Goldman Sacks Ruemmler As Epstein Scandal Claims Obama's Former Lawyer

What do Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Susan Rice, Jeffrey Epstein, the Rothschilds, and Goldman Sachs all have in common?

Kathy Ruemmler... Goldman's (soon to be former) top lawyer, after a batch of documents released by Congress and the DOJ revealed she was thick as thieves with Epstein.

Ruemmler rose to the top ranks of Wall Street, becoming a key advisor to Goldman CEO David Solomon after serving as White House counsel to former President Barack Obama. 

While she allegedly told the bank that her relationship with Epstein was limited and "purely professional," turns out she lied (or they knew, which makes it worse). It would later become public that she not only met with Epstein dozens of times and exchanged friendly emails for years, she was listed as an executor of Epstein's will as recently as Jan. 18, 2019 - which had been removed before he died in prison on Aug. 10 of that year. 

What's more, the Washington Free Beacon reported late last month that Epstein showered her with luxury gifts - including a $9,400 Hermes handbag, a Hermes-branded Apple watch, and a spa treatment package at the Four Seasons Hotel in Washington DC. 

She also denied having ever helped Epstein with PR, telling the outlet "I did not advocate on his behalf to any third party—not to a court, not to the press, not to the government."

Turns out that was a total lie. 

On Friday, the DOJ released over 3 million pages of Epstein documents, including one in which Ruemmler was helping draft statements to help Epstein counter claims that he got a "sweetheart deal" when he was allowed to plead guilty to minor charges in a 2007-2008 sex trafficking case involving dozens of underage girls. 

Just over three weeks ago, Goldman vehemently denied that that plans were afoot to fire Ruemmler. Turns out, not so much. 

Kathy's Out

On Thursday, the Financial Times reported that Ruemmler will resign on June 30 - (aka they fired her and let her resign), saying in a statement to the outlet "I made the determination that the media attention on me, relating to my prior work as a defence attorney, was becoming a distraction."

Her decision comes after documents showed she held extensive discussions with Epstein between 2014 and 2019, long after he pleaded guilty in 2008 to state charges of soliciting prostitution from a minor. Ruemmler joined Goldman in 2020.

Goldman chief executive David Solomon has stood by Ruemmler since her close association with Epstein first emerged in 2023. He said in a statement on Thursday that she “will be missed”. -FT

Ruemmler has said she regrets ever knowing Epstein and that she didn't know about his criminal activities, which we're sure isn't just because she got caught. 

Interestingly, Ruemmler once arranged an advantageous settlement for the Rothschild family with the Obama DOJ, for which she was reportedly paid $10 million and Epstein was paid $25 million. 

Obama's lawyer Kathy Ruemmler and her buddy Epstein helped to arrange an extremely advantageous settlement for the Rothschilds with the Obama DoJ. For this, Kathy was allegedly paid USD 10 million and Epstein was paid USD 25 million.

The Rothschilds business was introduced to… https://t.co/P66nd9lplS pic.twitter.com/pwRABR3sVV

— Svetlana Lokhova (@RealSLokhova) February 12, 2026

Developing...

Tyler Durden Fri, 02/13/2026 - 08:00

Warsh Likes It Hot, And Will Move The Fed's Inflation Target To 2.5-3.5%

By Dhaval Joshi of BCA Research

Executive Summary:

• The Fed will run the US economy hot – because, with labour demand and supply now in balance, both demand and supply must expand to keep output expanding.

• Short-term US real rates will come down further because the Fed will continue to cut even with inflation in the 2.5-3.5 percent range.

• The US dollar will continue to weaken, given the currency’s dependence on real interest rate differentials.

• The US yield curve will undergo a ‘bear steepening’ as US inflation expectations ratchet higher. Meaning, T-bonds will underperform cash, as well as other major sovereign bonds.

• Stocks will continue to outperform bonds.

• New tactical trade: Overweight MSCI ACW Consumer Discretionary versus Industrials.

Some Like It Hot

The US economy has reached a watershed. For the first time since the pandemic, labor demand and labor supply are in perfect balance, with both now standing at 172 million workers.

Labor supply equals the number of available workers: those with jobs plus those without jobs. Labor demand equals the number of people in work plus job vacancies plus workers on temporary layoff. Many people miss this last component of labor demand. Labor demand must include workers on temporary layoff because there is demand for these workers, albeit they are on temporary layoff for idiosyncratic reasons (such as a government shutdown).

