting from the dismantling of their agency, which enforces laws guaranteeing workers’ rights.
Fentanyl Pipeline: How a Chinese Prison Helped Fuel a Deadly Drug Crisis in the United States
While China enforces strict laws against domestic drug trafficking, state-supported companies have openly shipped fentanyl to the U.S., investigators say. One prison-owned chemical company boasted online: “100% of our shipments will clear customs.”
The Trump Administration’s War on Children
The administration is quietly putting America’s children at risk by cutting funds and manpower for investigating child abuse, enforcing child support payments, providing child care and much more.
Earthjustice President Describes a “Fundamentally Different” Era of Hostility Toward Environmentalists
Abigail Dillen sees the increase of lawsuits targeting green groups as just one of the growing threats to environmental advocacy organizations — and the people who staff them.
New Law Increases Oversight of Arizona Sober Living Homes
The legislation follows a ProPublica and Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting investigation on a $2 billion Medicaid fraud scheme that targeted Native Americans seeking drug and alcohol treatment.
Politically Connected Firms Benefit From Trump Tariff Exemptions Amid Secrecy, Confusion
The administration’s lack of transparency about tariff exemptions has experts concerned that some firms might be winning narrow carve-outs behind closed doors. “It could be corruption, but it could just as easily be incompetence,” one lobbyist said.
Trump Laid Off Nearly All the Federal Workers Who Investigate Firefighter Deaths
The cuts, which are part of Trump’s slashing of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, will also halt a first-of-its-kind study of the causes of thousands of firefighters’ cancer cases.
Trump’s War on Measurement Means Losing Data on Drug Use, Maternal Mortality, Climate Change and More
By slashing teams that gather critical data, the administration has left the federal government with no way of understanding if policies are working — and created a black hole of information whose consequences could ripple out for decades.
Idaho Gave Families $50M to Spend on Private Education. Then It Ended a $30M Program Used by Public School Families.
A Republican lawmaker said ending an Idaho program that helped public school students buy laptops and other materials wasn’t linked to the creation of a private school tax credit. The state’s most prominent conservative group says it should be.
White Supremacist Terrorgram Network Allegedly Inspired Teen Accused of Killing Parents and Plotting Trump Assassination
Court documents reveal that Nikita Casap’s alleged manifesto calling for Trump’s assassination cited multiple Terrorgram publications and urged people to read the writings of a network member who murdered two people outside an LGTBQ+ bar in 2022.
Trump Team Eyes Politically Connected Startup to Overhaul $700 Billion Government Payments Program
A little-known firm with investors linked to JD Vance, Elon Musk and Trump could get a piece of the federal expense card system — and its hundreds of millions in fees. “This goes against all the normal contracting safeguards,” one expert said.
Wisconsin’s Name-Change Law Raises Safety Risks for Transgender People
A 167-year-old statute requires trans people to publish their old and new names in a newspaper. Families and advocates worry the requirement now poses a risk as President Donald Trump has attacked transgender rights.
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