On March 12, 2026, U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy signed a formal agreement with the General Services Administration and representatives of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to cut 10,000 postal workers and billions of dollars from the U.S. Postal Service budget within 30 days …
Louis DeJoyDepartment of Government EfficiencyElon MuskU.S. Postal ServiceU.S. General Services Administrationlabor-suppressioninstitutional-capturecorporate-capturedoge
On March 12, 2026 – Day 13 of Operation Epic Fury – the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) issued a major humanitarian warning, reporting that up to 3.2 million people had been forcibly displaced inside Iran since the war began on February 28. The figure represented …
United Nations High Commissioner for RefugeesUnited NationsIslamic Republic of IranU.S. Department of DefenseU.S. Central Command+2 moreiran-waroperation-epic-furyhumanitarian-crisiscivilian-casualtiesrefugees+3 more
On March 12, 2026 – Day 13 of Operation Epic Fury and four days after being elevated as Iran’s Supreme Leader – Mojtaba Khamenei issued his first public statement as head of the Islamic Republic, delivered via Iranian state media. He did not appear personally in the broadcast; …
Mojtaba KhameneiIslamic Republic of IranIslamic Revolutionary Guard CorpsDonald TrumpU.S. Department of Defenseiran-waroperation-epic-furystrait-of-hormuzmilitary-escalationiran-leadership+3 more
On March 12, 2026 – Day 13 of Operation Epic Fury – Iran launched a new wave of drone and missile attacks across Gulf states, with Bahrain reporting strikes on fuel storage tanks amid a continued surge in global oil prices. The attacks were the latest in a sustained campaign that had …
Islamic Revolutionary Guard CorpsIslamic Republic of IranBahrain Defense ForceBapco EnergiesU.S. Central Command+2 moreiran-waroperation-epic-furyiran-retaliationstrait-of-hormuzoil-supply+3 more
By March 2026, ICE’s plan for a massive detention infrastructure expansion — funded through the “One Big Beautiful Bill” — was receiving sustained public scrutiny. WBUR’s On Point reported on the program on March 9, 2026, and PBS NewsHour covered the …
U.S. Immigration and Customs EnforcementU.S. Department of Homeland SecurityDonald Trumpice-enforcementimmigration-enforcementdeportationdetentionprivatization+3 more
On March 12, 2026, the Trump Department of Justice’s proposed rule to shield government lawyers from state bar disciplinary proceedings drew renewed attention as the DC Bar opened an investigation into DOJ official Ed Martin. The rule, first proposed in late February 2026, would give the U.S. …
U.S. Department of JusticePam BondiTodd BlancheEd MartinDC Bar Associationdoj-politicizationinstitutional-capturerule-of-lawaccountabilityexecutive-power-expansion+1 more
On March 12, 2026, the Trump administration carried out another round of firings at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, cutting 1,029 employees — approximately 10% of the agency’s remaining workforce — as part of DOGE-directed reductions.
The latest round targeted …
Department of Government EfficiencyU.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric AdministrationU.S. National Weather ServiceElon MuskDonald Trumpinstitutional-captureregulatory-capturedogesystematic-corruption
Reporting published on March 12, 2026 revealed that AI industry super PACs had committed over $125 million to the 2026 midterm elections — deploying a campaign finance strategy specifically designed to elect lawmakers who would oppose AI regulation while running advertisements that made no mention …
OpenAIAnthropicAndreessen HorowitzMarc AndreessenBen Horowitz+6 moreai-policycampaign-financesuper-pactech-political-influencemidterm-elections+4 more
On March 11, 2026, the Trump administration announced new trade investigations targeting China, Mexico, the European Union, and more than a dozen other economies under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, explicitly designed to reconstruct the tariff architecture that the Supreme Court had struck …
Donald TrumpScott BessentU.S. Office of the U.S. Trade RepresentativeU.S. Department of CommerceU.S. Court of International Tradeexecutive-power-expansioncorporate-captureregulatory-capturesystematic-corruption
On March 11, 2026, the Trump administration asked the U.S. Supreme Court to clear the way for it to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for more than 350,000 Haitian immigrants, seeking emergency relief after an appeals court blocked the termination.