Put a different but equivalent way, the labor market is balanced when the number of ‘jobs looking for workers’ (job vacancies) equals the number of ‘workers looking for jobs.’ The latter means the unemployed. But given that those on temporary layoff are not looking for jobs, it more correctly means the unemployed that are not on temporary layoff.

The number of job vacancies and the number of unemployed not on temporary layoff both now stand at 6.6 million workers

So, correctly measured either way, the US labor market is now in balance.

A Labor Market In Balance Means Double Jeopardy

The US labor market is in balance, but such a balance is extremely rare. In the normal state, that prevailed for decades prior to the pandemic, labor demand runs short of labor supply. Meaning the economy is demand-constrained. 

Since the pandemic though, in a highly unusual state, the relationship flipped. Labor supply has been running short of labor demand. Meaning the economy has been supply-constrained.

The distinction between demand-constrained and supply-constrained is crucial because it is the constraint on the economy – the lower of demand and supply – that drives economic output.

In a normal demand-constrained economy therefore, a demand recession causes a GDP recession. In a supply-constrained economy however, it takes a supply recession to cause a GDP recession. This explains why the abnormally supply-constrained US economy cheated a GDP recession when demand went into recession through 2023-24. The growth in the constraint – labor supply – kept output growing.

Now though, the US economy is at a watershed that puts it in ‘double jeopardy’. Given that labor demand and labor supply are in perfect balance, a drop in either would cause output to contract.

Put another way, both demand and supply must expand. To counter this double jeopardy, the Fed must run the economy hot.

Stimulate demand. But also stimulate supply by creating conditions for labor participation to rise – to offset the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) expulsions of (illegal) migrant workers.

Don’t Bet On An AI-Driven Productivity Surge

If the US labor market is back in the balance it was pre-pandemic, then why is US wage inflation still running hotter than pre-pandemic?

You might counter that the just-released Employment Cost Index (ECI) showed quarter-on-quarter wage inflation slowing to just 3 percent (annualized rate). Yet quarter-on-quarter wage inflation is highly volatile. More meaningful is the smoother 4-quarter wage inflation rate, running at 3.4 percent.

You might further counter that even 3.4 percent achieves the target of 3.5 percent wage inflation that several Fed governors have claimed is consistent with 2 percent price inflation.

Yet 3.5 percent ECI inflation is not consistent with 2 percent price inflation.

The very well-established relationship between ECI inflation and core PCE inflation tells us that, to be consistent with core PCE inflation at 2 percent, ECI inflation must be at 3 percent

Again, you might counter that such a 1 percent gap between ECI inflation and core PCE inflation implies that productivity growth is 1 percent, which is implausibly low. Yet while other more comprehensive measures of productivity growth may show a higher number, 1 percent is the well-established gap between these two specific datasets.

Finally, you might counter that even this specific 1 percent gap should widen if AI boosts productivity growth, allowing wage inflation to run hotter. Yet, despite much wishful thinking, the fact that the gap has not widened warns us that we should not bet on an AI-driven productivity surge as our base case.

The Warsh Fed Will Let The US Economy Run Hot

The reason that wage inflation has gapped structurally higher versus the jobs-workers gap is that the composition of the US labor market has structurally changed. As I highlighted in Why The World’s Fate Hangs On 2.5 Million Older American,  there are almost 3 million fewer older workers in the US labor supply now than before the pandemic.

The loss of millions of older workers is significant because many jobs are non-fungible by age. Just as older workers cannot do younger-aged jobs that require physical strength or athleticism, younger workers cannot do older-aged jobs that require decades of acquired skills or experience.

Therefore, the shortfall of older workers has created an additional tightness in the US labor market which is not captured in the aggregate jobs-workers gap. Once we account for this additional tightness, we get a near-perfect explanation for the evolution of US wage inflation. 

To repeat, faced with the double jeopardy of declining labor demand or declining labor supply, the Fed will turn a blind eye to this structural uplift in wage inflation. It will do this by de facto moving its inflation target to 2.5-3.5 percent. In effect, a Warsh-led Fed will let the US economy run hot.

