All posts tagged: contracts

She was fired after questioning her company’s contracts with ICE : NPR

She was fired after questioning her company’s contracts with ICE : NPR

Published by Sam Flores

Masked agents stand at an intersection during an ICE immigration enforcement operation in St. Paul, Minn., on Jan. 31. Some employees of Thomson Reuters, which has a major presence in the Twin Cities, became concerned about the company’s contracts to supply data to ICE as the Trump administration’s immigration surge in Minnesota intensified. Octavio Jones/AFP via Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Octavio Jones/AFP via Getty Images Be the first to know about stories like this. Get the Up First newsletter. During Billie Little’s roughly two decades working at Thomson Reuters, she felt pride in the company, which is known for its legal database Westlaw, its media company Reuters, and its role as a major data broker. But as masked U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents swarmed Minneapolis early this year and the country reeled from federal agents fatally shooting Renée Macklin Good and Alex Pretti, Little and other colleagues grew alarmed that ICE agents could be abusing Thomson Reuters investigative tools that provide vast quantities of personal data on people including license plate information. …

DHS Rescinds Policy Requiring Secretary Review Of Contracts Above 0,000

DHS Rescinds Policy Requiring Secretary Review Of Contracts Above $100,000

Published by Jenni Sidey

Authored by Kimberly Hayek via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) rescinded a policy on March 31 that required the department secretary to personally approve every contract and grant exceeding $100,000. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the Department of Homeland Security in Washington on Feb. 17, 2026. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin issued the reversal across all DHS components, including Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The change ends an earlier directive from former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem that required the secretary’s office to handle routine purchasing decisions previously handled at lower levels. However, contracts and grants above $25 million will still require secretary review. DHS stated that the move will “streamline the contract process and empower components to carry out their mission to protect the homeland and make America safe again.” The department told The Epoch Times in a statement that Mullin “re-evaluated the contract processes to make sure DHS is serving the American taxpayer efficiently.” Mullin …

Ohio fights Kalshi appeal over sports contracts and gambling authority

Ohio fights Kalshi appeal over sports contracts and gambling authority

Published by skeptic

Ohio is digging in against Kalshi, claiming that it wants to keep offering sports-related contracts, telling a federal appeals court the business is essentially dodging state gambling rules and shouldn’t keep operating while its appeal plays out. In a new filing with the Sixth Circuit, state officials say the prediction market company is unlikely to win and hasn’t cleared the high legal threshold needed to justify an injunction during the appeal process. Our team is grateful for your kind words. I’m proud of their work! https://t.co/0LWKzq7gK3 — Dave Yost (@DaveYostOH) March 31, 2026 “Sports bets are not ‘swaps’ under the Act,” the state wrote, pushing back on Kalshi’s claim that federal law overrides Ohio’s authority to regulate gambling. Ohio officials say Congress never authorized shift in power to Kalshi amid appeal Ohio’s attorneys portray Kalshi’s argument as an attempt to stretch federal law far beyond what Congress intended. The company has argued that changes to the Commodity Exchange Act in 2010 effectively handed control of sports betting to federal regulators. The state rejects that outright. …

Nevada court blocks Kalshi contracts intensifying clash over prediction markets legality

Nevada court blocks Kalshi contracts intensifying clash over prediction markets legality

Published by skeptic

A Nevada state judge has stepped in to temporarily block parts of Kalshi’s business, escalating a fast-moving fight over how prediction markets should be regulated. The First Judicial District Court granted a temporary restraining order requested by the Nevada Gaming Control Board, forcing Kalshi to halt contracts tied to sports, elections, and entertainment events within the state. Regulators argued those offerings amount to unlicensed wagering, and the court agreed. The ruling follows earlier action by the state, including a cease-and-desist letter warning Kalshi to stop operating without proper authorization. When the company didn’t comply, Nevada moved the dispute into court. Nevada says Kalshi operating illegally as judge blocks contracts State regulators said that Kalshi’s model crosses into gambling under Nevada law. They say any such activity must run through licensed operators, not a federally regulated exchange acting independently. “The Court has ordered Kalshi to immediately stop its unlicensed gaming activities,” the Board stated in a statement. Chairman Mike Dreitzer also challenged Kalshi’s broader messaging about legality across the country, saying, “Kalshi has repeatedly stated that …

Kalshi sues Iowa officials claiming federal authority over prediction market contracts

Kalshi sues Iowa officials claiming federal authority over prediction market contracts

Published by skeptic

A federally regulated prediction market is taking Iowa officials to court, arguing the state is threatening to crack down on trading activity that federal law already oversees. Kalshi, a New York–based derivatives exchange, filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa asking a judge to stop potential enforcement by the state. The company says Iowa’s attorney general and the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission are trying to regulate financial event contracts that fall under federal authority. New: Kalshi has sued Iowa state regulators, seeking to stop the state from taking an enforcement action against the prediction market. pic.twitter.com/ja6AUJOXpv — Dustin Gouker (@DustinGouker) March 11, 2026 The lawsuit, filed Wednesday (March 11), names Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird and several members of the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission in their official capacities. Kalshi is seeking a declaratory judgment along with an injunction that would block Iowa from applying state gambling laws to the exchange. According to the complaint, seen by ReadWrite, tensions escalated after a March 4 meeting between Kalshi’s …

