Mark Alfred

2 weeks ago | notus.org | Mark Alfred

It took about five minutes to find a dozen members of Congress on Venmo. Ultimately, over the course of about a week, NOTUS identified the Venmo accounts of more than 50 current lawmakers, more than 20 former members of Congress, and more than three dozen current Trump administration officials and nominees. For most people, there are plenty of reasons why you wouldn’t want someone looking at your Venmo.

3 weeks ago | notus.org | Margaret Manto |Mark Alfred

Elon Musk’s DOGE has ordered the Department of Health and Human Services to reduce all of its contract spending by 35% and is wielding enormous influence over what gets cut, according to internal emails and documents sent to employees last week and reviewed by NOTUS.

3 weeks ago | notus.org | Reese Gorman |Mark Alfred

California Democrat Sam Liccardo raised nearly $1.5 million in his first quarter as a member of Congress, according to a source familiar with the Liccardo camp — a hefty sum for a freshman lawmaker. Additionally, Liccardo, the former mayor of San Jose, transferred $110,000 to Democratic frontline members, the source told NOTUS. The transfers not only aid Democrats in their efforts to take back the majority next cycle but also help boost Liccardo’s profile with his new colleagues.

3 weeks ago | notus.org | Mark Alfred

Democrats are disproportionately feeling the brunt of DOGE’s slashing of federally awarded contracts. Only around 12% of the U.S.-based contracts cut by DOGE are for work in Republican districts, NOTUS found. And unlike their Republican counterparts, Democratic lawmakers don’t have a line to Elon Musk to get their districts’ work off the chopping block. NOTUS analyzed the roughly 7,200 “terminated” contracts DOGE lists on its site.

3 weeks ago | notus.org | Mark Alfred |Margaret Manto

The Trump administration is making sweeping cuts to the Department of Health and Human Services that Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. argues will streamline the federal health infrastructure. But cutting so many programs and personnel at once could end up making America less healthy, lawmakers and state health agencies warn. “Robert Kennedy is a hazard to our health,” Sen. Raphael Warnock told NOTUS.