There are several investment conclusions:

• Short-term US real rates will come down further because the Fed will continue to cut even with inflation in the 2.5-3.5 percent range.
• The US dollar will continue to weaken, given the currency’s dependence on real interest rate differentials.
• The US yield curve will undergo a ‘bear steepening’ as US inflation expectations ratchet higher. Meaning, T-bonds will underperform cash, as well as other major sovereign bonds.
• Stocks will continue to outperform bonds, as the Fed runs the US economy hot.

New Tactical Trade: Overweight Consumer Discretionary Versus Industrials

Consumer Discretionary has underperformed Industrials by almost 20 percent through the last 65 trading days. But the collapsed complexity  of this near-vertical underperformance suggests that the magnitude and pace is overdone.

The potential pivot could be the market warming to the US consumer, given the combined effect of ultra-low US real interest rates, fiscal stimulus, and a still-robust labour market.

Hence, in line with our thesis that the Fed will run the US economy hot, and given the stark underperformance of Consumer Discretionary, a new tactical trade is to go overweight MSCI ACW Consumer Discretionary versus Industrials.

Set the profit target/stop-loss at +/-10 percent, and trade expiry on March 25th.

Tyler Durden Fri, 02/13/2026 - 07:20

Mercedes Warns Of Fresh Margin Squeeze As China Struggles Persist

Mercedes-Benz warned that profitability in its car division could come under renewed strain this year, underscoring a difficult outlook as the luxury group contends with elevated costs, weak demand in China and global trade tariffs, according to Reuters.

Shares fell as much as 5.7% after the announcement and were down 3.1% by mid-morning trade on Thursday.

Presenting 2025 results that fell short of expectations, CEO Ola Kaellenius told investors, "The rules are changing," adding, "We are fundamentally reinventing the company."

The automaker projected a 2026 adjusted return on sales of 3% to 5% in its core cars unit, compared with 5% last year — below the 5.4% analysts had forecast. Group operating profit dropped 57% to 5.8 billion euros, missing the expected 6.6 billion euros, hit by roughly 1 billion euros in tariff costs, adverse currency effects and sliding sales in China.

Reuters writes that while management expects a marked rebound in operating profit this year following 1.6 billion euros in redundancy charges in 2025, challenges in China persist. Finance chief Harald Wilhelm said car sales there are likely to decline again in 2026 after a 19% fall last year, as competition intensifies against domestic rivals and peers such as Volkswagen and BMW.

Mercedes is banking on an aggressive rollout of 40 new models over the next three years — beginning with its updated flagship S-Class — to regain momentum in the world’s largest auto market.

Over the longer term, the company aims to lift margins in its autos division back to 8%–10%, supported by what it called "relentless cost discipline." Measures include job reductions launched in 2025 and expanded production in lower-cost locations such as Kecskemet, Hungary. Analysts at Jefferies said the medium-term target "looks confident but may be questioned."

Tyler Durden Fri, 02/13/2026 - 06:55

My end-of-week morning paraskevidekatriaphobia WFH reads:

• The Big Money in Today’s Economy Is Going to Capital, Not Labor: Soaring profits and stocks funnel more of GDP toward companies, their top employees and shareholders. AI will intensify this trend. (Wall Street Journal)

• A Stanford Experiment to Pair 5,000 Singles Has Taken Over Campus: A student built a matchmaking algorithm called Date Drop that has consumed the school—and highlighted the challenges of finding love for high achievers. It has become an all-consuming force on campus, pairing thousands of students every Tuesday night at 9pm. Turns out the best and brightest can crack quantum physics but not “hey, wanna get coffee?” (Wall Street Journal) see also How a Math Genius Hacked OkCupid to Find True: Love Mathematician Chris McKinlay hacked OKCupid to find the woman of his dreams. (Wired)

• Who Is Paying for the 2025 U.S. Tariffs? First, 94 percent of the tariff incidence was borne by the U.S. in the first eight months of 2025 (Liberty Street Economics)

• How the Merrill Lynch deal made Bloomberg: Lessons from The origin story of how a single trade terminal contract with Merrill Lynch transformed Michael Bloomberg’s startup into a financial data empire. Bloomberg-Merrill Lynch in an Anthropic era. (Substack)

