Transcript

6.6.26 · Washington Post

0:00
Speaker 1: Welcome to the reading of the Washington Post for Saturday,
0:04
June sixth, twenty twenty six. As a reminder, RADIOI is
0:08
a reading service intended for people who are blind or
0:12
have other disabilities that make it difficult to read printed material.
0:16
Your reader for today is Roger Hamperian. Today's front page
0:21
headlines from the Washington Post are as follows CIA black
0:26
box allegedly used to facilitate theft, next a setback and
0:32
Senate for expiring surveillance law. Then ex official describes plans
0:38
to list living as dead, followed by job gains in May,
0:44
blow past forecasts in a sign of economic momentum, next
0:50
inside Trump's suddenly softened green card policy, and finally they
0:55
explain autism and come under attack. The first article from
1:00
the front page of today's edition is titled CIA officer
1:04
who had millions in gold bars accused of creating fakes
1:08
by program. David J. Rush worked on highly secretive intelligence
1:13
programs and is alleged to have funneled millions of dollars
1:16
for personal use via a fraudulent contract by Warren P. Strobel,
1:22
Ellen Nakashima and Katie Mettler. The former senior CIA official
1:28
found with more than forty million dollars worth of gold
1:31
bars in his house, allegedly created a fake, highly classified
1:35
intelligence program that he used as a conduit to funnel
1:39
millions of dollars for his personal use. According to people
1:42
familiar with the criminal investigation, David J. Rush, who was
1:47
arrested last month and charged with one count of theft
1:50
the public money, constructed what is known as a special
1:54
Access program, a sort of black box for the most
1:57
secret intelligence operations. The people familiar with the investigation said
2:02
even intelligence personnel with the highest security clearance cannot access
2:07
individual sap as they are known without specific authorization. The people,
2:13
who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe an
2:16
ongoing investigation, said the criminal probe found that Rush read
2:20
in or initiated two colleagues into the highly secretive sham program,
2:25
effectively cultivating them as perhaps unwitting accomplices and preventing them
2:30
from talking to others about it. He persuaded one of
2:33
them to transfer millions of dollars to the program via
2:36
a government contract that was also fraudulent. They said. He
2:40
made up a contract. One of the people said, Rush,
2:44
who worked in the CIA's Directorate of Science and Technology
2:48
has not pleaded to the charges against him. At a
2:51
detention hearing in federal court in Alexandria on Friday, a
2:55
judge ruled that Rush posed a significant flight risk and
2:58
ordered him to remained at the local jail pending trial.
3:02
The CIA, meanwhile, has put several agency officials on leave
3:07
as FBI and spy agency investigations continue, two people familiar
3:12
with the matter said NBC News first reported that development.
3:17
The people familiar did not disclose those officials' names or positions.
3:21
The Science and Technology Directorate is the arm of the
3:24
agency that creates technical espionage tools to aid US spies
3:28
and their agents abroad. The account of those familiar with
3:32
the criminal probe appears to raise serious questions about secrecy,
3:36
guardrails and vetting at the CIA. It remains unclear, for example,
3:41
how Rush could single handedly create a black box for
3:44
a fictional spy program without sign off from its superiors.
3:49
It is also unclear whether the two colleagues Rush brought
3:52
into the fake program knew it was fraudulent. One of
3:56
the people familiar with the probe said Rush's fake program
3:59
involved continentuity of government operations or programs to keep the
4:03
US federal government running in the event of nuclear war,
4:06
natural disasters, or other catastrophes. Rush apparently used the fake
4:11
government continuity program and the contract to persuade a government
4:15
defense contractor to purchase large amounts of gold, this person said.
4:20
Even more astounding, according to former US officials and others
4:24
familiar with the issue, is that Rush's duties at the
4:27
CIA included involvement in one of the government's most sensitive
4:31
intelligence gathering programs, a project so secret that only a
4:35
handful of US intelligence officials and lawmakers knew of its existence.
4:40
According to four people familiar with the matter, details of
4:44
that program, separate from the fake project Rush allegedly created,
4:48
remain highly classified. The Washington Post is withholding details about
4:52
the program after US officials warned that disclosure could jeopardize
4:56
ongoing intelligence gathering operations. Rush was arrested following a May
5:01
eighteenth FBI raid on his house, where agents seized three
5:06
hundred and three gold bars worth roughly forty million dollars,
5:10
two million dollars in cash, and thirty five luxury watches.
5:14
According to a government affidavit, the bulk of Friday's detention
5:18
hearing in Federal District court was sealed to the public
5:21
for about forty minutes. Attorney's privately debated facts of the
5:25
case that required top secret security clearance, According to court documents.
5:29
In the hearings, public portion Assistant US Attorney Gavin Tisdale
5:34
told US Magistrate Judge William Fitzpatrick that Rush was a
5:38
master manipulator who lied to colleagues about basic facts of
5:42
his pedigree and lied to neighbors about working as a
5:45
Navy pilot. Mister Rush simply cannot be trusted to abide
5:49
by this Court's conditions, Tisdale said, arguing he is a
5:53
serious flight risk who is fully able and willing to
5:56
skirt the rules. Fitzpatrick ordered Rush to reruns rein in detention,
6:01
saying he had the skills, means, and motive to flee.
6:05
Jessica Carmichael, Rush's defense attorney, said during the court hearing
6:09
she believed that Rush should be assigned an ankle monitor
6:12
and allowed to await trial at home with his wife
6:15
and children. She told the judge she had concerns that
6:18
Rush was being held on the basis of sensational allegations
6:22
from the government, some of which she had learned that
6:25
morning that are not related to the single criminal charge
6:28
he currently faces. In return, Tisdale said the case has
6:32
been rapidly evolving since the original criminal complaint two weeks ago,
6:36
which included just a fraction of the evidence investigators have
6:40
now gathered. Rush, Tisdale said, is in a world of trouble.
6:45
Carmichael declined to comment after the court hearing. So far,
6:49
there was no evidence that Rush was being paid by
6:52
a foreign power for espionage, said one person familiar with
6:55
the matter, But the revelations raised significant questions about how
6:59
the CIA and other government agencies allowed Rush to ascend
7:03
to such a significant post while failing to uncover his
7:07
misrepresentations about his educational history and military service. This is
7:13
just staggering, said Representative Jim Himes of Connecticut, the top
7:17
Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee. Keeping gold bars and
7:21
wads of cash in your house is not exactly top
7:24
notch tradecraft from an oversight standpoint. How the hell did
7:28
this happen? The government affidavit filed May twenty in U. S.
