Jeff Stein

washingtonsun.comWhite House Is Weighing Mass Pardons for Junior StaffConservative groups influential with the Trump administration have pressed for the preemptive acts of clemency.

Scoop: White House lawyers are weighing preemptive mass pardons for junior staff, sources says Under discussion: Pardoning everyone involved in deportation, war, or trade policy www.washingtonsun.com/whitehouse/w...

washingtonsun.comWhite House Is Weighing Mass Pardons for Junior StaffConservative groups influential with the Trump administration have pressed for the preemptive acts of clemency.

Robert Weissman, of Public Citizen, told The Sun that an impartial Justice Department would look at unlawful transfers of money between federal agencies, improper use of taxpayer resources for campaigning, contracting arrangements benefiting family, and a range of behavior toward immigrants

Jeff Stein reposted

washingtonsun.comTrump Aides Are Getting Ready to Penalize Defaulting Student Loan BorrowersTreasury officials are seeking ways to minimize the impact on vulnerable borrowers.

News: The Trump administration is getting ready to move forward w/ garnishing wages & benefits of defaulted student loan borrowers after an internal dispute b/w Treasury, OMB & Ed “This is not who you think it is. The demographics are not good for us" www.washingtonsun.com/economy/trum...

washingtonsun.comTrump Aides Are Getting Ready to Penalize Defaulting Student Loan BorrowersTreasury officials are seeking ways to minimize the impact on vulnerable borrowers.

We're talking millions of people

washingtonsun.comWant Dinner With the President? Buy His Meme Coin.The $Trump meme coin is offering buyers a new "exclusive" opportunity to meet the president.

Jeff Stein@jeffstein.bsky.social

News - Trump is set to attend another dinner at his resort for the biggest buyers of his meme coin You can probably get in to see the president for $1 million Trump has pocketed $635 million Investors down +$4 billion on Trump crypto www.washingtonsun.com/whitehouse/t...

washingtonsun.comWant Dinner With the President? Buy His Meme Coin.The $Trump meme coin is offering buyers a new "exclusive" opportunity to meet the president.

washingtonsun.comSenate Republicans Are Preparing to Extend the Debt Ceiling Until 2029Senate leaders are looking to remove a key point of leverage for Democrats in case of a divided government.

New - Senate Republicans prepare to kick debt ceiling until after Trump's term, depriving Dems of potential point of leverage in divided government, should midterms not go GOP's way www.washingtonsun.com/congress/sen...

Jeff Stein reposted

Natalie Alms

@almsnatalie.bsky.social

NEW: The Trump administration is preparing to automatically enroll every American child in a Trump Account before the midterm elections 👀 with @jeffstein.bsky.social: www.washingtonsun.com/whitehouse/t...

washingtonsun.comTrump Is Preparing to Auto-Enroll Every Child in a Trump AccountFew Americans have set up Trump Accounts on their own.

washingtonsun.comTrump Is Preparing to Auto-Enroll Every Child in a Trump AccountFew Americans have set up Trump Accounts on their own.

Trump Is Preparing to Auto-Enroll Every Child in a Trump Account www.washingtonsun.com/whitehouse/t...

washingtonsun.comClassified Estimates Show the NSA Paying Billions to Test AI ModelsThe price tag is significantly higher than previously known.

Scoop: The National Security Agency is spending billions this year on testing AI models - far more than previously known Per a classified NSA estimate described by sources Compute costs for AI have exploded - including for taxpayers www.washingtonsun.com/technology/c...

washingtonsun.comTwo Democratic Senators Will Try to Force a Vote on AI SafetyThe push comes amid growing urgency to respond to the rapid growth of AI.

Senators Mark Warner and Brian Schatz will tomorrow try to force the Senate to approve AI safety legislation mandating testing review of models pre deployment www.washingtonsun.com/congress/war...

washingtonsun.comTrump Aides Have Prepared to Confront China Over Alleged AI TheftSuch a confrontation would run afoul of what some tech leaders close to the president have argued.

New - White House aides prepare to confront Beijing over the alleged theft of U.S. artificial intelligence models by their Chinese competitors, sources say www.washingtonsun.com/trump-white-...

washingtonsun.comIs the Trump Family Preparing to Cash Out on Its Own Crypto?President Donald Trump and his three sons have taken a step that would permit them to sell World Liberty Financial’s digital tokens.

16 Sept

Reporting from @almsnatalie.bsky.social on the White House fraud ledger www.washingtonsun.com/trump-white-...

Jeff Stein reposted

Zach Everson

@zacheverson.com

14 Sept

🚨 "President Donald Trump and his three sons have taken a step that would permit them to sell World Liberty Financial’s digital tokens." @jeffstein.bsky.social for @washingtonsun.bsky.social 1/

14 Sept

Scoop: 4 anonymous accounts that perfectly correspond w/ Trump & sons’ holdings have taken first step to enable offloading of family’s own crypto, records show Could be worth billions of dollars Meanwhile, retail investors have lost +$1B www.washingtonsun.com/donald-trump...

washingtonsun.comJacob Coxon, the Anthropic Researcher Who Quit, Explains Why NowBeing a sci-fi lover led Coxon to work on artificial intelligence. The culture of the industry left him “a bit hopeless.”