Haiti was first granted TPS in 2010 following a …
Donald TrumpU.S. Department of Homeland SecurityKristi NoemU.S. Supreme Courtimmigration-enforcementtemporary-protected-statusdeportationjudicial-captureexecutive-power+2 more
On March 11, 2026, the Social Security Administration’s Office of Inspector General formally notified the chairs and ranking members of key House and Senate committees that it had opened an investigation into whistleblower allegations that a former DOGE employee had misused and exfiltrated …
U.S. Social Security AdministrationDepartment of Government EfficiencyU.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government ReformRobert GarciaRon Wydensurveillance-stateinstitutional-capturewhistleblowerdogesystematic-corruption
On March 11, 2026, the No Kings Coalition publicly announced March 28 as the date for its third nationwide day of protest, with organizers targeting close to 9 million participants and describing it as potentially the largest single day of protest in American history.
Boston’s event — …
IndivisibleACLU of MassachusettsAFL-CIONo Kings Coalitiondemocratic-erosionresistanceimmigration-enforcement
By March 11, 2026, The Hill confirmed that the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee formally scheduled the confirmation hearing for Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) as the next DHS Secretary for March 18, 2026. Bloomberg reported on the shaping confrontation between Mullin and …
Markwayne MullinRand PaulSenate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs CommitteeU.S. Department of Homeland Securitydhs-leadershipimmigration-enforcementsenate-confirmationlegislative-capture
On March 11, 2026, the top Republican on the Senate Banking Committee disclosed that the lead prosecutor handling the Department of Justice’s criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell had been replaced. Bloomberg reported the development as “a potentially notable …
U.S. Department of JusticeJerome PowellFederal ReserveDonald TrumpPam Bondidoj-politicizationinstitutional-captureexecutive-power-expansioncentral-bank-independencesystematic-corruption+1 more
On March 11, 2026 – Day 12 of Operation Epic Fury – Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps struck a cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz with drone and missile fire, further disrupting the critical chokepoint through which approximately 20 percent of the world’s seaborne oil …
Islamic Revolutionary Guard CorpsIslamic Republic of IranU.S. Department of DefenseU.S. NavyIsrael Defense Forces+1 moreiran-waroperation-epic-furystrait-of-hormuzoil-supplyeconomic-warfare+3 more
On March 11, 2026, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi publicly confirmed that China, Russia, and France had all reached out to Tehran to discuss the possibility of a ceasefire, marking the first significant multilateral diplomatic intervention since Operation Epic Fury began on …
Masoud PezeshkianKazem GharibabadiWang YiZhai JunVladimir Putin+6 moreiran-waroperation-epic-furyceasefirediplomacychina-foreign-policy+3 more
On March 11, 2026, CNN, Time, and the Washington Post published corroborating investigations concluding that the United States was likely responsible for a devastating strike on the Shajareh Tayyiba girls’ elementary school in Minab, Hormozgan Province, southern Iran, which occurred on …
U.S. Central CommandU.S. Department of DefenseDefense Intelligence AgencyPete HegsethHuman Rights Watch+6 moreiran-waroperation-epic-furycivilian-casualtieswar-crimeshumanitarian-crisis+4 more
On March 11, 2026, a bipartisan group of U.S. senators – Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) – sent a formal letter to Acting Comptroller General Orice Williams Brown of the U.S. Government Accountability Office requesting an audit of …
U.S. SenateDick DurbinBen Ray LujanJeff MerkleyLisa Murkowski+3 moredoj-politicizationepstein-filescongressional-oversightinstitutional-captureaccountability
A whistleblower alleged on March 10, 2026 that a former Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) software engineer had exfiltrated two tightly restricted Social Security Administration databases — containing records on more than 500 million people, living and dead — and carried them out on a thumb …
Department of Government EfficiencyU.S. Social Security AdministrationElon MuskU.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reformsurveillance-stateinstitutional-capturesystematic-corruptionwhistleblowerdata-breach+1 more
On March 10, 2026, The Washington Post published an investigation documenting how U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers systematically defied federal court orders as immigrant arrests soared during Operation Metro Surge in Minneapolis. The reporting provided granular detail on specific …
U.S. Immigration and Customs EnforcementU.S. Department of Homeland SecurityU.S. Department of JusticePatrick SchiltzJeffrey Bryanice-enforcementjudicial-defiancerule-of-lawdemocratic-erosionimmigration-enforcement+2 more
The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) released its annual press freedom index on March 10, 2026, declaring that the previous year had been the worst for freedom of expression in the Americas since the report’s inception in 2020. The United States recorded the steepest decline of any …
Donald TrumpInter American Press AssociationVoice of Americamedia-capturedemocratic-erosioninstitutional-capture
As of March 10, 2026, Senate negotiations over the GENIUS Act – federal stablecoin regulation legislation – remained stalled, with Democratic senators blocking the bill over its failure to address President Trump’s direct financial conflicts of interest. Senators Elizabeth Warren …
Donald TrumpU.S. SenateElizabeth WarrenJeff MerkleyWorld Liberty Financial+1 morecrypto-conflictsfinancial-conflictsemolumentscorporate-capturelegislative-capture+1 more
Following a closed-door Senate Armed Services Committee briefing on Operation Epic Fury on March 10, 2026, Senate Democrats escalated their demands for public accountability on the Iran war — a conflict now in its second week that Congress never authorized.