7:32
District Court in Alexandria, alleges that Rush lied to the
7:36
CIA about his college degrees and Navy record and fraudulently
7:40
obtained seventy seven thousand dollars in military leave pay, despite
7:44
having been discharged from the Navy in twenty fifteen. Former
7:49
US intelligence officials said they were stunned that Rush's alleged
7:53
misrepresentations were not flagged in what are normally lengthy and
7:56
rigorous background checks for would be CIA employees. One of
8:01
the officials described how he was administered blood tests, psychological exams,
8:05
and polygraph tests, then was required to sign a stack
8:09
of forms before being hired. Government security officials double checked
8:13
his college transcripts. It's shocking that he got by a
8:17
process that scrutinizes everything, said Mark Polymopolis, a former CIA
8:22
operations official whose field assignments spanned the globe. They interview friends, relatives, professors.
8:29
It's a full on colonoscopy. In addition to the CIA
8:33
personnel actions, a senior employee at a US defense contractor
8:37
was fired, One person familiar with the matter said. The
8:41
May twenty government affidavit indicates that Rush joined the CIA
8:45
around two thousand and nine, well before current director John
8:48
Ratcliffe took over. Trump administration officials have briefed the House
8:53
and Senate Intelligence committees on the Rush case. Rush had
8:56
at least a temporary association with Deputies Secretary of Defense
9:01
Stephen Feinberg. According to three current US officials and one
9:05
former official, it is unclear how the two men met.
9:09
Feinberg served as chairman of the President's Intelligence Advisory Board,
9:13
which provides independent advice on US by programs, during President
9:17
Donald Trump's first term. NBC News first reported Rush's ties
9:22
to Finberg. Chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said that insinuations
9:28
of a close professional relationship between the two men are
9:31
completely false and embellised. Deputy Secretary Feinberg never supported mister
9:37
Rush's career at any point in his life, nor did
9:40
he endorse mister Rush for any career position. The government
9:44
affidavit says that Rush claimed to have a bachelor's degree
9:47
from Clemson University and a master's from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
9:52
An FBI investigation found no record of Rush ever attending
9:56
either institution, nor any evidence to support his claimed that
10:00
he had been a Navy pilot. Several of the people
10:03
familiar with the case said the very government secrecy designed
10:07
to protect valuable intelligence can be used to hide misconduct.
10:10
One of the people, a former top US intelligence official
10:15
said that US spy agencies often use financial trade craft
10:19
to move large amounts of money for intelligence operations without
10:22
attracting the attention of adversary spy services from China, Russia
10:27
and elsewhere. It's important, the former official said that those
10:32
countries don't know the source or destination of the money.
10:35
The problem. It means that neither de we. The next
10:39
article from the front page of today's edition is titled
10:42
seven Senate Republicans joined Democrats in resisting surveillance law. Democrats
10:48
objected to the Trump administration's choice to tap a loyalist
10:52
as the nation's top intelligence official, by Noah Robertson. The
10:57
Senate rejected moves to advance a warrant life surveillance law
11:01
early Friday, putting its future into doubt as Democrats and
11:04
some Republicans questioned the Trump administration's controversial pick to lead
11:09
the intelligence community. Section seven oh two of the Foreign
11:13
Intelligence Surveillance Act allows national security agencies to gather from
11:17
US telecommunication firms and Internet providers the calls, texts, and
11:22
emails of foreigners suspected of posing a threat. It expires
11:27
June twelfth. The Trump administration has argued the tool, created
11:31
in the wake of the attacks on September eleventh, two
11:34
thousand one, is vital to national security, including for enabling
11:38
hostage rescues and stopping terrorists, but civil libertarians from both
11:43
parties have blocked multiple attempts to extend the program this year.
11:47
After a marathon voting session that lasted into Friday morning,
11:51
the Senate voted fifty two to forty seven against proceeding
11:54
to debate on Section seven oh two, with seven right
11:58
wing Republicans joining nearly all Democrats in opposition. The setback
12:03
is the latest instance this week of Republicans joining Democrats
12:06
in a national security vote in opposition to Trump administration priorities.
12:11
The House also passed a largely symbolic resolution to halt
12:15
the war in Iran and a bill to provide Ukraine
12:18
with more than eight billion dollars in security aid. Section
12:22
seven two has long been a target of civil libertarians
12:26
in Congress, in particular the far right House Freedom Caucus,
12:30
who argue it could infringe on americans privacy rights. The
12:34
legislation could allow, for example, the government to collect communications
12:38
data on U S citizens communicating with foreigners under surveillance,
12:43
but a potential bipartisan deal to extend VISA was royaled
12:46
earlier this week. After President Donald Trump tapped Bill Poulty,
12:51
a staunch loyalist and head of a mortgage company, as
12:54
the nation's top intelligence official. The decision has alienated some
12:58
Democrats who planned to support Section seven O two. I
13:02
can't imagine a stupider thing to do, Representative Jim Himes
13:05
of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee,
13:09
said in an interview Wednesday. Trump has sought to downplay
13:13
the appointment, asserting that Poulty would serve only temporarily while
13:17
the administration finds a permanent replacement for Director of National
13:21
Intelligence Tulsey Gabbert, who is leaving the post in late June.
13:26
Bill is a guide that will be able to figure
13:28
it out very quickly, Trump told reporters Thursday. Poulty has
13:32
no background in national security, required by law for anyone
13:36
nominated to the position. Senator Tom Tillis, Republican of North Carolina,
13:40
who was retiring at the end of his term next year,
13:43
seized on Poulti's background in a committee hearing earlier this week,
13:47
signaling he would oppose the nomination. He clearly has no
13:51
experience in intelligence, Tillis said. Senator Mark R. Warner of Virginia,
13:57
the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, predicted in
14:00
an interview Wednesday that Poulti's appointment could prompt lawsuits given
14:05
his lack of experience. Even in a temporary role. The
14:08
senator argued, Poulty could do a hell of a lot
14:11
of damage. Still, Warner called renewing FESA critical and said
14:15
that some of his colleagues were growing more open to
14:18
his arguments before Trump picked Pulty for the job. Before
14:22
Friday's vote, Congress had already passed multiple short term visa extensions,
14:27
giving lawmakers more time to negotiate a deal to renew
14:30
the program before it was due to expire. The House
14:33
and Senate returned Monday, leaving lawmakers only days to rebuild
14:37
support for a deal. Reauthorizing the program will require democratic
14:42
support in the Senate, which has a sixty vote threshold
14:45
for legislation to advance. The next article from the front
14:49
page of today's edition is titled Trump officials planned to
14:53
mark two point seven million living people as dead. Whistleblower claims.
