This week at Unbreaking, August 14
We’re looking closely at two issues this week — the ongoing efforts to threaten the job security of federal workers, and ramped-up data sharing between federal agencies and tech companies.
Equality at Work
In addition to cutting jobs, the administration is taking steps to make work for those remaining in the federal government more precarious — and less desirable. After a judge cleared the way despite an ongoing legal challenge, the administration has moved ahead with canceling union contracts at the VA, the EPA, and FEMA. Meanwhile, ProPublica reports that an increasing number of doctors and nurses are declining job offers from the VA, stating concerns about the uncertain future of the department after major staffing cuts. And the National Weather Service is looking to hire for as many as 450 critical positions, restoring the majority of jobs lost to sweeping cuts earlier in the year; this comes after allegations that understaffing was partly to blame for the death toll in the devastating Texas floods last month. Follow the firings, hirings, refirings, and more in our timeline.
Data Security
This past week saw government agencies moving forward with plans to disclose data from the IRS to DHS and from SNAP food assistance programs in New Hampshire and Vermont to the USDA, despite objections by the outgoing IRS commissioner and an ongoing legal challenge against the USDA. On Monday, the Fourth Circuit formally overturned a preliminary injunction, allowing DOGE’s unfettered access to sensitive data to continue. We also learned about an HHS initiative to collect private data from healthcare and tech companies for a new health monitoring system, as well as NIH plans to renew its controversial autism tracking initiative by reviving an abandoned Biden-era data-aggregation program.
In other news, election officials have raised the alarm about threats to voter roll data after DHS announced plans to cut funding for cybersecurity collaboration between states. We also saw Democratic lawmakers push back against data collection initiatives by launching an investigation into reports that license-plate reader data from Flock surveillance cameras has been shared with police by Home Depot and Lowe’s, common sites of ICE raids on day laborers. Senate Democrats also introduced the Pick Up After Your DOGE Act, which would require DOGE to account for all data accessed in a new Government Accountability Office audit.
Learn about all the ways the administration is undermining data security in our timeline.
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