A Public Citizen report released in March 2026 documented that President Trump had removed more inspectors general than all other presidents of the United States combined, leaving a critical gap in government accountability and ethics oversight. More than 75% of presidentially appointed inspector …
Donald TrumpU.S. Office of Inspector GeneralPublic Citizeninstitutional-capturedemocratic-erosionaccountabilitysystematic-corruptionexecutive-power-expansion
On March 10, 2026 – Day 11 of Operation Epic Fury – Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that the United States would launch its most intense round of airstrikes against Iran yet, stating: “Today will be, yet again, our most intense day of strikes inside Iran: The most …
Pete HegsethDan CaineU.S. Department of DefenseU.S. Central CommandDonald Trump+1 moreiran-waroperation-epic-furymilitary-escalationexecutive-power-expansionwar-powers+1 more
A CNN investigation published March 10, 2026 documented how the Department of Government Efficiency’s sweeping cuts to federal agencies had materially degraded the U.S. government’s capacity to function during the Iran war that began on February 28.
Current and former government …
Department of Government EfficiencyElon MuskDonald TrumpU.S. Department of StateU.S. Department of Homeland Security+1 moreinstitutional-captureexecutive-power-expansionmilitary-capturesystematic-corruptiondoge
On March 9, 2026, a group of Senate Democrats escalated their opposition to the Trump administration’s undeclared war on Iran by announcing they would force a series of repeated War Powers Act votes unless Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio agreed to testify …
Pete HegsethMarco RubioTim KaineChris MurphyAdam Schiff+7 moreiran-warwar-powersexecutive-power-expansiondemocratic-erosionlegislative-capture+2 more
On March 9, 2026, Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Rand Paul (R-KY) announced he was considering the following week — specifically March 18 — for the confirmation hearing of Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) as the next Secretary of Homeland Security. The Hill formally …
Markwayne MullinRand PaulU.S. Department of Homeland SecuritySenate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committeedhs-leadershipimmigration-enforcementlegislative-capturesenate-confirmation
On March 9, 2026 – Day 10 of Operation Epic Fury – Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps launched what Iranian state media called its 37th wave of retaliatory missile and drone attacks against U.S. military installations and Gulf nation infrastructure. The sustained campaign …
Islamic Revolutionary Guard CorpsIslamic Republic of IranU.S. Department of DefenseU.S. Central CommandBahrain Ministry of Defense+3 moreiran-waroperation-epic-furymilitary-escalationiran-retaliationgulf-security+2 more
Beginning on March 9, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice released additional Epstein files following an NPR investigation that exposed the selective withholding of documents related to sexual abuse allegations against President Donald Trump. NPR’s investigation found 53 pages missing from …
U.S. Department of JusticePam BondiJeffrey EpsteinDonald TrumpNPRdoj-politicizationepstein-filesinstitutional-capturesystematic-corruptionexecutive-power+1 more
By March 2026, the Trump Department of Justice had launched an unprecedented series of retaliatory investigations and prosecutions targeting Democratic politicians, federal oversight officials, and the independent Federal Reserve. Protect Democracy’s Retaliatory Action Tracker documented a …
U.S. Department of JusticePam BondiJeanine PirroJerome PowellTim Walz+3 moredoj-politicizationdemocratic-erosioninstitutional-capturesystematic-corruptionrule-of-law+1 more
By March 9, 2026, reporting confirmed that the Trump administration had effectively dismantled the U.S. Department of Justice’s Public Integrity Section – the office created in response to the Watergate scandal specifically to investigate corruption by public officials. The section had …
U.S. Department of JusticePam BondiDonald Trumpdoj-politicizationinstitutional-capturesystematic-corruptionaccountabilitydemocratic-erosion+1 more