14:58
A former Social Security exit executive said the plan, which
15:01
was not carried out would have used a death database
15:04
to pressure immigrants to leave the country. By Merrill Cornfield,
15:09
the Trump administration had plans to classify two point seven
15:13
million living people, including some U. S Citizens and lawful
15:16
permanent residents, as dead as part of its immigration enforcement efforts.
15:21
According to a former senior Social Security executive, the previously
15:26
unreported plan, which the Social Security Administration said was not
15:30
carried out, would have used one of the government's most
15:33
consequential identity databases to effectively erase people from the financial system,
15:38
potentially cutting them off from wages, banking, government benefits, and
15:43
other services. Jeremiah Schofield, who worked at Social Security for
15:47
twenty five years and helped lead the agency's IT modernization
15:52
efforts before leaving in October, said he refused to help
15:55
implement the plan after agency lawyers warned that falsely marking
15:59
living peace people as dead could violate federal law. Schofields
16:03
had he realized the plan's possible intent to intimidate and
16:07
worsen the finances of immigrants, as well as its potential unlawfulness.
16:11
After taking a sample of people from the two point
16:14
seven million and discovering they were all alive, Some were
16:18
U S citizens, lawful permanent residents, teenagers, and senior citizens,
16:23
including one widow who was a legal permanent resident receiving
16:26
survivor benefits. Schofield has provided details on the plan in
16:31
a forty nine page whistleblower disclosure to Senator Elizabeth Warren,
16:35
Democrat of Massachusetts, who is on the Senate Finance Committee,
16:39
and Senator Richard Blumenthal, Democrat of Connecticut, the ranking member
16:44
on the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. The disclosure was
16:48
reviewed by The Washington Post, and it offers the most
16:51
detailed account yet of how officials from Elon Musk's US
16:55
Doze Service sought to use Social Security data in service
16:59
of present day Donald Trump's immigration crackdown. In an interview
17:03
with the Post, Schofield said he is speaking publicly for
17:07
the first time because he believes Americans need to understand
17:10
how government data can be misused, and in some cases
17:13
already has been. Social Security carried out a smaller version
17:18
of such an effort last year. The Post previously reported
17:21
moving six one hundred immigrants into its Death Master File,
17:26
a database used by banks, employers, and government agencies to
17:30
determine whether someone is alive. Some of those people later
17:33
showed up at Social Security field offices to prove they
17:37
were alive and were restored in agency records. In a
17:41
written statement, a Social Security spokesperson who did not provide
17:44
their name said the agency did not add a list
17:47
of two point seven million names to the death Master file.
17:50
SSAY maintains the highest level of internal controls. This includes
17:55
having all appropriate policies and procedures in place to maintain
17:58
the integrity and actioncuracy of agency records. Schofield's whistleblower complaint
18:04
describes a tumultuous period inside Social Security as career officials
18:08
questioned the legality of such efforts and watched DOZE officials
18:12
gain access to some of the government's most sensitive databases.
18:17
In one meeting, Schofield said, a DOZE official working with
18:20
the Department of Homeland Security described the goal of declaring
18:23
two point seven million living people dead, making immigrants so
18:27
miserable that they self deported or went to Social Security
18:31
offices for help where they could be arrested. That call
18:35
was one of the most disappointing calls I've been in
18:38
in my twenty five year career, Schofield told the Post
18:41
I was shocked. I couldn't believe what I was hearing.
18:45
Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Lauren Biss did not respond
18:49
to questions about the plan, but said that sharing information
18:52
across agencies can be beneficial and attacked the Biden administration's
18:57
immigration policies. Informations share across agencies is essential to identify
19:02
who is in our country, including violent criminals, determine what
19:06
public policy and terror threats may exist so we can
19:09
neutralize them, and identify what public benefits these aliens are
19:13
using at taxpayer expense. She said, being moved into the
19:17
death master file can be devastating to someone who is
19:21
still alive because it can cut off their financial access.
19:24
Last year, career staff warned that falsely giving people death
19:28
dates could be catastrophic, though the administration overrode those objections.
19:33
In the past year, two other whistleblowers have also shared
19:36
concerns about americans personal information being accessed and shared by DOGE.
19:42
One whistleblower, former Social Security Chief Data Officer Charles Borges,
19:47
alleged DOGE members shared data through third party services and
19:51
placed americans personal information on a cloud. A second whistleblower
19:55
anonymously claimed in disclosures to the Inspector General that a
19:59
DOZE member allegedly took a thumb drive of Americans data
20:02
to a private company, which is being investigated by the
20:05
agency's watchdog. When Schofield left Social Security in October, he
20:11
did not expect to blow the whistle. He said, he
20:14
followed legal requirements to destroy documents in his possession. He
20:18
had told family and other co workers about the call
20:20
when it happened, but had otherwise kept quiet as he
20:23
watched other civil service workers facing retaliation in the Trump administration.
20:29
But months later, at a February happy hour, he told
20:32
another former federal worker he was haunted by what he
20:35
had seen and how Social Security data had been compromised,
20:38
and she encouraged him to speak out. He said. He
20:41
asked others if they would speak out with him and
20:44
confirm his account on the record, but none would. One
20:47
other person contributed anonymously to the whistleblower complaint to the Senate,
20:51
but the post was not able to confirm that person's identity.
20:55
I don't think that it's right that they do this
20:57
to us, and I think that we need to stand
20:59
up for each other in this time, Schofield said lots
21:03
of red flags. When DOSE officials first arrived at Social
21:07
Security headquarters in February twenty twenty five, Schofield welcomed their
21:11
help and hoped they would help modernize the agency's outdated systems,
21:15
he said in an interview with The Post. Schofield joined
21:18
the agency in two thousand as a customer service representative
21:22
and rose through the ranks to become head of IT
21:25
Modernization and the key person transmitting headquarters policies to field offices.
21:31
He had witnessed many ways the Social Service program, serving
21:34
seventy five million beneficiaries, including retirees, people with disabilities, widows
21:40
and orphans, could be run more efficiently. So he came
21:43
to his first meeting with DOZE officials with several ideas
21:46
on how to help them. But when he met with
21:49
the DOGE members Antonio Gracias, John Covall and Peyton Railing,
21:54
the three identified themselves as volunteers. He said he noticed
21:58
they weren't using the standard issue ludlaptops provided to Social
22:01
Security employees. They had whiteboards in their conference room listing
22:05
the agency's key databases. They talked as if they had
22:08
already seen data. Few others in government could access, he said.
22:13
He said he worried DOGE was improperly accessing sensitive data.
