Happy Monday from the country where DOGE finally got audited and billions in claimed savings apparently evaporated under the terrifying glare of arithmetic. ICE is expanding ankle monitoring to people legally living in the United States, undercover agents reportedly infiltrated churches, and the president’s giant ballroom project now involves a medical facility, classified infrastructure, and enough unanswered questions to make the chandeliers nervous. Meanwhile, Jared Kushner continues mixing private foreign investment with public diplomacy, and immigration rules are changing so quietly that some legal workers discovered their permits were invalid when a government database simply flipped the switch. Totally normal Monday. Nothing smells like smoke. Please stop looking behind the drywall.
Key Takeaways
DOGE Got Audited and Billions in Claimed Savings Did Not Survive the Math
The Government Accountability Office examined contracts where DOGE claimed $7.5 billion in savings and found only $77.8 million that had actually been returned for other government use. One $1.7 billion contract DOGE claimed as savings was never even canceled, proving once again that putting a number on a website does not make it fucking accounting.
ICE Is Putting GPS Ankle Monitors on People Living Legally in the United States
ICE electronic monitoring has expanded far beyond detention facilities, with contractor BI Incorporated supervising roughly 184,000 immigrants, including nearly 54,000 wearing GPS ankle monitors. The government discovered it does not need enough jail cells to monitor everybody if it can simply attach the surveillance directly to their ankles.
Undercover Federal Agents Reportedly Infiltrated Minnesota Churches
Government records show Homeland Security investigators posed as activists, entered church gatherings, recorded license plates, searched attendees’ social media, and created intelligence files on individuals. Apparently religious liberty remains sacred right up until somebody inside the church criticizes ICE.
Trump’s Ballroom Has a Medical Facility Underneath It and the Questions Are Multiplying
Court records and Trump’s own statements describe hardened communications, medical facilities, classified systems, drone protection, and other infrastructure beneath the ballroom project while a separate federal health data system is being developed with private technology companies. No evidence currently establishes that the two systems connect, but Congress has approximately four thousand excellent reasons to start asking what the hell is underneath the East Wing.
Jared Kushner’s Foreign Investors and American Diplomacy Keep Occupying the Same Room
Kait Justice documents billions invested in Kushner’s Affinity Partners by Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE while Kushner remains involved in Middle East diplomacy, raising serious conflict questions even though the article’s broader conclusions are analysis. Foreign governments reportedly supplied nearly all of Affinity’s capital, because apparently American foreign policy now comes with an investor relations department.
The $2.3 Billion Deportation Contract Is Attracting a Crowd of Private Contractors
Ten organizations attended a DHS briefing for the next Project Homecoming contract, which could pay contractors to advertise voluntary departure, locate eligible immigrants using commercial data, and deploy teams into detention facilities. Draft terms even include payments involving unaccompanied migrant children, because apparently deportation has finally become a growth industry with a sales department.
Thousands of Ethiopian Workers Lost Valid Work Authorization Overnight
Migrant Insider reports that a federal benefits verification system suddenly marked work permits for thousands of Ethiopian Temporary Protected Status holders invalid on August 18 without a transition period. Imagine going to bed legally employable and waking up undocumented by software update.
A USS Lincoln Sailor’s Father Was Detained by ICE While His Son Served Overseas
ICE detained the father of a sailor serving aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln during the carrier’s extraordinarily long Middle East deployment, adding another military family to the immigration enforcement controversy. Support our troops apparently remains a bumper sticker rather than a family policy.
A Senate Candidate’s Data Center Investments Are Raising Conflict Questions
The Lever examines financial interests connected to the explosive growth of artificial intelligence data centers and the political decisions that can increase their value. Turns out public policy becomes considerably more interesting when the people writing it have portfolios waiting outside.
Trump Claims Hospitals Are Performing Reverse Surgeries on Trans People at His Direction
Trump claimed hospitals are performing procedures to reverse gender affirming surgeries because of his administration, but LGBTQ Nation found no evidence supporting that sweeping claim. Apparently medical policy has entered the exciting stage where presidential anecdotes require their own fact checking department.
A Federal Court Is Being Asked to Stop Trump’s Name From Returning to the Kennedy Center
Litigation over whether Trump’s name can be restored to the Kennedy Center is continuing in federal court. America has apparently reached the point where cultural institutions require judicial supervision of the Sharpie.
Moms for Liberty Cofounder Bridget Ziegler Lost Her School Board Seat
Florida voters removed Moms for Liberty cofounder Bridget Ziegler from the Sarasota County School Board after years of culture war politics and national controversy. Sometimes democracy is complicated, and sometimes voters simply locate the eject button.
Closing RK Thoughts
Today’s stories have one thing in common: systems expanding faster than accountability can catch them.
DOGE claimed savings before auditors verified them. ICE surveillance expanded beyond detention. Immigration status changed through databases most Americans never see. Private contractors are lining up for billions in deportation work. The White House is pouring concrete while courts are still deciding whether the construction was authorized.
That is why boring oversight matters.
Audits matter. Court records matter. Source code matters. Contracts matter. Financial disclosures matter. Journalists who read page 847 when everyone else moved on matter.