• The shadowy world of abandoned oil tankers: Over the past year there has been a big rise in the number of oil tankers and other commercial ships being abandoned around the world by their owners. What is causing the spike? And what is the human impact on the affected merchant sailors? (BBC)

• The secret to happiness? These experts say it’s feeling loved by others. A happiness researcher and a relationship expert teamed up to write about how we can all feel more loved. They argue it’s the key to happiness. (Washington Post)

• The Incompetent Confidence Complex: An Epidemic of Unchecked Incompetence: The intellectual foe of unchecked storytelling is the existence of objective reality. I believe in eternal truths. There are fundamental realities of the cosmology of the universe that are unchanging and fixed realities. But there are very, very few eternal truths. Everything else is pretty darn subject to opinion. (Investing 101 / Substack)

• The Hidden Bias in Language That Turned Left-Handedness Into a Bad Thing: While the days of forcing left-handed children to use their right hands are mostly over, the bias against lefties continues in most languages around the world. The word “sinister” literally means “left.” From Latin roots to modern idioms, language has been quietly slandering lefties for centuries. (Mental Floss)

• Your friends are still acting like everything is normal in America. What do you do? All Americans live in a “dual state.” Here’s what that means — and how to help others see it. (Vox) see also Faced With Trump, Libertarianism Shrugged: The libertarian movement should have been one of the first lines of defense against this aspiring autocrat. It folded instead. (The Bulwark)

• Olympians Can Eat All the Pasta in Italy. So Why Are They Drinking Broccoli? Cross-country skiers are slurping up a potentially performance-enhancing drink of the concentrated vegetable in the hope of speeding up their recovery. https://www.wsj.com/sports/olympics/cross-country-skiing-broccoli-8c706442?st=hSksN9&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

Be sure to check out our Masters in Business this week with Heather & Doug Bonaparthe, a married couple who work together and wrote a book on the financial challenges couples face: “Money Together: How to find fairness in your relationship and become an unstoppable financial team.” Our discussion sits somewhere in between financial planning and couples therapy, built around real stories that try to help couples find a healthier approach to money.

 

AI is 3 years old. A majority of Americans say they use it every week

Source: @DKThomp

Sign up for our reads-only mailing list here.

 

 

The post 10 Friday the 13th Reads appeared first on The Big Picture.

"Bye-Bye Data Center": German Town Rejects Multi-Billion Euro Construction Project

Via Remix News,

Germany is increasingly rebelling against multi-billion-euro data centers, reflecting a trend seen in other Western countries. This time, Groß-Gerau, a town outside of the mega internet hub of Frankfurt, is the latest to reject the construction of a major data center over fears of rising power costs, diminished water and environmental resources, ugly aesthetics, and skepticism over job creation.

Major U.S. investors were behind the push to build the 174-megawatt data center, but local residents and politicians have successfully stopped construction of the five-building complex, which represented €2.5 billion in investment.

The city parliament of the southern Hessian district town officially stopped the construction of the project by Vantage Data Centers. According to German media reports, the assembly rejected the proposal in an 18 to 14 vote, according to Welt newspaper.

The opposition was led by a coalition of mostly left-wing and libertarian parties — the SPD, Greens, FDP, Free Voters, and the Left Party. Meanwhile, the business-friendly CDU and the Free Voters’ Association backed the project.

Although the investors had already purchased the 14-hectare site on the outskirts of the city, residents were not convinced they wanted a data center in their own backyard.

Frankfurt already saturated

Frankfurt, also a major financial hub, has already seen some of the densest clusters of data centers in Europe.

In early 2026, NVIDIA and Deutsche Telekom launched a major industrial AI cloud in the region featuring over 10,000 GPUs, specifically designed for high-performance AI training and inference.

The market in Frankfurt has surpassed 1.3 GW (Gigawatts) of live capacity, with projections to reach 2.5 GW by 2031. Frankfurt is currently on track to overtake London as Europe’s largest data center market within the next five years.

Now, residents are revolting against these trends, with concerns over rising power costs, diminished water and environmental resources, and a lack of jobs generated by the centers.

Skepticism and fear

The town resisted for a variety of reasons, including aesthetics, a lack of jobs, and the sheer scale of the project.

Residents also feared the five massive buildings would tower over and damage the cityscape of the town, which has just over 20,000 inhabitants.