22:17
Lots of red flags went off, he said. Gracius was
22:21
a longtime confidant of Musks and appeared alongside Musk at
22:24
an event last year where the two made inaccurate claims
22:27
about social security, including that millions of undocumented immigrants were
22:32
receiving federal benefits and voting in elections. More than a
22:36
month after DOZE officials arrived, a federal judge issued a
22:40
temporary restraining order blocking DOGE members access to data at SSA,
22:45
though the Supreme Court lifted that ban in June. Schofield
22:48
recalled that Grassius, Coval, and Railing departed the agency around
22:52
the time of the court order, though other DOGE members remained.
22:56
Alex Spiro, an attorney for Gracius, said Gracius was unaware
23:00
of the plan to mark two point seven million people
23:03
as dead. Cobal and Railing did not respond to requests
23:06
for comment. In early April twenty twenty five, then Homeland
23:11
Security Secretary Christy L. Nom sent two memos to then
23:15
Acting Social Security Commissioner Leland Dudek, requesting the agency prevent
23:20
suspected terrorists who are here illegally from using Social Security numbers.
23:24
Along with those memos, Schofield found out the agency had
23:28
been given a list of six thy one hundred people
23:30
from DHS to effectively kill off in financial records. He
23:35
asked the agency's General Counsel's office, which told him it
23:38
was illegal to falsify records and that the agency could
23:42
run a foul of federal records laws by marking living
23:45
people as dead. Schofield said he raised concerns to his boss,
23:49
Acting Deputy Commissioner, Doris Diaz, and she agreed with his worries,
23:54
but within two weeks of their conversation, she abruptly left
23:57
the agency. He said. Diaz did not re scipt onto
24:00
requests for comment. In an interview Thursday with The Post, Doudek,
24:05
who was Social Security's acting commissioner during that period, that
24:08
he also heard concerns about the legality of putting people
24:12
still living in the death database. As a result, he said,
24:16
he renamed the file, replacing the word death with ineligible
24:20
death is a state of ineligibility. He said a number
24:23
of people at the agency also shared Schofield's concern that
24:27
the plan to add people to the death file was
24:29
intended to create financial pressure for immigrants to self deport,
24:33
According to a former Social Security official who spoke on
24:36
the condition of anonymity to describe internal debates, if you're
24:41
on the death Master file, you can't have a bank account,
24:44
you can't get credit, so no apartment, no way to
24:47
save money, no way to get paid, no way to
24:50
get on insurance or carry health insurance. The person said,
24:53
it has a ton of devastating effects. While Schofield and
24:57
his team were trying to find a legal way to
24:59
come apply with DHS's request, he said, someone in the
25:03
Chief Information Officer's office went ahead and added death dates
25:07
to those sixy one hundred people. A few weeks later,
25:10
in April twenty twenty five, Schofield said DHS gave Social
25:15
Security a new list the two point seven million people
25:18
they wanted to declare dead. Schofield decided to drill down
25:22
on a sample twenty five people to understand who they were,
25:26
which he said was a typical procedure in handling new
25:28
data like the list from DHS to confirm its accuracy
25:32
by looking at databases at Social Security and DHS. Schofield
25:37
said he and one of his deputies discovered many of
25:39
the twenty five were still living and included US citizens
25:43
and lawful permanent residents. He said he had no way
25:46
of confirming if the people actually had criminal or terrorism ties,
25:50
as DHS alleged. He said he went to a higher
25:53
up Deputy Commissioner for Operations, Stephen Evangelista, with his findings,
25:58
and they arranged a meeting with DOEZE official Coval, who
26:02
was now at DHS. Evangelista did not respond to requests
26:06
for comment. Schofield said he walked through his findings and
26:09
requested DHS do more analysis, and Coval said the department
26:13
would do so. Immediately after that meeting, Scofield said he
26:17
told Evangelista that the list and plan appeared to have
26:20
the goal of forcing two point seven million living people
26:23
to leave the country. Evangelista disagreed. Schofield recalled and told
26:28
Schofield and others in the eight floor conference room to
26:31
be quiet while he called Coval back on his cell
26:34
phone to ask On speakerphone, Evangelista asked Coval to walk
26:39
through the goal of the list. Scofield said Coval's response
26:43
was pretty matter of factly that people would either choose
26:45
to self deport or they would show up at a
26:48
Social Security office and get arrested by law enforcement. Scofield
26:52
said he felt vindicated, but simultaneously saddened to hear Coval
26:56
spelling out that the aim was to destroy the lives
26:59
of peaceople. He said Evangelista was silent after the call
27:03
and the meeting disbanded. Senate Democrats demand answers. Schofield's disclosure
27:10
has riled Democratic lawmakers, who say it confirmed their fears
27:13
about the Trump administration's goals and manipulation of social Security data.
27:18
Donald Trump has waged war on social Security, and Doze
27:22
has been the tip of the spear, sowing chaos and
27:24
corruption everywhere. Warren, who is a leader of Senate democrats
27:28
Social Security war Room, said in a statement to the Post,
27:32
this looks like an illegal attempt by Doze to weaponize
27:36
social Security to carry out Trump's cool immigration agenda. Blumenthal
27:40
said he was demanding answers about how social Security was
27:43
weaponized as part of the Trump immigration agenda. Thanks to
27:47
this brave whistleblower's disclosure, we have more evidence that the
27:51
Trump administration used Doze not to just recklessly slash government programs.
27:56
They were looking for ways to purposefully hurt people, especially immigrants,
28:00
he said in a statement. The two senators sent letters
28:04
Thursday to Social Security and the three former DOZE members
28:08
about the plan to mark living people as dead. White
28:11
House spokeswoman Liz Houston did not directly respond to questions
28:15
about the death database or DOZE. Instead, she touted Trump's
28:19
policy when to implement a temporary tax deduction for seniors
28:23
as part of last year's mega tax bill. Schofield's attorneys,
28:27
longtime whistleblower attorney Deborah Katz, and nonprofit legal group Whistleblower Aid,
28:33
shared the disclosures with Democratic senators after reports of political
28:37
interference in Inspector's General's offices and concerns of retaliation under
28:42
the Trump administration. They also said Schofield's disclosures offer new
28:48
details about how anyone in the country, whether here legally
28:51
or not, could have their lives upended if government data
28:55
is misused. This is a bipartisan issue and everyone regardless
28:59
of political party, should insist on answers and ensure accountability,
29:03
Katz said. In a court filing this month. The Trump
29:07
administration said it had taken data access away from DOZE
29:10
members as of the beginning of this year, and SSA
29:14
has no plans to bring back DOSEE in the future.