The Department of Justice filed appeals with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit around March 9, 2026, seeking to overturn district court rulings that had blocked President Trump’s executive orders targeting four major law firms: Perkins Coie, WilmerHale, Jenner and Block, and …
Donald TrumpU.S. Department of JusticePerkins CoieWilmerHaleJenner and Block+2 morejudicial-captureexecutive-power-expansiondemocratic-erosioninstitutional-capture
On March 9, 2026, Anthropic formally filed two federal lawsuits against the Trump administration challenging the Department of Defense’s designation of the company as a “supply chain risk to national security” — a label historically applied only to foreign state-linked entities. …
AnthropicDario AmodeiU.S. Department of DefensePete HegsethGeneral Services Administration+2 moreai-safetytech-regulationfirst-amendmentautonomous-weaponsdomestic-surveillance+5 more
On March 8, 2026, President Trump announced he would refuse to sign any legislation until Congress passed the SAVE America Act, a federal voter ID bill requiring proof of citizenship and photo ID to vote in federal elections. The act had already passed the Republican-led House in February 2026 but …
Donald TrumpU.S. CongressSenate RepublicansSenate Democratsvoting-rightsdemocratic-erosionelection-interferenceexecutive-power-expansionvoter-suppression
In March 2026, a coalition of health and environmental groups were pursuing legal challenges against the EPA’s February 12, 2026 repeal of the 2009 Greenhouse Gas Endangerment Finding – the legal foundation for all federal climate regulation under the Clean Air Act. The repeal, finalized …
U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyLee ZeldinDonald TrumpEnvironmental Defense FundClean Air Task Forceregulatory-captureepa-rollbacksclimate-policycorporate-capturedemocratic-erosion
On March 8, 2026 – ten days into Operation Epic Fury – Iran’s Assembly of Experts convened and elected Mojtaba Khamenei, the 56-year-old son of the slain Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, as the Islamic Republic’s third Supreme Leader. Ali Khamenei had been killed in an Israeli …
Mojtaba KhameneiIran Assembly of ExpertsIslamic Republic of IranDonald TrumpU.S. Department of Defenseiran-waroperation-epic-furyexecutive-power-expansionmilitary-escalationforeign-policy+1 more
On March 8, 2026, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and The Intercept published detailed analyses concluding that OpenAI’s Pentagon contract contained language so vague and self-referential as to provide no meaningful protection against AI-powered domestic surveillance or autonomous weapons …
OpenAISam AltmanU.S. Department of DefenseElectronic Frontier FoundationThe Interceptai-safetydomestic-surveillanceautonomous-weaponsmilitary-aiai-policy+4 more
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser and a coalition of environmental groups including the National Parks Conservation Association and the Sierra Club (represented by Earthjustice) filed separate petitions in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit in early March 2026, challenging the Trump …
Phil WeiserU.S. Environmental Protection AgencyEarthjusticeSierra ClubNational Parks Conservation Association+1 moreregulatory-capturecorporate-captureenvironmental-resistanceinstitutional-capture
As the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran entered its second week on March 7, 2026, President Trump declared that Iran “will be hit very hard” and refused to consider any diplomatic resolution short of what he described as unconditional surrender. The U.S. State Department simultaneously moved to …
Donald TrumpU.S. Department of StateU.S. Central CommandPete HegsethIran+1 moreiranwaroperation-epic-furyescalationtrump+3 more
President Trump hosted the Shield of the Americas Summit at Trump National Doral Miami on March 7-8, 2026, gathering leaders from 12 allied Western Hemisphere nations to sign a proclamation launching the Americas Counter-Cartel Coalition — a multinational military cooperation initiative committing …
Donald TrumpKristi NoemMarco RubioPete HegsethJavier Mileishield-of-americasemolumentsmilitary-cooperationcartelslatin-america+3 more
By March 7, 2026, the Trump administration had mounted an aggressive multi-front campaign to dramatically curtail the power of federal judges to block presidential actions, using both executive pressure on the Supreme Court and legislative action in Congress.
