"Some federal agencies post daily information about the number of workers who have tested positive for the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, but the Interior Department so far has declined to provide departmentwide details on how the pandemic has affected its 70,000 employees."
The economic fallout from COVID-19 is severely damaging the news business, but may also point to transformative new ways of doing journalism, writes columnist Joseph A. Davis in the latest WatchDog. Meanwhile, the coronavirus-climate connection shows the importance of good, scientifically sound journalism. And are federal agencies leaning on COVID-19 to slow FOIA actions?
"Ten years after the Deepwater Horizon disaster, the Interior Department agency that regulates offshore energy development is fractious, demoralized and riddled with staff distrust toward its leadership, according to multiple accounts from current and former employees."
"An examination reveals the president was warned about the potential for a pandemic but that internal divisions, lack of planning and his faith in his own instincts led to a halting response."
"The Trump administration has been rushing to finalize environmental rules by mid-May to bulletproof them from future Democratic overturn, but the COVID-19 pandemic may throw off that schedule."
"The Federal Emergency Management Agency warned last year that a pandemic caused by a novel strain of influenza would cripple the country's response capabilities by driving millions of people into overwhelmed hospitals. The report, which was written before the new coronavirus first surfaced in China, offered these prescient predictions: The deluge of patients would create "a shortage of medical supplies, equipment, beds, and healthcare workers."
Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) for Nonprofits (Overview)
Federal Coronavirus Relief Bills: What Do They Mean for Nonprofits?
"President Donald Trump has upended the panel of federal watchdogs overseeing implementation of the $2 trillion coronavirus law, tapping a replacement for the Pentagon official who was supposed to lead the effort."
"EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler is rejecting a call by top House Democrats to formally scrap an opinion from the agency's top lawyer that limits the authority of an in-house watchdog."
"A law firm that previously employed President Donald Trump’s interior secretary has, for several years, represented Saudi Arabia, the petroleum-rich nation that recently launched an oil price war that could bankrupt U.S. fossil fuel producers."
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