11 Sept

The researcher who quit Anthropic: "It's more like the U.S. and China are both facing contact with an alien species, and there’s a choice between fighting each other to build stronger aliens on our respective sides versus banding together against the aliens." washingtonsun.com/technology/j...

Jeff Stein reposted

John Rosevear

@jrosevear.bsky.social

10 Sept

I think this is good. The masthead has a lot of great names. I hope it gets traction.

Jeff Stein@jeffstein.bsky.social

🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞 Big news: The Washington Sun launches w/: — Huge investment in DC & local reporters — Legend Tom Sietsema — Capital Weather — Newsroom of +100, w/ great reporters (& me) Comes after Bezos's enormous cuts to WaPo To support, sign up for (free!) newsletter: washingtonsun.com/newsletters

washingtonsun.comwashingtonsun.com

washingtonsun.comKey Republicans Were Blindsided by Trump’s Call for $5,000 ChecksOne senior Senate Republican aide said “it’s not going to happen,” pointing to inflation.

10 Sept

News - Republicans across Washington were blindsided by Trump's call for $5,000 stimulus payments, multiple sources say The top Senate Republican was in the dark Policy process described as "not very rigorous" washingtonsun.com/congress/key...

washingtonsun.comRanking the 10 Most Important Commanders Ahead of the 2026 SeasonFrom a rookie kicker to the franchise quarterback, these players will need to produce.

In all sincerity the Commanders coverage at The Washington Sun is legit so good washingtonsun.com/sports/10-mo...

This post is unavailable.

Jeff Stein reposted

RobinLikeTheBird

@dayzee634.bsky.social

Replying to @jeffstein.bsky.social

And you’re at @washingtonsun.bsky.social

washingtonsun.comSam Altman Privately Rejected Giving OpenAI Shares to the GovernmentThe remarks follow months of reports connecting Altman to the idea of giving the government equity in his company.

Scoop: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman privately told a group of conservatives that he did not support having the government take shares in the company, distancing himself from a proposal that he and his firm were widely understood to have supported, per sources and notes washingtonsun.com/technology/s...

washingtonsun.comwashingtonsun.com

notus.orgBillionaire Stanley Druckenmiller’s WSJ Op-Ed Criticizing Bessent Was Written With AI“I write everything using AI now,” Druckenmiller, who questioned the treasury secretary’s bond market interventions, said.

26 Aug

Scoop (from ysd that I forgot to post here): Billionaire Stanley Druckenmiller told me his op-ed attacking Bessent was written by AI “There’s a reason I moved from an English major to being an economics major ... I'm not embarrassed," he says WSJ standing behind it www.notus.org/media/stanle...

Jeff Stein reposted

notus.orgNearly Half of Trump’s Treasury Appointees Have LeftWhile many agencies have had turnover, the Treasury Department has seen an exodus of Senate-confirmed officials.

19 Aug

NEW: ~44% of Treasury officials *chosen by Trump & confirmed by the Senate* have already left Remarkable turnover far eclipses any recent Treasury Dept Appears driven by unease over WH orders on tax law www.notus.org/economy/trea...

notus.orgNearly Half of Trump’s Treasury Appointees Have LeftWhile many agencies have had turnover, the Treasury Department has seen an exodus of Senate-confirmed officials.

19 Aug

notus.orgNearly Half of Trump’s Treasury Appointees Have LeftWhile many agencies have had turnover, the Treasury Department has seen an exodus of Senate-confirmed officials.

19 Aug

Since Trump took office, Bessent has had At least 4 chiefs of staff At least 7 IRS commissioners 7 of 16 Senate confirmed officials Bessent allies maintain he does much more to execute the president's vision than Mnuchin ever did www.notus.org/economy/trea...

7 Aug

Is it just me or does it feel like we're kind of stuck in a time warp where almost every story for 9 years has been various iterations of the same inauguration photo crowd size story

notus.orgDemocrats’ Split on AI Grows as a New Plan EmergesSenate Democrats’ top tax-writer proposes a tax on data centers.

6 Aug

NEW - Top tax writer Senator Ron Wyden is proposing a new single-digit excise tax on data centers today, aiming for a path for Ds short of a moratorium or federal control of the AI companies www.notus.org/technology/d...

Jeff Stein reposted

Matt Darling

@besttrousers.bsky.social

3 Aug

Replying to @proptermalone.bsky.social

(I was not able to find the report, fwiw - best I can tell it's from a podcast from the CEO of an AI-powered hiring platform? www.linkedin.com/pulse/everyo...)

linkedin.comEveryone Is Debating Whether AI Will Replace Entry-Level Jobs. New Hiring Data Suggests That Debate Is Missing the Point.For the past year, one question has dominated the conversation about artificial intelligence and the workforce: Is AI destroying entry-level jobs? The debate has become increasingly polarized. MIT Tec...

