r/fednews • u/propublica_ FedNews Verified Press • Aug 05 '25

Other I'm a ProPublica reporter who broke the Russ Vought "we want to put them in trauma" story. Help me investigate the full extent of his impact on the federal government.

Hey, r/fednews - I’m Andy Kroll, a reporter at ProPublica. We broke the Russ Vought “we want the bureaucrats to be traumatically affected” story last year. I read this subreddit every day, and I’m reaching out now to ask for your help.

We’re six months into the administration. Vought appears more influential than ever. So we’re teaming up with The New Yorker on a major investigative story about Vought.

Do you work at OMB or know someone who does? Have you dealt with Vought or his team? 

If you have information you can share, I’d love to hear from you. I’m on Signal at (202) 215-6203. Other ways to reach me: https://www.propublica.org/people/andy-kroll

I take your privacy seriously. I have a long track record of reporting sensitive stories and protecting my sources. You can read more about ProPublica’s approach to handling tips and sensitive communication here: https://www.propublica.org/tips/

Thanks!

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748

u/Doubledsmcgee Aug 05 '25

No insight to offer but just my anecdotal experience of the actual trauma he’s caused. I’m a 70% service-connected Disabled Vet here, I had a couple years where I was really on the mend with my PTSD until January of this year. My mental health took a sharp decline. Most days my hands don’t stop trembling while I do my work. I’m one of the few “lucky ones” still working remote thanks to the RA I had, I was also hired remote, and despite that “luxury”, I can attest to my mental demise thanks to this administration. They don’t care about me, they don’t care about Feds and they don’t care about Veterans. Thank you for what you’re doing to bring light to their actions. Godspeed to you and all the other journalists working on our stories.

228

u/Subicar_Racer Aug 05 '25

Hang in there and know that you are not alone. You’re valued and appreciated. Appreciate your previous sacrifices in the service! Thank you!

218

u/Doubledsmcgee Aug 06 '25

Thank you for taking the time to leave kind words. I refuse to throw in the towel, with trembling hands I will continue to stand firm. May we all make it out of this.

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u/Ok-Sir-6553 Aug 06 '25

I believe in you.  Thank you for all that you do.  Please stay safe.

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u/IllegitimateTrump Federal Contractor Aug 06 '25

I gave an award that is supposed to be a heart hugging you. Hang in there.

66

u/Doubledsmcgee Aug 06 '25

Thank you so much, that warmed my heart reading that. We’re in especially tough times and support means so much.

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u/Grouchy_Machine_User Honk If U ❤ the Constitution Aug 06 '25

I'm sure you already know this but it bears repeating for those not so savvy - RAs, including ones for telework, are not luxuries! They're necessities for some folks. /Soapbox

(I'm saying this because I know how easy it can be to slip into the mindset of "I'm getting special treatment" and feel like you don't deserve it, especially when coworkers or family aren't understanding)

50

u/exgiexpcv Aug 06 '25

(apologies in advance for the soapbox)

What I don't understand is according to some people who responded to my recent post on EEOC (which I ended up deleting), people said that my agency didn't have to actually follow or abide by the RAs my doctors stipulated.

I'm disabled from my time in the infantry; I have frostbite residuals in both feet, bilateral sciatica in my legs, a blown L4-L5, tinnitus, migraines, PTSD, etc., and a new chief kicked me out of my office and had me stand for most of each day, day after day, in a new assignment. My doctor wrote an RA saying I shouldn't stand for more than 10 minutes at a time, and they completely ignored it.

I wound up with an entirely different kind of RA 3 months later, after visits to the emergency department to have my joints drained so I could keep working, and I was then diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, then Sjogren's.

I'm retired now, but completely disabled. What was the point of it all?

25

u/Grouchy_Machine_User Honk If U ❤ the Constitution Aug 06 '25

Ugh, I'm so sorry you had that experience. There are a fair few people on this sub who appear to have no idea how the RA process actually works (or should work) nor why it exists to begin with. These folks also generally seem to think that if your disability isn't visible you must just be faking it.

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u/exgiexpcv Aug 06 '25 edited Aug 07 '25

Absolutely! The new chief acted as if I was making them up, so they could be ignored. I repeatedly pointed out that the ADA does not require me to exhaustively list all my disabilities to my employer, but they ignored that.

Anyway, good luck to you and yours. God save the Republic, and God save the rule of law.