They Helped Plan the January 6 Rally. Now Their Events Company Is Raking in Millions in Government Contracts

They Helped Plan the January 6 Rally. Now Their Events Company Is Raking in Millions in Government Contracts

Published by skeptic

An events company whose associates helped stage the January 6, 2021 rally has signed contracts worth over $26 million with the United States government, according to documents reviewed by WIRED. Since President Donald Trump’s return to the White House, Event Strategies, a Virginia-based firm with deep ties to Trumpworld, has negotiated a contract with the General Services Administration that could be worth up to $100 million over the next 15 years. It’s a remarkable rise for the 26-year-old firm, which until the recent windfall had received what appeared to be around $50,000 dollars in government contracts over the past decade. It also appears that Event Strategies won these new contracts with very little competition. According to HigherGov, a tool used by contractors to track federal and state contracts, Event Strategies was the only company to bid on eight of the 11 contracts tracked by the site. Many of the recent contracts are related to America 250, an 18-month-long commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. In early 2025, the …

Anthropic’s Pentagon deal is a cautionary tale for startups chasing federal contracts

Anthropic’s Pentagon deal is a cautionary tale for startups chasing federal contracts

Published by skeptic

The Pentagon has officially designated Anthropic a supply-chain risk after the two failed to agree on how much control the military should have over its AI models, including its use in autonomous weapons and mass domestic surveillance. As Anthropic’s $200 million contract fell apart, the DoD turned to OpenAI instead, which accepted and then watched ChatGPT uninstalls surge 295%. As the stakes keep rising, the question remains: how much unrestricted access should the military have to an AI model?  Watch as Equity hosts Kirsten Korosec, Anthony Ha, and Sean O’Kane break down what startups should know about chasing federal AI contracts, plus the week’s biggest tech stories, from Paramount’s Warner Bros. deal and MyFitnessPal’s Cal AI acquisition to Pinterest’s $1B AI push, Anduril’s $60B valuation, and whether the “SaaSpocalypse” is real. Subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod.  Source link

Noem’s spending review has held up more than 1,000 FEMA contracts, grants and awards, Dems say

Noem’s spending review has held up more than 1,000 FEMA contracts, grants and awards, Dems say

Published by Sam Flores

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s policy of personally reviewing expenditures of more than $100,000 has held up more than 1,000 contracts, grants and awards at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), according to a new report from Senate Democrats. The report says that as of Sept. 8, Noem’s policy had delayed approval of or left… Source link

Treasury Department Terminates Union Contracts for IRS and Bureau of the Fiscal Service Workers

Treasury Department Terminates Union Contracts for IRS and Bureau of the Fiscal Service Workers

Published by Sam Flores

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Treasury Department has terminated its collective bargaining agreement with unionized workers employed at the Internal Revenue Service, the agency said Friday, in an escalation of President Donald Trump ’s push to exert more control over the federal workforce. The union contract for the Bureau of the Fiscal Service was also terminated this week, according to two people familiar with the decision. The people spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak with the media. Workers at the IRS and the fiscal service bureau, which processes payments for the government, are represented by the National Treasury Employees Union. They were informed by agency leadership that Treasury terminated their collective bargaining agreements, using an executive order President Donald Trump signed last March as the authority for the terminations. In a letter to IRS workers Friday, viewed by The Associated Press, IRS Chief Human Capital Officer Alex Kweskin told employees the move “deepens our commitment of operating as one IRS, a collaborative team focused on serving American taxpayers.” The …

Senators urge crackdown on harmful prediction market contracts tied to death

Senators urge crackdown on harmful prediction market contracts tied to death

Published by skeptic

A group of Senate Democrats is pressing the nation’s top commodities regulator to take a harder line on prediction market contacts that hinge on violence, war or someone’s death. In a letter sent Tuesday (February 24) to Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chairman Michael Selig, the lawmakers, led by Sen. Adam Schiff, argued that certain contracts now circulating online cross both legal and ethical lines. “These contracts present dangerous national security risks, including creating incentives to incite violence, foment geopolitical conflicts, and disclose classified information,” they wrote. Schiff urges the CFTC to enforce the law and ban #PredictionMarkets that profit from death, war, and violence. No markets for human suffering. @RWW https://t.co/lN9RH32goR pic.twitter.com/YcYZHOPHQZ — Suswati Basu (@suswatibasu) February 24, 2026 The senators pointed to a series of recent offerings on offshore exchanges that sparked backlash. Among them were wagers on whether NASA’s Artemis II mission would explode, whether Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro would be forcefully removed from power, and whether Russian forces would seize the Ukrainian town of Myrnohad. Critics say those markets expose glaring …