29:17
The next article from the front page of today's edition
29:20
is titled US employers added one hundred seventy two thousand
29:24
jobs in May, an unexpectedly strong showing the unemployment rate
29:29
held at four point three percent, a low level. By
29:32
Lauren Kyori Gurley, the US economy added one hundred seventy
29:37
two thousand jobs in May, a surprisingly strong gain for
29:41
the economy even as employers grapple with elevated prices. The
29:45
unemployment rate held at four point three percent, a low level,
29:49
according to data released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
29:54
The May report blue passed estimates of around eighty thousand
29:57
job gains, as the economy shows early signs of momentum
30:01
after a patch of job losses in the fall and winter.
30:13
The economy also picked up more jobs than expected in
30:16
March and April. A Bureau of Labor Statistics revised those
30:20
months up by ninety three thousand jobs combined, far more
30:24
than originally reported. The report marks the first time the
30:28
economy has added jobs for three consecutive months since last spring,
30:32
even as American consumers feel increasingly down about the economy.
30:37
Employers have added more than one hundred thousand jobs per
30:40
month on average so far in twenty twenty six, a
30:43
massive jump from last year's bleak job creation, even though
30:47
the economy needs few new jobs to keep up with
30:50
population growth. Some economists say it's too early to declare
30:54
a hiring recovery as the economy faces myriad headwinds and
30:58
unemployed Americans struggle to find work. Today's report was unambiguously good,
31:04
said Laura Ulrich, Indeed's director of economic Research. We did
31:08
see more broad based job increases than what we've seen
31:12
in more recent months, but it's important to acknowledge the
31:16
fact that we're still in a reality that is grimmed
31:19
for many job seekers. The stronger than anticipated jobs data
31:23
gives the Federal Reserve more reason to keep interest rates
31:26
steady or even consider a future rate hike, as the
31:30
central bank grapples with rising inflation fueled by the closure
31:33
of the Strait of Hormuz. The Fed will meet again
31:36
in about two weeks. Major stock indexes fell following news
31:41
of the strong job gains as investors bet on increasing
31:44
odds of an interest rate hike. The tech heavy Nasdaq
31:48
dropped by four point two percent by Market's Clothes in
31:51
its biggest single day falls since the tariff announcements in
31:54
April twenty twenty five, and the S and P five
31:58
hundred tumbled by two point six percent. Meanwhile, the Trump
32:02
administration rushed to praise the strong job gains outstanding jobs
32:07
numbers the White House posted on x Friday morning. Leisure
32:11
and hospitality led job gains, adding seventy thousand positions in May,
32:16
well above recent monthly average job growth as businesses prepare
32:20
for the summer vacation and the upcoming World Cup. About
32:24
of good weather in May also could have helped boost hiring.
32:28
Local government payrolls jumped by fifty five thousand jobs, mostly
32:32
outside of education. Healthcare added thirty five thousand positions, reflecting
32:37
strong demand for aging baby boomers. Joe Brucellis, chief economist
32:43
at RSM, attributed the surgeon hiring at restaurants and bars
32:46
to seasonal trends. It's simply summer demand for airfares has
32:51
not diminished at the major airlines despite the price shock,
32:55
and seasonal increases in hiring are moving forward. He said.
32:58
The financial sector should I had twenty two thousand positions
33:02
and has lost more than one hundred thousand jobs over
33:04
the past year. Other white collar sectors showed little growth
33:09
as companies appeared to be increasingly investing in artificial technology
33:13
rather over hiring. We don't have a lot of evidence
33:16
that AI is actually doing a lot of work that
33:19
humans were doing, said Ulric the Indeed economist. However, I
33:23
do believe that investment in AI and other technology is
33:26
offsetting labor investment. In May, there was little or no
33:30
job creation in transportation, warehousing, construction, manufacturing, and retail. Air
33:36
transportation shed nine thousand jobs, largely reflecting the closure of
33:41
Spirit Airlines, but federal government payrolls began to stabilize after
33:46
undergoing massive job cuts by the Trump administration last year.
33:50
Average hourly wage growth over the past year slowed slightly
33:54
in May, rising three point four percent over the past
33:57
twelve months to thirty seven dollars in five fifty three
34:00
cents an hour. This marks the slowest pace since twenty
34:04
twenty one. After years of real gains, wage growth is
34:08
no longer keeping up with inflation at three point eight percent,
34:11
adding new strain to americans pocketbooks. Some economists say that
34:16
the labor market may not be quite as optimistic as
34:18
May's job figures suggest. Pace of hiring remains near the
34:22
lowest level since the height of the pandemic. According to
34:25
separate Labor Department data released this week, the number of
34:29
Americans unemployed for twenty seven weeks or more rose to
34:32
the highest level since twenty twenty two in May, as
34:36
laid off workers and college graduates struggle to find work. Meanwhile,
34:41
the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits, a proxy
34:44
for rising joblessness, rose to the highest level in four
34:48
months last week. According to another Labor Department report released Thursday,
34:53
the full effects of the war with Iran are still
34:56
seeping into the economy, but if inflation, especially gas price
35:00
continue to rise, consumers could pull back on spending, pushing
35:04
up the unemployment rate in future months. Economists say for now,
35:09
consumer spending remains hearty despite sour attitudes, as some Americans
35:13
are flushed with cash from robust tax returns and a
35:16
rising stock market. In healthcare, where demand for labor remains
35:20
persistently strong, workers continue to receive hefty wage gains. Patrese Aljoe,
35:27
thirty eight, a nurse at Florida Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale,
35:30
said her union recently won a twelve percent raise over
35:34
three years after threatening to strike. The pay bump will
35:37
allow her to take a vacation and ease the burden
35:40
of her mortgage and student loans. Everything's increased basic staples
35:44
such as milk and eggs, so we needed that pay
35:47
bump in order to pay for basic necessities, Aljo said.
35:51
The next article from the front page of today's edition
35:54
is titled inside Trump's suddenly softened new Green Card policy.
36:00
Big business, including tech and AI companies, launched a quiet
36:04
but extensive lobbying effort against the green card policy requiring
36:08
applicants to apply from abroad. Lauren Kori Gurley and Ian Duncan.
36:13
In the days following a Trump administration announcement declaring most
36:17
green card applicants would have to return to their countries
36:20
of origin Americans, business leaders, including from the tech and
36:24
artificial intelligence industries, privately warned the White House and other
36:28
Trump officials that the policy would harm their workforces. The
36:32
U S Citizenship and Immigration Services USCIS guidelines announced on
36:38
May twenty second, instruct foreign visitors to apply for a
36:41
permanent status in their home countries except in extraordinary circumstances,
36:46
but the guidelines offered few details about who would be targeted,
36:50
potentially impacting hundreds of thousands of people. In the ensuing days,
36:54
multiple private discussions over the phone and email took place
36:58
among prominent businesses, industry groups, and CEOs with the White
37:03
House and the Department of Homeland Security, Labour, and State.