3 Aug

plus, what % of the reporters do more pr now than ever

Josh Sternberg@joshsternberg.com

There are 7 PR people for every journalist in the US. www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...

notus.orgTrump’s Family Crypto Firm Is Expected to Get Federal Banking PrivilegesTrump-appointed bank regulators’ crypto-friendly approach is likely to extend to World Liberty Financial, despite ethics concerns.

17 June

“For the first time in history, a president is leaning on a bank regulator to give his private enterprise the implicit backing of the federal government,” said Corey Frayer, the director of investor protection for Consumer Federation of America www.notus.org/economy/trum...

New: Trump’s family crypto business expected to soon be allowed to operate like a bank Decision will be made by Trump-appointed regulation Charter approval would allow US companies to complete transactions - like Venmo - on Trump platform, with cut for the firm www.notus.org/economy/trum...

David Wachsman, a spokesperson for World Liberty Financial, said “none of its leadership or employees work for the U.S. government, and there are no conflicts of interest.” Trump co-owns the company w/ his sons and reported personally earning $57 million from it - likely now much more

*regulator

notus.orgSenate Republicans Break With Trump On His AI Equity Idea“I’m not a huge fan of the government owning industry,” Sen. Josh Hawley said.

10 June

“I’m not a huge fan of the government owning industry,” Sen. Josh Hawley said. “I don’t think the federal government should be in the business of being an equity holder in private companies,” Sen. Ted Cruz said. www.notus.org/technology/s...

Jeff Stein reposted

Carl Quintanilla

@carlquintanilla.bsky.social

8 June

“.. Leading AI companies were blindsided by the president’s announcement last Friday that he would meet with “all the big” firms about taking “pieces” of their companies ..” @jeffstein.bsky.social www.notus.org/technology/t...

notus.orgTrump’s Plan to Meet With AI Companies Was News to AI CompaniesThe president told the press he had plans to talk to AI industry leaders about the government taking equity in their firms.

8 June

Scoop: Trump’s Plan to Meet With AI Companies Was News to AI Companies Trump said he'd talked with "all of them" about having the US take equity shares — this was news to the AI companies, sources say ... www.notus.org/technology/t...

7 June

Truly an enormous amount of confusion about Bernie Sanders' AI plan on here. The idea is not for the government to *buy* shares in the AI firms, but to *take* them. There are interesting criticisms but the one that taxpayers will be left holding the bag is one I do not understand - there is no cost

6 June

Do people understand how taxes work ???

Goofrider@goofrider.bsky.social

Spending taxpayers money to buy up 50% of AI companies' equity at the height of their bubble phase. What could possibly go wrong?

notus.orgSenior U.S. Officials Eye Government Shares in AI GiantsAn agreement to give the U.S. government equity stakes in AI companies could have seismic consequences.

5 June

EXCLUSIVE | Senior US officials have privately discussed taking equity shares in some of the largest AI companies The idea was pitched to Trump directly by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman & has surfaced more recently as well My first big story after leaving da Washington Post: www.notus.org/technology/t...

5 June

Just to be clear this is for *the US government* to take equity shares Steve Bannon tells me he agrees with Bernie Sanders — a small equity share is not enough, it should be +50% and government control

5 May

Honored that four of my stories about the "Department of Government Efficiency" were part of the package awarded the Pulitzer Prize in Public Service yesterday www.pulitzer.org/winners/wash...

washingtonpost.comPentagon seeks more than $200 billion in budget request for Iran warThat figure would far surpass the costs of the U.S. airstrike campaign to date and aims to boost production of critical weapons depleted in the conflict, people familiar with the matter said.

18 Mar

SCOOP: The Pentagon asked the White House today for more than *$200 billion* for Iran war supplemental, sources say Some in WH think Congress won't support b/c it's so big Will tee up giant battle in Congress My last story for WaPo: www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

signupforthenews.comJeff SteinSign up here to follow Jeff Stein

19 Mar

So stoked to soon be joining what is the most exciting newsroom in Washington - sign up for updates as we get ready to launch signupforthenews.com/jeff-stein

17 Mar

If you’re someone who wants to chat — inside government, outside government, reader/potential reader, or just someone interested in da news — feel free to reach out on Signal: 9178872891

Jeff Stein@jeffstein.bsky.social

Some personal news: This is my last week at The Washington Post. I’ve loved so much of the last 9 years here, but my faith in the paper’s current leadership is broken beyond repair. Incredibly excited to get to work w/ the newsroom below (I start in June) Get in touch on Signal : 9178872891

16 Mar

max tani @maxtani.bsky.social

As we first reported in last night's @semafor.com media newsletter, NOTUS is rebranding/dramatically expanding. In a memo to staff this morning, the organization said it plans to "launch this new version of NOTUS under a new name" and double staff from 50 to 100.