Mayor Jörg Rüddenklau (SPD) also did not believe the promised benefits would materialize, doubting the facility would generate significant new jobs or trade tax revenue.

The same resistance has been seen elsewhere in Germany, and in fact, on a global scale. In Bavaria, local groups have successfully argued that these “server barns” provide almost no local jobs — often fewer than 50 for a multi-billion euro site — while occupying vast amounts of valuable industrial land that could be used for manufacturing and other purposes.

In response to these growing concerns, the German government has introduced some of the world’s strictest regulations to appease locals.

By 2028, new data centers must reuse at least 20 percent of their waste heat, and projects that cannot prove this are being rejected. Starting in 2027, all German data centers must also cover their consumption entirely with renewable energy. This is making it harder for investors to find viable sites, as they now need to be located near major wind or solar sites.

Politicians celebrate

Following the vote in Groß-Gerau, Mayor Rüddenklau emphasized that he refused to be pressured, describing the rejection as a vital course of action. His party’s parliamentary group was even more direct, stating that the “city would not be sold to a major investor.”

The local Green Party also wrote on its website: “Bye-bye data center – billion-dollar ‘deal’ happily falls through.”

The Green Party characterized the decision as a victory for the community, noting that “with the rejection of the project, an oversized, highly problematic urban planning and ecological project is off the table.”

The party stated that the site would now be developed in a “socially acceptable and future-proof” manner.

More resistance on the horizon

Meanwhile, massive data center projects are advancing in other areas of Germany. A massive 300 MW “Mega Campus” is moving forward to serve the Brandenburg Wustermark region outside Berlin, but it has faced intense scrutiny over its impact on the local water table.

Beyond Groß-Gerau, towns like Hanau are seeing organized “neighbor resistance.” Residents are citing a 2025 study showing that some data centers consume as much water as small cities during summer heatwaves to keep servers cool.

Germany’s Energy Efficiency Act (EnEfG), which became strictly binding for many operators in 2025, has only exacerbated the problem. Grid connection requests have skyrocketed near many major cities. In Berlin alone, data center requests have reached nearly 3 GW, far exceeding what the city’s current infrastructure can handle.

Data centers are driving up the price of electricity for households and starving other sectors of power.

A similar conflict is also running in the German town of Maintal, where the U.S. firm “Edgeconnex” is pursuing a 170-megawatt data center.

Critics say these projects are necessary for Germany’s “digital future,” but with AI data centers not only generating very few jobs, but also threatening to wipe out jobs for millions in the future, some local residents are having trouble understanding what they are getting out of these deals besides high energy prices, diminished water supplies, and ugly eyesores on the landscape.

Read more here...

Tyler Durden Fri, 02/13/2026 - 02:00

A Warning To Seattle: Don't Become The Next Cleveland

Authored by Charles Fitzgerald via GeekWire.com,

Consider a successful mid-sized American city. One with decades of population growth. Median household incomes on par with or exceeding New York City. A bustling port in a prime location. Bold civic architecture. A vibrant arts and cultural scene. And home to some of the world’s biggest and most valuable companies.

That could be Seattle. It also describes Cleveland about 75 years ago.

In the 1950s, Cleveland was an epicenter for the era’s “Big Tech.” Industrial giants like Standard Oil, Republic Steel, and Sherwin Williams were all founded in Cleveland. Like engineering outposts in Seattle, other leading companies including General Motors, Westinghouse, and U.S. Steel were well represented locally. 

Yet Cleveland’s success unraveled remarkably quickly.

Within 20 years, when the Cuyahoga River caught fire in 1969, the city was seared into history as “the mistake on the lake.” The population has declined by 60% since 1950 (and is still shrinking). Cleveland has gone from the seventh largest U.S. city in the country to the 56th. Median household incomes are now less than half the national average — and less than 40% of the Seattle area. 

Today in Seattle tech circles there is great trepidation about the region’s next act. Seattle is not punching above its weight in the AI era the way we did in the software era. We might not even be punching our weight.

Entrepreneurs, executives, investors, and technologists are departing, either because they don’t think they can be competitive here in the white-hot AI market and/or are concerned about a deteriorating business environment. And the exodus appears to be accelerating.