37:06
According to three people familiar with the discussions, who spoke
37:10
on the condition of anonymity to relay private conversations, the
37:14
quiet but extensive lobbying effort has not been previously reported.
37:19
The US Chamber of Commerce was among industry groups that
37:22
pressed administration officials for further guidance and warned of the
37:25
harms to their workforce last week, according to one of
37:28
the people, The tech industry expressed concerns to the White House,
37:32
according to one of the other people. Then late last week,
37:36
the administration veered sharply in its messaging. USCIS officials privately
37:41
reassured business leaders in a meeting that most work visas
37:45
would not be impacted, according to one of the people.
37:48
The agency also clarified to reporters that most immigrants seeking
37:52
permanent residency would not have to leave the country, although
37:55
officials have yet to issue any formal guidance saying so.
38:00
Reached out in a straightforward way to the administration to
38:03
share their concerns about the green card policy, said Jenny Murray,
38:07
president of the National Immigration Forum, an advocacy group that
38:11
represents Fortune five hundred companies. We are glad to know
38:14
that the administration is listening to those concerns and willing
38:18
to work with the American business community. The softened stance
38:22
on green cards highlights ongoing tension President Donald Trump has
38:26
amplified between the business community that relies on immigrant labor
38:30
and the immigration of hawks within Trump's base. Last summer,
38:34
the administration announced a pause on immigration raids in the
38:37
hospitality and agriculture sectors following an outcry from employers about
38:41
losing workers to raids. Also last summer, the administration ended
38:46
up clarifying that a new one hundred thousand dollars fee
38:50
on H one B visas would only affect new visas
38:53
after an uproar from the business community, and Trump said
38:57
he was very much opposed to a massive rg aid
39:00
on a Hyundai facility in Georgia last fall, following outrage
39:04
from business groups and investors. The recent lobbying effort builds
39:08
upon a broader one that has been underway for months.
39:11
Business leaders have been raising concerns about restrictive immigration policy
39:15
and conversations with Trump confidants whom they perceive as more
39:19
friendly with the business community, including Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick
39:24
and members of the Kushner family. According to two of
39:27
the people who spoke to the Post, business leaders have
39:30
also been in direct communication with the White House, specifically
39:34
the Domestic Policy Council, through private channels, to voice opposition
39:38
to immigration policies that restrict access to workers. After reports
39:43
last week that the Green card policy had taken effect,
39:46
some Green card applicants have been told this week that
39:49
the tougher policy is paused until immigration officials get more
39:53
guidance on how to apply it, Immigration lawyers told the Post.
39:57
Neil Bradley, chief policy officer at the US Chamber of Commerce,
40:01
said that the organization had heard anecdotally that some recent
40:05
Green card applicants are not required to return to their
40:08
home country. This has welcome news, and we encourage the
40:12
administration to provide greater clarity, Bradley said. A White House
40:16
official told the Post that the policy memo restates long
40:20
standing law and will not have a major impact on
40:23
skilled professionals and qualified applicants who abide by the law.
40:27
The administration officials said immigration officers would be able to
40:31
decide on an individual basis if someone should leave the
40:34
United States to apply for a green card. Some immigrants
40:38
won't have to leave to apply for green cards, but
40:41
some will have to apply from outside the US, they added.
40:44
The Department of Homeland Security responded to the Post with
40:47
the same information. Chris Thomas, an immigration lawyer in Denver
40:52
who represents employers nationwide, there has been enormous backlash over
40:57
this clearly flawed memorandum. Many executives and business associations essentially
41:03
saw this memorandum as the last straw the moment that
41:06
would compel them to outsource work to employees in other countries.
41:10
The issue reached the halls of Congress. Senator Bill Cassidy,
41:14
Republican of Louisiana, an ally of the business community, filed
41:18
an amendment to essentially reverse the green card policy for
41:21
legal immigrants to a budget bill Republicans were debating Thursday
41:25
night that funds federal immigration enforcement agencies. It is unclear
41:30
whether the measure will receive a vote. Meanwhile, business leaders
41:34
said they were only partially appeased by the softened stance
41:38
because the administration has not yet issued official guidance detailing
41:42
who would be impacted. Lawyers representing major employers said they
41:46
are in a weight and see mode. Jeremy Beck, co
41:50
president of Numbers USA, a group that advocates for fewer immigrants,
41:55
said he was not surprised by the business backlash and
41:58
described the employer sponsored green cards as inherently exploitative because
42:02
they force immigrant workers to stick with a single employer
42:05
for years. The guidance does threaten to disrupt the captive
42:09
labor benefit that employers enjoy in programs like the H
42:12
one B VISA program. Beck said, I think what this
42:16
guidance is doing is merely exposing some of these long
42:20
standing problems with the non immigrant system. Some critics said
42:24
the unofficial backtracking and continued lack of guidance about how
42:28
the policy will be implemented allows the administration to simultaneously
42:32
spread fear throughout immigrant communities, win points with its nativist base,
42:36
and appease business groups all at once. They get to
42:39
have it both ways. They can tell their base we
42:42
haven't ruled out anything, and tell the business community, don't worry,
42:47
You'll be fine, said Doug Rand, a senior USCIS official
42:51
during the Biden presidency. The next article from the front
42:55
page of today's edition is titled They Explain Autism and
42:59
come under attack even from within the autism community. Young
43:03
media savvy autistic creators are sharing snippets of their daily
43:07
lives and explanations of the challenges they navigate by Ariana
43:11
yuanjung Cha with her blonde hair often gathered into space buns.
43:17
Caylin Partlow is quick, smiling and earnest on social media
43:20
as she talks about how her autism shapes her world.