Since returning to office in January …
Trump AdministrationU.S. Supreme CourtU.S. Department of JusticeU.S. House of Representativesjudicial-independenceseparation-of-powersnationwide-injunctionsexecutive-overreachdemocratic-erosion+1 more
On March 7, 2026 — the one-year anniversary of the movement’s founding rally — Stand Up for Science organized a “Rally to Take Back Science” in more than 46 locations nationwide, including a flagship event on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Demonstrators included scientists, …
Stand Up for ScienceU.S. National Institutes of HealthU.S. Environmental Protection AgencyU.S. Department of Energyscience-fundingdemocratic-resistanceprotestresearch-suppressionpublic-health+1 more
Caitlin Kalinowski, who had led hardware and robotics operations at OpenAI since November 2024, resigned on March 7, 2026, citing the company’s Pentagon contract as the direct cause of her departure. Her resignation was the highest-profile employee departure resulting from the deal and …
OpenAICaitlin KalinowskiSam AltmanU.S. Department of Defenseai-safetymilitary-aiautonomous-weaponsdomestic-surveillancecorporate-accountability+2 more
On March 7, 2026 — as the Iran war entered its second week — Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian publicly apologized for Iran’s attacks on neighboring countries and announced that Iran would cease striking Gulf states unless those states themselves attacked Iranian territory. “I should …
Masoud PezeshkianIslamic Revolutionary Guard CorpsIranAbbas AraghchiDonald Trump+3 moreiranwaroperation-epic-furyirgcpezeshkian+5 more
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement told a federal judge on March 7, 2026 that its extraordinary deployment to Minnesota — which had at its peak involved approximately 3,000 federal officers from ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection — had been drawn down to just 47 deportation officers. …
U.S. Immigration and Customs EnforcementJeffrey BryanU.S. Department of Homeland Securityimmigration-enforcementice-violationsoperation-metro-surgeinstitutional-accountabilitycontempt-of-court
On March 7, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice filed appeals seeking to reinstate Trump executive orders targeting four major law firms — Jenner & Block, Perkins Coie, Susman Godfrey, and WilmerHale — after four separate federal judges had blocked the orders. The appeals came after a jarring …
U.S. Department of JusticeJenner and BlockPerkins CoieSusman GodfreyWilmerHale+1 morerule-of-lawexecutive-overreachlegal-professionretaliationjudicial-independence+1 more
On March 6, 2026 — the seventh day of Operation Epic Fury — President Trump posted on social media that “There will be no deal with Iran except UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!” The declaration escalated the administration’s stated war aims from the four military objectives announced at …
Donald TrumpKaroline LeavittMasoud PezeshkianPete HegsethU.S. Department of Defense+1 moreiranwartrumpoperation-epic-furyunconditional-surrender+3 more
In the immediate aftermath of Kristi Noem’s dismissal as DHS Secretary on March 5, 2026, reporting from Axios and the Washington Post catalogued the overlapping controversies that defined her 13-month tenure and accelerated her removal — providing a consolidated portrait of institutional …
Kristi NoemDonald TrumpMarkwayne MullinU.S. Department of Homeland SecurityThom Tilliscabinet-dismissalimmigration-enforcementinstitutional-accountabilityself-dealingdhs+1 more
By March 2026, the Department of Justice’s Public Integrity Section – the unit created after Watergate specifically to prosecute corruption by government officials at all levels – had been reduced from 36 full-time lawyers to just two. NOTUS reported the collapse in detail, noting …
U.S. Department of JusticePam BondiDonald TrumpU.S. Public Integrity Sectiondoj-politicizationinstitutional-captureanti-corruptionpublic-integrity-sectiondemocratic-erosion+1 more