Anna Kramer

NEW: Lobbying on Venezuela issues is picking up, with the Trump-tied lobbying firms registering more clients and more spend. BUT Venezuela got no mention in the latest massive disclosures from the big companies like Exxon, ConocoPhillips, and Occidental.

NEWS: Congressional watchdog found again that the Trump administration illegally withheld funds for more programs last year. But still no action from GAO on any of these findings of impoundment. www.washingtonsun.com/whitehouse/c...

SCOOP: White House officials, led by Susie Wiles, have told DOJ to delay any abortion-related action until after the midterms Wiles suggested to Todd Blanche that an aggressive approach on abortion would be negative for the GOP in November @washingtonsun.com www.washingtonsun.com/campaigns/ab...

NEWS: The Pentagon has spent about $50 million for catering for National Guard troops stationed in Washington, DC for the last 11 months. Looks like it will cost another $20 million to feed them for the rest of this year.

I traveled to Western Montana to write about how two years of Trump have completely reshaped a House race that shouldn't be competitive for Dems. Here's my story about Sam Forstag, the smokejumper Democrat, leading our new @washingtonsun.bsky.social homepage: www.washingtonsun.com/2026-electio...

Montanans are singular in their love for public lands. So I went to the state to ask: Can you still feel the aftermath of DOGE on federal lands? I left wondering: Does it matter that the Dem running for Congress is a smokejumper who publicly fought DOGE?

Congress appropriated $300 million for Taiwan military aid for this fiscal year — but the Trump administration is still sitting on the money. The money expires in seven days. State Dept has already blown a congressional notification deadline for it.

This morning, a park police helicopter kept circling my building and the elementary school next door. National guard + FBI fanned out around the school. I ran to get details. My colleague reported it out. And now here’s the story in @washingtonsun.bsky.social

NEW: The White House is trumpeting its anti-fraud crusade in the leadup to the midterms, but it isn't saying how it crunched its numbers. The Sun’s review of the White House's "Fraud Ledger" found that it includes misleading and unsubstantiated claims. www.washingtonsun.com/trump-white-...

Time to reintroduce myself! I cover the Trump admin for the @washingtonsun.bsky.social I’m focused inside the agencies — who’s playing politics, who’s peddling influence, who lost funding, etc. ☕️ would love to meet some new sources for coffee. Plz reach out.

In Utah, Trump resurfaced a decades-long dispute over how to protect some of the country’s crown jewels — dinosaur fossils.

Here at the @washingtonsun.bsky.social you can count on us to cover public lands. Huge scoop from my colleagues: Interior is pushing to identify public lands ripe for data center development, telling state BLM directors it’s a top priority.

🌞 My first story for the @washingtonsun.bsky.social: When Trump cut 90% of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, he sparked a bitter debate: What’s the point of our public lands? Does it matter that America’s best dinosaurs were in that monument?

In June, a National Guard Chinook helicopter airlifted a 4000 lb dinosaur out of Utah’s southern desert. Weeks later, Trump stripped monument status from the land where that dino had slept for millennia. Utah’s dinos are in Jurassic movies. They’re no longer in a national monument.

"Then ... President Donald Trump declared the dinosaur fossils of Grand Staircase-Escalante 'common' and 'not unique,' stripping protections from the place where this particular creature had slept for millenia." What a story from @annackramer.bsky.social washingtonsun.com/climate-envi...

Donald Trump’s war on … dinosaurs. Read of the day from @annackramer.bsky.social of @washingtonsun.bsky.social. 🦕 washingtonsun.com/climate-envi...

🌞 I’m a reporter for the @washingtonsun.bsky.social. And I’m so proud to be part of this next great investment in the news. Believe in what we’re doing? Subscribe and get in touch. Send tips, tell us what stories could use some sunlight. Can’t wait to do this together.

NEWS, as they say: @notus.com is no longer; say hello to The Washington Sun! 🌞 Oh, and: We’ve struck a deal to carry daily weather reports from @capitalweather.com! www.nytimes.com/2026/09/08/b...

Rising stars in the Democratic Party are promoting new digital teams in a post-DOGE political landscape to show voters that they can get things done. www.notus.org/technology/d...