43:24
She maps out first dates and awkward exits. She offers
43:28
scripts for difficult moments, and she calls out the adults
43:31
who get children wrong. Part Low twenty nine speaks about
43:35
social interaction in her videos the way a physicists might
43:38
describe gravity as a system governed by hidden rules most
43:43
people grasp instinctively but rarely notice. It's a tone that
43:47
has helped make her a standout among a new generation
43:49
of young media savvy autistic creators, reshaping how the condition
43:54
is understood and increasingly debated. Her posts regularly draw more
43:59
than a million views, but the Greenville, South Carolina residents said,
44:03
the sad part is that I'm very lonely. For much
44:07
of the late twentieth century, many Americans understanding of autism
44:10
began and ended with Temple Grandon, the Colorado State University
44:15
professor who transformed the livestock industry by designing slaughter operations
44:19
intended to reduce fear and stress in animals, and who
44:23
became the public face of autism in the process. Today,
44:27
popular shows such as The Good Doctor, Atypical, and Love
44:30
on the Spectrum, in which Partlow was a breakout star,
44:34
have helped make autism far more visible, while Instagram, TikTok,
44:38
and YouTube have reduced influencers who are young and irreverent
44:42
their feeds. Mixed daily life beauty routines meals small pleasures
44:47
with efforts to explain the challenges they navigate. At a
44:50
time when being on the spectrum has entered the cultural
44:53
vernacular and self diagnosis is on the rise. Autism diagnoses
44:59
in the United States have risen sharply from about one
45:02
to one hundred fifty children in two thousand to one
45:05
in thirty one today, according to the Centers for Disease
45:08
Control and Prevention, but much of that growth has come
45:12
from people without profound intellectual or communication disabilities, children and
45:17
adults who can speak independently about their experiences and increasingly
45:21
build audiences around them online. The influencers include Jeremiah Josie,
45:27
a twenty seven year old from Bowie, Maryland who has
45:30
worked as a pastry chef as well as a runway model.
45:33
Morgan Harper Nichols thirty six, a PhD candidate in Lithonia,
45:38
Georgia whose art focuses on neuro divergence. And Charlotte Bergsleyan,
45:43
a forty four year old from Oslo who mixes personal
45:47
reflections with disability advocacy. But autism lies on a spectrum,
45:52
and many people, especially those who are non speaking or
45:55
require more support, are far less able to represent themselves
45:59
in the US. That imbalance has helped fuel increasingly bitter
46:03
debates over who gets to define autism publicly. Many parents
46:08
and caregivers of people with profound autism argue that the
46:11
narratives of people who need less support can obscure the
46:15
realities of those living with a severe disability. The creators
46:19
who have broken through online quickly learned that attention doesn't
46:23
just bring fans, it also brings haters. Jeremiah Josie Josie
46:28
has built a large online following through videos that blend cooking, humor,
46:32
and candid reflections on life as a black autistic man.
46:37
Across TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram. He shares baking tutorials, collaborations
46:42
with celebrity shifts, and conversations about autism, confidence, and independence.
46:48
But he said the visibility has also brought pressure to
46:50
serve as an inspirational figure rather than a person with
46:54
ordinary flaws and frustrations. Diagnosed with autism at two, jose
47:00
Who said teachers often misunderstood him as a child, treating
47:03
behaviors like quoting movies or interrupting as discipline problems. After
47:08
transferring to a special needs school, he said those same
47:11
behaviors were recognized as part of how he communicated. As
47:15
he got older, Josie pursued modeling, appearing in campaigns for
47:19
Tommy Hilfeger, Cole's, and Zappos, while also writing about the
47:23
risks black autistic people can face during encounters with police
47:28
in his second book, Here's what I want you to
47:30
know too, He wrote about fearing he might not understand
47:34
police commands. While Josie was growing up, cooking helped define
47:39
his identity. Inspired by his grandmother, he learned to bake
47:42
as a child and later earned an associates degree from
47:45
the Culinary Institute of America. But working in professional kitchens
47:50
proved difficult. During an internship at Salamander Resort and Spa
47:54
in Middleburg, Virginia, he struggled with the pace and communication
47:58
demands of restaurant work, and so said coworkers often misread
48:01
him because they did not know he was autistic. Rather
48:05
than abandoned cooking, Josie pursued it on his own terms.
48:08
He launched Jeremiah's Cooking Adventures, a YouTube series featuring celebrity
48:13
shifts including quame A Wachi, Christina Tozi, Marcus Samuelson, and
48:19
Duff Goldman. His videos mixed recipes, jokes, and motivational advice
48:24
while also challenging misconceptions about autism. Baking brought me a
48:29
lot of confidence and courage, he said Morgan Harper Nichols.
48:34
Harper Nichols learned early how spending time in everyday environments
48:39
could be church services, crowded stores, and school hallways often
48:43
left her overwhelmed by noise, light, and constant social interaction.
48:48
As a teenager, she carried her guitar almost everywhere, even
48:52
to her job at California inspired fashion brand pac Son,
48:56
because holding it helped calm her nervous system, despite hit
49:00
the sideye from confused coworkers. But it was not until
49:04
twenty twenty, when she was an adult scrolling TikTok during
49:07
the pandemic, that she encountered videos from women describing late
49:11
autism diagnoses and recognized herself in their stories of sensory
49:16
overload and emotional exhaustion. She later sought out a specialist
49:20
and was diagnosed with autism at thirty one. It's very
49:24
scary to not know what's going on with yourself, she said.
49:28
So much of what you're experiencing with autism people can't see.
49:32
Harper Nichols uses social media to discuss how autism presents
49:36
differently in women, particularly Black women, who are often diagnosed
49:40
late after years of working to mask their symptoms. She said,
49:44
some people online have questioned her diagnosis because she is
49:47
articulate and socially polished. Reactions she sees as rooted in
49:52
stereotypes about autism. She compares autism to driving a stick
49:57
shift car, but with twelve gears, adding that EA even
50:00
ordinary tasks involved layers of sensory and social processing invisible
50:04
to others. Her artwork often explores suppressing autistic behaviors to
50:09
appear socially acceptable and black natural hair care, which she
50:13
describes as a minefield to navigate, involving tight braids, chemical smells,
50:19
bright lights, and hours of forced stillness. For Harper Nichols,
50:23
hair became intertwined with femininity and the pressure of many
50:26
black women face to straighten or carefully manage their natural hair.
50:31
I could literally tell my story just talking about hair,
50:34
she said. Charlotte Bergsleyn Charlotte Bergsleyn has spent much of
50:40
her life being bullied or fearing that she would be
50:42
even now. Growing up in a small community in the
50:46
Norwegian Arctic, she often felt baffled by the social rules
50:50
that seemed to come naturally to everyone else. When she
50:53
was twelve, after watching The Lion King, she tried to
50:56
comfort a crying classmate the way the cubs did in
50:59
the movie by licking away her tears. The girl pulled away.
51:03
Other children called her a weirdo. The feeling of being
51:07
out of sync followed her into adulthood. In her twenties
51:10
and thirties, Bergsleyn worked in design, mostly branding for food products,
51:15
but office interactions often went sideways. She overshared personal details,
51:21
sometimes without realizing how they would land. Once she told
51:25
coworkers that her boyfriend had hit her. Instead of offering support,
51:29
she said, they avoided her, unsettled by what they saw
51:32
as negativity. People would tell me you're a terrible person
51:37
all the time, she said, and it was really hard
51:39
not understanding what you were doing wrong. Eventually the strain
51:43
became overwhelming. Bergsleyn quit her job and spent two years
51:47
largely bedridden, consumed by depression and suicidal thoughts. After seeking
51:53
medical help, she was diagnosed with autism in twenty twenty.