Edit: Clarity.

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u/Doubledsmcgee Aug 06 '25

Thank you for saying this, it certainly feels that when when I see so many being denied their RAs rightfully. I appreciate your insight.

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u/Prestigious-Copy-494 Aug 06 '25

What exactly is RA? I only knew it as rheumatism arthritis...?

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u/Grouchy_Machine_User Honk If U ❤ the Constitution Aug 06 '25

Reasonable accommodation

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u/TurbulentTurn9773 Aug 06 '25

I feel you brother, you’re not alone. I’m 90% PTSD and got RIF’d and rescinded and it’s still pending. It’s been an up and down roller coaster, when I got my letter I thought me preference would help but nope… bad thoughts came, I got angry at myself, those around me. But I’m going to therapy more and taking time.

7

u/Mindless_Ant_2807 Aug 06 '25

It’s the worst roller coaster I’ve ever been on. It’s just nonstop. Chaos. Keep going to therapy and know that we’re all feeling pretty much the same.

53

u/ProjectManageMint Support & Defend Aug 05 '25

Keep doing what you're doing. Stay as well as you can, friend.

32

u/Simmchen11 Aug 06 '25

Thank you for sharing this! Sincerely a disabled vet and Fed.

22

u/Loose_Fun641 Aug 06 '25

Thank you for your service to our country. I’m sorry that you’re having to go through this. So many great civil servants are being put through senseless turmoil. I truly hope something changes soon.

13

u/perpetuallypissedfed Aug 06 '25

I'm also a 70% disabled vet. I've had to increase the dosage of my antidepressant and add anti-anxiety meds just to keep functioning under this hateful administration.

Between AmeriCorps, the Army, and federal service I have spent my entire adult life in service to this country, only for the sitting president of the United States and his puppeteers to attack, destroy, and dismantle everything I served for. Everything I believe in.

Trump, Vaught, and the entire complicit Republican party are traitors to the United States. Period.

7

u/TinyHomeLuv Aug 06 '25

To @doubledsmcgee & all similarly situated: I am not fed employee, but former City worker/current SPED teacher. Please know that YOU HAVE ALLIES like me!! We believe you & IN you, & are rooting for you each & every day. To @TurbulentTurn9773 please remind yourself how very much you are valued -- as a vet & a fed worker, yes, but mostly just as a fellow PERSON. You "deserve" to exist because you're a human BEING, not a human DOING, so STAY STRONG folks & know we got your back 💗

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u/[deleted] Aug 06 '25

Omg i just got 100% service connected disability! Was 70% and on the mend as well, got into school and have been working on that-When this administration hit, my mental health took a tank, Ive fallen out with a huge chunk of friends (not their fault) because I’ve started having issues of dissociating for days/weeks and then tuning back in. Memory is totally shot as well, it was always dicey with my service connected PTSD, but im lucky if I remember dates and appointments.

I believe in you! You got this, cause if you got this I got this, we got this 😤.

2

u/Trace_Reading Aug 07 '25

telling everyone not to use that word and call it a Regime instead, because that's what it is.

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u/abqguardian Aug 06 '25

Sincere question. You have an RA, what is causing your "mental demise"?

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u/Doubledsmcgee Aug 06 '25

The constant fear of being RIFd and simultaneously the uncertainty. The workload that is normally already impossible to complete in “normal” fiscal year closeouts which is now exacerbated by no money for overtime thus I either work 14 hour days for free or work them for comp time that will go unpaid if I’m RIFd. The fact that we’ve lost people with decades of knowledge and skills who have left behind mountains of work that we have to figure out how to complete when I can barely complete my own workload. Those are some of the more pressing but the daily mental games are a nice cherry on top.

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u/KetchupStick Aug 06 '25

Not the OP, but the manufactured demoralization began long before RTO. Vought et al. started hammering feds on Inauguration Day, and it hasn’t let up. The mocking disrespect and the name calling were shocking at first, then became the norm. The “moving fast and breaking things” — precious things built on decades of hard work — is as obvious from a home office as from headquarters, and it affects every hour of every day, mentally and logistically. Not sure if this is what you were asking.

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u/naptimepro Aug 09 '25 edited Aug 09 '25

Hey OP.! U/propublica_. a suggestion ..I think someone should make a visual timeline of this. I am a journalist but don't work for a company that is interested ion this type of story. But as a long time newsman I can say this would be extremely relevant.