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Federal judges carry their professional histories into the courtroom, and for many, those histories are deeply entwined with the corporations that later appear before them. An examination of financial disclosure records and case outcomes across several circuit and district courts reveals troubling patterns that raise fundamental questions about impartiality in America's most consequential legal chambers.
A growing number of corporations are placing their own executives and paid consultants inside federal regulatory agencies as temporary advisors, granting them direct influence over the very rules designed to govern their industries. Through a legal mechanism that has received little public scrutiny, companies across sectors from pharmaceuticals to transportation have found a pathway to regulatory power that makes conventional lobbying look blunt by comparison. DOE News examines the agencies, the
When a federal employee moves from one desk to another within the same agency, few alarm bells sound. Yet a growing body of evidence suggests that strategic lateral transfers are allowing government workers to sidestep conflict-of-interest rules and assume oversight roles over the very industries they once served — creating a system of accountability that exists largely on paper.
Former senators, retired generals, and ex-intelligence chiefs are quietly accepting consulting contracts from foreign governments — often with minimal public disclosure. A DOE News investigation reveals how a largely unregulated shadow industry is giving overseas powers a direct line into the corridors of American decision-making.
Dozens of former members of Congress have converted decades of legislative relationships into multimillion-dollar lobbying arrangements, often within months of leaving office. DOE News examined the financial disclosures, client rosters, and policy timelines that reveal how Capitol Hill experience is monetized at a scale that rivals Wall Street. The findings raise urgent questions about whose interests are truly being served while these lawmakers are still casting votes.
Hundreds of senior officials at the FDA, EPA, and FCC leave their posts each year to join the very industries they once policed — often within months of shaping consequential policy decisions. DOE News examined career records, lobbying disclosures, and agency rulings to trace a pattern of regulatory capture that costs taxpayers in ways that rarely make headlines.
Billions of federal dollars move through obscure line items, classified appropriations, and accounting workarounds that effectively neutralize congressional oversight. A DOE News investigation identifies the agencies, the mechanisms, and the watchdogs who say the problem is far worse than the public realizes.
A sprawling network of politically active nonprofits and super PACs is funneling hundreds of millions of dollars into the most competitive House and Senate races of 2024—with little to no public accountability. DOE News traces the money trails, the messaging strategies they fund, and what it all means for the future of representative democracy.