Trump is officially trying to delist the gray wolf and Mexican wolf as endangered species. He slipped that move into the executive order today that was ostensibly meant to appease cattle ranchers furious that he's allowing new beef imports.

HHS just abruptly cancelled grants focused on reducing infant mortality and improving postpartum health. Their reasoning? They want federal dollars to instead focus on exercise and root causes of infertility. SCOOP from @paigecunningham.bsky.social 👇

NEWS: A federal judge just gave bison conservation org American Prairie a TRO + prelim injunction against the Trump admin. Last year, Interior revoked American Prairie's long-held bison grazing permits at the request of Montana's gov. Today's ruling was pretty harsh about that.

The Pentagon doesn’t make it easy, but I’ve done some digging and found that some of the sites with PFAS already contaminating the drinking water are also places with the longest cleanup delays.

SCOOP: Republicans in House Foreign Affairs are asking the Trump admin to brief the committee about its Venezuelan oil deal Some House Republicans worry that working with Delcy Rodríguez could ruin the chances of democratic elections in Venezuela www.notus.org/us-news/repu...

🎙️ON AIR: The Trump administration is reportedly considering giving a private developer control of land in Yosemite. We’ll discuss what’s at stake and efforts to stop it with @annackramer.bsky.social. ❓What does Yosemite mean to you? 📻Listen:

I scooped that the Trump administration wants to pursue a Yosemite land swap. If you thought my story was important: What other quiet conversations are happening out of the public eye? What else don’t we know about America’s public lands? If you know something, plz reach out.

I broke that Interior is trying to find a way to give up a small bit of Yosemite in a land swap. In the last 24 hrs, the people who’ve dedicated their lives to Yosemite have told me they’re outraged. They say it needs protecting, not further development.

I spoke this afternoon with Lanny Davis, who identified himself as the developer’s attorney. He aggressively defended their pursuit of the Yosemite land exchange. “There is no adverse environmental impact to what's going on here. None, zero,” he said.

SCOOP: Trump officials are pressuring the National Park Service to find a way to give a small piece of Yosemite to a private developer. The land would be used for a road, to give the developer rare private access to the heart of the park.

If you're not reading my new colleagues @almsnatalie.bsky.social and Eric Katz, you are missing out on some of the best stories of this Trump administration. Here's their deep dive into the IGs handpicked by Trump, featuring a wild story about an IG who needed a private bathroom...

Five years ago, it was bipartisan to believe that shell companies should be forced to report their owners. But this week, when Trump killed the tool meant to find criminals hiding behind anonymous companies, there was only one Republican left standing.

NEW: The Senate plans to temporarily bar the Trump admin from formally politicizing federal grants. But for the last 18 months, the White House has been playing politics with federal money, without any codified rules. So what’s the point? 👇

The ANC districts for the areas that represent West Potomac Park and the White House are both currently vacant — and no one is running to fill them for next year. A thankless job, but surprised that there isn't an enterprising GW student seizing the symbolic opportunity there.

NEW: The Trump administration plans to spend $1.6 billion through September 2027 in its partnerships with state and local police participating in immigration enforcement, a sum that far exceeds previous funding. notus.org/policy/trump-supercharge-local-police-immigration-enforcement

NEWS: Trump admin is finally stepping in to the Colorado River water crisis. One unexpected twist: Arizona, Nevada, and California may be asked to double their water usage cuts in a very dry year. Arizona is already calling that "unacceptable."

Exclusive: Katie Miller has called for Anthony Fauci to be jailed. But since-redacted excerpts from his diary suggest the two had a close relationship in 2020. www.notus.org/health-scien...

The United States is already maxing out wildfire fighting resources, earlier in the fire season than usual. One week ago, we hit level 5 out of 5 on the scale that shows preparedness risk. Now fire coordinators must triage which fires get less resources.

Freedom250 — the Trump-aligned group — just got another $13 million from the Interior Department. The total amount transferred from Interior to Freedom250 is now $81.5 million taxpayer dollars. We still don't know which 250th events have been paid for with that money.