Jimmy Tobias

Midwest

Freelance Writer at Freelance

Investigative reporter for @PDInvestigates, @thenation, @GuardianUS, etc. FOIA fan, formerly @forestservice. Email: [email protected] Signal: jtoby.06

Articles

Pro-Trump 2020 “Stop the Count” Activist Lands High-Level Job at Interior Department

2 weeks ago | publicdomain.media | Jimmy Tobias

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Pro-Trump 2020 “Stop the Count” Activist Lands Top Job at the Interior Department

2 weeks ago | theintercept.com | Jimmy Tobias |Chris D’Angelo

The day after Election Day in 2020, a large group of President Donald Trump’s supporters descended on Detroit’s Huntington Place convention center, at the time known as the TCF Center. They were trying to stop poll workers inside from counting ballots. Police ultimately blocked many of the Trump supporters from entering the room where the poll workers were fulfilling their duties, but the crowd gathered outside the room, banging on its windows. “Stop the count!” they chanted.
Trump Administration Moves to 'Neuter' America's Most Important Wildlife Law

3 weeks ago | publicdomain.media | Jimmy Tobias

For more than 50 years, the Endangered Species Act has helped scores of species — from whooping cranes to red wolves to California condors — claw their way back from the edge of extinction. Its success has made it supremely popular with the American public — far more popular, for instance, than Congress. But now, like all those species it helps protect, the law itself is in grave peril.
The Return of the Nuclear Threat

3 weeks ago | thenation.com | Jimmy Tobias

Feature / May 13, 2025 The Return of the Nuclear ThreatWhile most of the world looked away, a new nuclear arms race has broken out between the US, Russia, and China, raising the risk of nuclear confrontation to the highest in decades. Only a test? A mushroom cloud rises from a nuclear weapon test conducted in 1952 at the Nevada Proving Ground.
Environmental Groups Urge Senate To Vote Down Trump’s Public Lands Chief

3 weeks ago | publicdomain.media | Chris D'Angelo |Roque Planas |Jimmy Tobias

More than 125 public land, climate and environmental advocacy groups signed on to a letter Monday urging senators to oppose President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the federal government's largest land management agency, citing “inherent conflicts of interest.” In February, Trump tapped Kathleen Sgamma, a longtime leader of Western Energy Alliance, an oil and gas trade association, to serve as director of the Bureau of Land Management, an agency that manages 246 million acres of public land...
Vivek Ramaswamy’s High School Friend Is Working for DOGE at the Interior Department

3 weeks ago | publicdomain.media | Jimmy Tobias

A new DOGE-linked political appointee has taken up residence at the Interior Department — and though he doesn’t appear to have any special expertise on environmental matters, he does have important connections. His name is Matt Luby and he’s Vivek Ramaswamy’s best friend from high school. A graduate of The Ohio State University, Luby worked for Ramaswamy’s presidential campaign before becoming involved with DOGE. Now, he is at the Interior Department, or DOI.
DOGE-Linked Tech Executive Lands Role At Key Fisheries Agency

3 weeks ago | publicdomain.media | Jimmy Tobias

Elon Musk is reportedly preparing to step back from his hyper-active role in the Trump administration, but operators tied to his Department of Government Efficiency continue to burrow into the federal bureaucracy. A recent example can be found at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, an agency responsible for protecting marine wildlife, managing America’s marine fisheries, operating a network of crucial satellites, and overseeing the National Weather Service.
Loyalists, Lobbyists and Industry Insiders - the New Political Appointees at the Interior Department

3 weeks ago | publicdomain.media | Jimmy Tobias

As the Trump administration purges non–partisan civil servants from federal bureaucracies across Washington, it is simultaneously filling those agencies with MAGA loyalists, revolving-door lobbyists and industry insiders. At least that’s the story at the Interior Department, the massive federal agency that oversees our national parks and historic battlefields, manages the Endangered Species Act, administers vast energy resources and more.
Thank you for an excellent first month!

3 weeks ago | publicdomain.media | Jimmy Tobias |Roque Planas |Chris D'Angelo

Dear Public Domain readers, This publication is now officially one month old. We had no idea what to expect when the three of us teamed up to produce investigative reporting on public lands, wildlife and resources. But we knew that the stakes have never been higher for those who care about the future of our public heritage. We're astounded at the warm welcome we've enjoyed. Our back-of-the-napkin math showed the project would become financially viable if we reached 3,000 paid subscribers.
PODCAST: How Elon Musk is trying to dismantle the Interior Department

3 weeks ago | publicdomain.media | Jimmy Tobias

Current time: 0:00 / Total time: -45:18Audio playback is not supported on your browser. Please upgrade. Last week, I joined the The Landscape Podcast to discuss the current state of affairs at the Interior Department — an agency that controls hundreds of millions of acres of public land, protects endangered species, runs the national parks, delivers water across the American West, and more.