NEW: When asked if top aide Corey Lewandowski has “a role in approving contracts,” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem replied, “No.”
But internal DHS records contradict her testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
By @josh-kaplan.bsky.social @justinelliott.bsky.social
"Counterproductive regime change war." It's a phrase I've heard countless times from Tulsi Gabbard while covering her political career for @civilbeat.bsky.social from the Honolulu City Council to Director of National Intelligence. www.civilbeat.org/2026/03/iran...
The University of Missouri students bringing regional reporting back to Washington, by @liamjscott.bsky.social. www.cjr.org/feature/capi...
This federal contractor was accused of stealing millions of dollars that should have been used to help Native Hawaiians and spending it on luxury homes, private jets and polo horses. Now his family is offering their own version of events. www.civilbeat.org/2026/03/embe... @civilbeat.bsky.social
A U.S. veteran and his wife pinched and saved to buy a prefab home from China. When it finally arrived in Hawaiʻi, Trump's tariffs made it unaffordable. They left it at the docks.
"That money did not exist in our budget." www.civilbeat.org/2026/02/will...
It's not just RFK Jr. and MAHA. Turns out Trump's DNI Tulsi Gabbard, a former Hawaiʻi Democrat, had some things to say about glyphosate as well. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/18/u...
Even Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a Republican, took umbrage with the language one of her GOP colleagues, Sen. Joni Ernst, used when she described the program as a "fraud magnet."
“Quite honestly that’s terminology that I would just categorically reject," she said. www.civilbeat.org/2025/12/frau...
But Dawson's case has been weaponized by the Trump administration's allies to attack the SBA 8(a) program as a whole, something Schatz said is misguided.
“This feels like they are objecting to Native people making money,” Schatz said.
That scandal involved Chris Dawson, a Native Hawaiian contractor who siphoned millions of dollars away from his people while playing polo and flying in private jets. His exploits were detailed in a recent investigation by @civilbeat.bsky.social and @propublica.org www.civilbeat.org/2025/12/hawa...
Some Republicans are pushing back on the Trump administration's anti-DEI assault on a contracting program that helps Native people, although Democratic U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz admits it might need reform given recent scandal in Hawaiʻi www.civilbeat.org/2026/02/it-i... @civilbeat.bsky.social
The anti-DEI rhetoric worries Case, he said, because real oversight is necessary to fix the program's flaws. Instead, he said Trump and his allies just want to "take it out. "
“It’s basically just a DOGE attack on the 8(a) program." www.civilbeat.org/2026/01/hawa...
epublicans, however, have seized on the scandal and others, in an attempt to dismantle the 8(a) program. Most recently, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth described it as a race-based handout that’s a “breeding ground for fraud.” www.civilbeat.org/2025/12/frau...
The case at the center of his concerns involves a Native Hawaiian defense contractor who is accused of cheating his people out of millions of dollars while spending lavishly on luxury cars, fancy homes and polo. (He even had a horse cloning operation.) www.civilbeat.org/2025/12/hawa...
Hawaiʻi Democratic Rep. Ed Case doesn't agree with the Trump administration's anti-DEI rhetoric, but he says the SBA's 8(a) program is in need of better oversight citing reporting from
@civilbeat.bsky.social and @propublica.org www.civilbeat.org/2026/01/hawa...
.
Must-read story about the SBA 8(a) program: He Spent Funds Meant for Native Hawaiians on Polo and Porsches. The Federal Government Failed to Stop Him.
@nickgrube.bsky.social @civilbeat.bsky.social
And while Dawson died in 2024, his former defense lawyer said that when he was in charge he always complied with SBA requests for information, and followed the advice of “fully informed” accountants and attorneys. www.civilbeat.org/2025/12/hawa...
Dawson’s companies, meanwhile, have been trying to salvage their contracting advantages. They fired Dawson and have pushed back against Ernst’s claims to the Defense Department that their firms won awards while under "active federal investigation"
Scandals like the one involving Christopher Dawson now threaten a program that was designed to uplift Native Hawaiians. As one congressional staffer warned nearly 20 years ago:
“We cannot afford to have a few ill-informed or ill-motivated NHOs to screw it up for everybody.”
At stake are billions of dollars in federal contracts, many of which go to Native-owned companies that then use their profits to serve their communities.
But as @civilbeat.bsky.social & @propublica.org reported earlier this week, that doesn't always happen. www.civilbeat.org/2025/12/hawa...
Taking on the SBA's 8(a) program is part of a broader GOP effort to end diversity, equity and inclusion in federal government.
As Kelly Loeffler, Trump's SBA administrator, said, "Like every other government program rooted in DEI the 8(a) Program is rife with grift and fraud."
Republicans have seized upon a scandal involving a Native Hawaiian defense contractor to target a civil rights era program meant to help disadvantaged businesses compete in the federal marketplace. www.civilbeat.org/2025/12/frau... (A collab w/ @civilbeat.bsky.social & @propublica.org)
At a congressional hearing in 2019, Linda McMahon, then head of @SBAgov, lavished praise on a Native Hawaiian defense contractor as a shining example of a federal program designed to uplift Indigenous people. But there’s a lot more to the story. 👇 @nickgrube.bsky.social @civilbeat.bsky.social
Chris Dawson built an empire off a program that gave him massive no-bid contracts in exchange for the promise of uplifting Native Hawaiians. He’s now accused of cheating it to line his own pockets.
Check out my latest with @propublica.org and @civilbeat.bsky.social www.civilbeat.org/2025/12/hawa...
A must-read story about the SBA’s failure to oversee a no-bid program for Native businesses and the grift that followed.
He Spent Funds Meant for Native Hawaiians on Polo and Porsches. The Federal Government Failed to Stop Him. by @nickgrube.bsky.social @civilbeat.bsky.social
Trump has indefinitely withdrawn federal funding for:
• Investigating child sexual abuse and internet crimes against kids;
• Responding to reports of missing children;
• Preventing youth violence
New, @propublica.org
Exclusive: The Merit Systems Protection Board is one of the only avenues for fired federal workers to challenge dismissals. I spoke with Raymond Limon, the former MSPB vice chair who retired on Friday, about the "unprecedented" moment we're in.
www.scrippsnews.com/...
1/10
During Trump's first administration, the Western states were the hotspot for fighting his policies in court.
This time, it's shaping up to be New England, even though its one of the smallest circuits.
Here's why:
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/02/24/n...
Behind the scenes of the state Supreme Court race, a 'turf war' simmers between Wisconsin GOP and Turning Point
"There’s a war. It’s a quiet war. Nobody’s really paying attention to the war. But there’s a war going on."
www.jsonline.com/story/news/p...
New: 46 Senate Republicans led by John Thune have proposed to eliminate the estate tax.
Elon Musk's heirs would benefit more than any other, as he's worth ~$400 billion. A 40% tax on that would be close to $160 billion, though there is a whole industry devoted to helping the rich bypass the tax.
I spoke with former VA IG Mike Missal after he was fired by Trump a week ago along with the IGs at 17 other agencies.
The dis-Missal (sorry) came after he led investigations that ID'd $37.6 billion in savings and exposed patient harm related to the new EHR, likely averting more harm to veterans.