Power loves speed because accountability requires time.
So slow it down.
Ask who authorized it. Ask who profits. Ask where the records went. Ask why the database changed. Ask what is underneath the fucking ballroom.
Claws out. Receipts ready. HISSSSSSSSSS
Featured Resisters and Resources
- Flock Watch is an independent public interest mapping and research tool focused on documenting the deployment of Flock Safety automated license plate reader cameras. These cameras, commonly known as ALPRs, photograph vehicles and record information such as license plate numbers, vehicle characteristics, location, and time.
- The POLITICO ICE Detention Court Rulings Database is a searchable collection of federal court decisions involving the Trump administration’s expanded mandatory immigration detention policy. The database tracks thousands of cases in which people detained by United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement challenged their confinement in federal court.
What We Are Watching Today
- 9:00 AM EDT
U.S. House of Representatives - 9:15 AM EDT
Washington Journal: Heather Long Discusses the State of U.S. Economy Ahead of the Midterms Live - 12:00 PM EDT
Vice President Vance Delivers Remarks in Brewer, Maine - 12:00 PM EDT
Agriculture Secy. Rollins & HHS Secy. Kennedy Hold Rally for Child Nutrition - 12:00 PM EDT
Sen. Tim Kaine & Rep. Eugene Vindman Attend Veterans’ Health Care Forum - 12:30 PM EDT
Senate Pro Forma Session - 1:00 PM EDT
Sec. Bessent Holds News Conference at Treasury Department - 1:45 PM EDT
Governor Candidate Rob Sand (D-IA) Holds Town Hall in Franklin County, Iowa - 2:30 PM EDT
President Trump Remarks in White House Rose Garden - 5:00 PM EDT
Governor Candidate Vivek Ramaswamy (R-OH) Attends Darke County Fair - 6:00 PM EDT
U.S. House Candidate William Lawrence (D-MI) Talks With Voters in Lansing - 8:00 PM EDT
Governor Candidate Rob Sand (D-IA) Holds Town Hall in Dubuque, Iowa
Today’s Call to Action
1. Read Today’s Resistance Survival Guides
2. Sign these Petitions and Send These Pre Written Letters
- Tell Interior Secretary Burgum: Keep drilling away from Chaco Canyon
- Denounce Trump’s DOJ for Giving Felons Access to Guns
- Protect Yellowstone’s Oldest Wolf Family
- Don’t Let the Navy Swap a Black WWII Hero’s Name for Trump
- Tell your state education chief to defend the continued collection and examination of racial discipline data and reject this attempt to make discrimination harder to see.
- Add your name to the petition: No taxpayer dollars for Trump’s White House ballroom vanity project.
- Sign the petition: It’s long past time to stop Donald Trump’s FCC from retaliating against media outlets.
3. Verify your voter registration status and help at least one other person check theirs
4. Save contact information for local legal aid and voting support organizations
5. Attend an Event
- Cameras, Communities, and the Future of Local News
Tuesday, August 25 at 8:00 p.m. ET. This virtual discussion explores citizen journalism, documenting abuses of power, and strengthening independent local news. - AI and Surveillance and Incarceration Webinar
Wednesday, August 26 at 9:00 p.m. ET. This free virtual event examines how artificial intelligence is being used for surveillance, policing, and incarceration. - March on Washington: Defend the Vote
Friday, August 28 at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. Gathering begins at 8:00 a.m. ET, and the program begins at 9:00 a.m. The march will defend voting rights, civil rights, and economic justice.
6. Contact Your Lawmakers Directly
- Demand Public Testimony on the Epstein Files: “Hello, my name is [NAME], and I live in [CITY]. I am asking you to demand public testimony from Attorney General Todd Blanche about the missing Epstein records, redaction failures, and the treatment of Ghislaine Maxwell. Survivors and the public deserve answers. Please support subpoenas and full congressional oversight.”
- Reject Another Blank Check for the Iran War: “Hello, my name is [NAME], and I live in [CITY]. I am asking you to oppose the proposed $73 billion in additional Iran war funding. Congress must debate and vote on any authorization for war before approving more money. Please invest those resources in health care, housing, food assistance, and communities here at home.”
- Stop the Escalating Trade War With Canada: “Hello, my name is [NAME], and I live in [CITY]. I am asking Congress to block the threatened 50 percent tariffs on Canadian vehicles, parts, and steel. These tariffs could raise prices, disrupt American factories, and cost workers their jobs. Please reclaim Congress’s authority over trade and demand a negotiated solution.”
7. Who Are We Boycotting This Week?
- Chevron and Texaco: Avoid Chevron and Texaco gas stations. A coordinated boycott action on August 29 is protesting Chevron’s involvement in Israel’s energy industry and its environmental record.
- Target: The American Federation of Teachers has called for a nationwide Target boycott over the company’s response to aggressive ICE operations in Minnesota. Skip Target for back to school shopping and support local or union friendly stores instead.
- Palantir: Palantir provides surveillance and data technology used by ICE, police departments, and military agencies. Do not invest in Palantir, accept its sponsorships, or support institutions that purchase its technology.
