American Oversight

08/28/2026

We obtained a 2025 memo DHS sent to all state AGs, laying out a plan to deploy National Guard troops for immigration enforcement.

This raises concerns about the Trump admin’s efforts to evade laws that ban the use of the military for civilian law enforcement.
https://americanoversight.org/national-guard-deployment-dhs-ice-posse-comitatus-act-2026/

08/28/2026

UPDATE in our fight to protect the Presidential Records Act: The lawmakers who wrote the law, the national security officials who relied on it, and the people who managed presidential records all weighed in to say the Trump administration’s argument against the law has no merit.
https://americanoversight.org/presidential-records-act-lawsuit-amicus-briefs/

08/27/2026

In his confirmation hearings, RFK Jr. said a 2019 trip to Samoa had "nothing to do with vaccines.” But a 2019 letter shows he proposed a vaccine-focused trip to Samoa.

This trip has been under scrutiny for years. Months after Kennedy’s visit, a measles outbreak swept through Samoa, sickening thousands and killing 83 people, most of them children under five.

We urged DOJ to open a criminal investigation into the apparent false statements to Congress.
https://americanoversight.org/rfk-jr-vaccine-trip-samoa-investigation-letter-2026/

08/21/2026

We asked the North Carolina auditor’s office for records related to an effort to limit early voting.

First, it said texts were deleted. Then it sent us cropped screenshots and omitted clearly relevant records.

We’ll continue fighting for the truth.

Our letter follows OSA’s admission that Woodhouse deleted texts and raises new questions about what else is missing.

08/21/2026

Freedom 250 is putting on an Indycar race in DC.

Earlier this summer, arrests at the Reflecting Pool and the deputization of state law enforcement raised concerns about policing at Freedom 250 events.

Records we obtained show 71 officers from 23 states were deputized for Freedom 250.

08/19/2026

In May, we scored a major victory in our fight to stop millions of presidential records from being lost or permanently destroyed.

The administration appealed. We just urged an appeals court to reject the Trump administration’s latest attempt to evade the Presidential Records Act.
https://americanoversight.org/presidential-records-act-filing-appeals-court/

08/17/2026

Last year, we warned USAID that its attempt to purge thousands of pending FOIA requests was unlawful.

A federal court recently rejected a similar policy at DOE.

We just sent a letter demanding USAID abandon its policy and process pending requests.
https://americanoversight.org/usaid-foia-still-interested-policy-energy-department/

08/14/2026

North Carolina is considering plans to restrict early voting on Sundays and college campuses.

Texts we obtained show the former state elections liaison pressured local elections officials to support these policies, and even disclosing partisan preferences.

We’re calling on the Board of Elections to subpoena the former election liaison, and to recover text messages he has deleted.
https://americanoversight.org/dallas-woodhouse-north-carolina-elections-public-records/

08/13/2026

ICE hasn’t paid offsite providers for detainees’ medical care since last fall. Experts warn that these providers will stop treating people if they aren’t paid and the consequences could be deadly.

We’re suing to find out if this is threatening access to lifesaving treatments for the thousands of people in detention.
https://americanoversight.org/american-oversight-sues-for-records-on-trump-administrations-disruption-of-medical-care-for-people-in-ice-cbp-custody/

08/12/2026

The number of people in ICE detention has skyrocketed and ICE has nearly doubled the number of detention sites it uses.

But the Trump administration is making it hard to know what’s happening in immigration detention centers. Here’s how we’re investigating.

The number of people in immigration detention has nearly doubled and funding to expand centers has surged, but oversight remains limited.