51:57
The diagnosis helped explain years of confusion, but it was
52:00
online where she first found a sense of belonging. Through
52:04
social media, she connected with other autistic people in long
52:08
direct message conversations and late night video calls. For the
52:12
first time, she said, she felt able to communicate without
52:15
constantly second guessing herself. She has found it easier to
52:19
connect with people in English, saying they tend to be
52:22
more patient and listen more carefully when she's using that language.
52:26
Bergsleynn has shared her feelings on the debate over Mattel's
52:30
introduction of an autistic Barbie, a step in the right direction,
52:34
and research showing how autistic people are liked less by
52:37
others even without knowing they are artistic. The reaction happens
52:41
after just a few seconds, But lately, she said, those
52:45
online spaces have changed as autism content has exploded on
52:50
social media. She believes some influencers, including those she calls fakers,
52:55
have turned the diagnosis into a brand, exaggerating or performing
52:59
their sins ymptoms for attention and profit. At the same time,
53:03
she said some within autism communities are quicker to attack.
53:08
It is strange and confusing, She said, I feel squeezed
53:11
out of my own community. To Berkesley in forty four,
53:15
the shift resembles watching something once ridiculed suddenly become fashionable.
53:20
The geeky look, the glasses, the awkwardness. People used to
53:24
mock that, she said, then suddenly other people came along
53:27
and made it cool. Now she's sometimes scared to post
53:31
at all. This misconception people have about me is that
53:34
by looking at me, they think everything is perfect and
53:37
I am so strong, so damn resilient and can take anything.
53:41
But they are so wrong about that, she said, I'm very,
53:44
very easy to break calin Partlow. Part Low was diagnosed
53:50
with autism at ten, after years of struggling in nearly
53:53
every environment she inhabited. Neighborhood children called her weird. At school,
53:59
she fell behind academically and socially. By elementary school, she
54:03
was already talking about suicide. I failed third grade pretty spectacularly,
54:08
she recalled. In all environments at home, the neighborhood, and school,
54:13
I was constantly getting this negative feedback. Doctors eventually diagnosed
54:18
her with not only autism, but also ADHD, dyslexia, and dysgraphia.
54:24
Soon after, the small private school she attended told her
54:27
parents it could no longer support her. She left traditional
54:31
education entirely and began unschooling, a form of homeschooling built
54:35
around a child's interests rather than a fixed curriculum. The change,
54:40
she now says, altered the course of her life. What
54:43
emerged was the intensely analytical personality that viewers now recognize
54:47
from Love on the Spectrum. Online, she speaks about autism
54:51
with unusual precision, dissecting behaviors and thought patterns that many
54:55
people instinctively hide. Much of her attention turns to Rigida,
55:00
which she describes as one of the defining forces in
55:03
her life. She dislikes retracing her steps once she is
55:06
left somewhere. Returning to the same part of town twice
55:10
in one day can feel intolerable. It will ruin my days,
55:13
she said. Even her childhood obsessions came with rules. She
55:18
spent years fixated on birds, but only certain kinds. She
55:22
concluded it was a waste of time to learn about
55:24
any species but East Coast ones, and she ignored waterfowl altogether.
55:29
Visibility has brought intense scrutiny and thrust part Low in
55:33
the middle of online debates. When she referred to her
55:36
Love on the Spectrum co star Tanner Smith as someone's
55:39
society might otherwise dismiss as another weirdo if he hadn't
55:43
been on TV, some people saw the comment as disrespectful.
55:47
After revealing she did not realize Anne Frank died in
55:50
the Holocaust until visiting the house where Frank hid a
55:54
year ago and describing Frank as having passed away rather
55:57
than having been murdered. Critics attacked her for using that
56:01
phrase and her lack of historical knowledge. She also faced
56:05
criticism after posting videos in which she and an actor
56:08
deliberately mispronounced the name of Zoron Mandani, then mayor elect
56:13
of New York, to make a point about autism and communication,
56:17
with detractors accusing her of trivializing the importance of pronouncing
56:21
people's names correctly. Others have taken issue with her support
56:26
of applied behavior analysis or ABA, a common but divisive
56:30
autism therapy that some families view as beneficial and some
56:34
autistic adults see as an attempt to suppress their natural behaviors.
56:39
For part Low, the backlash at times felt overwhelming. She
56:43
responded with a series of apologies that many people saw
56:46
as genuine attempts to learn from her mistakes. Over time,
56:50
she said she has come to see public misunderstanding as
56:53
inseparable from life online, and has explained that some of
56:56
the controversies stem from communication differences related to to her autism.
57:01
Her bluntness, word choice, and difficulty anticipating how comments will
57:05
be received can sometimes lead to misunderstanding, she said. I've
57:10
definitely had to accept that it's okay for people to
57:12
assume incorrect things about me, she said, even though that's
57:16
hard to tolerate. The next article from today's edition is
57:20
titled spike in border wall spending goes mostly to two
57:23
firms with GOP White House ties. Construction contracts, including a
57:29
two point six billion dollar award this week, are being
57:32
awarded at a historic scale through a streamline process that
57:36
could put Trump on track to realize his vision for
57:38
a border wall. I Relis R. Hernandez, Andrew BA Trand,
57:43
and Razon KNACLAWI. The Trump administration has sharply accelerated spending
57:48
on border wall construction, issuing billion dollar contracts that are
57:53
the largest in the project's history and potentially putting the
57:57
President on track to fulfill his vision of a nearly
58:00
complete land and water barrier with Mexico by the end
58:03
of the second term. Department of Homeland Security has awarded
58:07
more than nineteen point four billion dollars in contracts in
58:10
the past six months, compared with two point one billion
58:13
dollars from twenty sixteen to twenty twenty four. Most of
58:17
it has gone to two firms that have ties to
58:19
the White House and the Republican Party. According to all
58:22
Washington Post analysis, the most recent contract, a two point
58:27
six billion dollar project, was issued Wednesday. Due to time constraints,
58:32
we'll need to end this article at this time. This
58:35
concludes the reading of the Washington Post for today, Saturday,
58:39
June sixth, twenty twenty six. Your reader for today has
58:43
been Roger Hamperion. If you have any questions, comments, or
58:47
suggestions concerning this program, please feel free to call us
58:51
at A five nine four two two sixty three nine zero.
58:55
Thank you for listening, and now please stay tuned for
58:57
continued programming on Radio i EY