You might take solace that our little corner of the country hosts two of the world’s five biggest companies (which is a little crazy). But it is easy to believe both Amazon and Microsoft are past peak employee count, as they become more capital-intensive and lean into AI-driven productivity. Other local tech companies and engineering centers are also shrinking, while new job listings have plummeted. 

While the tech sector confronts existential dread, the political class in Seattle and Washington state seems oblivious. They don’t have much to say about creating jobs or nurturing industries of the future (or even of the present). Revenue is their focus above all else, with considerably less emphasis on how our taxes translate into efficient and effective provision of government services.

Charles Fitzgerald at the GeekWire Cloud Summit in 2019. (GeekWire File Photo / Kevin Lisota)

The traditional Seattle civic partnership between business and government has frayed. Few lessons have been learned from Boeing’s slow-motion migration out of the Seattle area (Washington is now home to just over a third of Boeing employees, and due to decrease further).

Relations between the tech industry and government are rocky, with the industry seen almost exclusively as a bottomless source of revenue. It would be shocking — but not surprising — to one day learn Amazon and/or Microsoft are moving their headquarters out of the state. (Bellevue already looks like Amazon’s HQ1 in all but name).

The tech boom has been an immense boon for Seattle, as the city attracted talent from all over the world.

Seattle’s population has grown by almost 40% in the 21st century, and the City of Seattle rode that tailwind. The city’s inflation-adjusted budget grew over three times faster than the population over the same period. 

That growth raises some obvious questions.

Are city services three times better? How long can government spending keep outgrowing the population? What happens if population growth slows — or even reverses?

Meanwhile, city issues loom large in the desirability of doing business in Seattle.

Downtown is barren, with record vacancies. Public safety, housing and homelessness are perennial hot topics, but progress is scarcer. After the recent election, we’re apparently going to take another shot at those persistent problems with progressive panaceas that have seen limited success, both locally and elsewhere. 

Amazon’s Spheres, with the Space Needle in the background. (GeekWire File Photo / Kurt Schlosser)

Completely missing from any discussion is the crisis in our schools, where the majority of fourth and eighth graders in Seattle are not proficient in reading or math.

Education is one of the most effective solutions to many social ailments — and a mandatory prerequisite for an advanced civilization — yet we’ve seemingly given up.

Which brings us back to Cleveland.

When its fortunes began to shift, Cleveland’s politicians made a bad situation worse. A confrontational, short-term posture from government made it easy for companies to put Cleveland plants at the top of their closure lists. Contrast that with another Rust Belt city, Pittsburgh, where politicians and business worked together to accept and manage the inevitable transition. They defined the post-industrial playbook for cities — one Cleveland belatedly adopted. 

Seattle has always been a lucky city. Prosperity has often come from unexpected sources. The Alaska gold rush was, quite literally, a gold rush. Bill #1 (Boeing) made Seattle synonymous with aerospace. Proximity to Alaska gave us a competitive container port, while rival ports like Portland and San Francisco dried up. Bill #2 (Gates) catalyzed a software industry in Seattle (and beyond). Jeff (Bezos) famously drove to Seattle in his Chevy Blazer, where he pioneered e-commerce and created a million and a half jobs along the way.

Maybe the luck holds and the next big thing just shows up. It could be space, energy, robotics, biotech or something unimaginable today. Hopefully we get lucky again, but hope, as they say, is not a strategy. 

So I’ll offer a catchphrase as you think about Seattle’s next act: Don’t be Cleveland.

(I want to be very clear that I mean no offense to Cleveland. The people there today are still digging out of a hole created decades ago. Let’s learn from them and not repeat the errors of their forebears.)

Tyler Durden Thu, 02/12/2026 - 22:35

E. Coli At 'Incredibly Dangerous Levels' As DC Raw Sewage Spill Into Potomac May Be Largest In US History

Raw sewage from a 60-year-old pipe has dumped roughly 300 million gallons of waste into the Potomac River in what is possibly the largest sewage overflow in U.S. history, according to environmental advocates and regional officials.

A recently placed warning sign is seen at the sight of a massive pipe rupture, as sewage flows into the Potomac River, right, in Glen Echo, Maryland, on Friday.
Cliff Owen/AP

DC Water said last week that a section of its sewer system known as the Potomac Interceptor collapsed along the Clara Barton Parkway on Jan. 19, triggering a massive discharge of untreated wastewater into the river.

In a press release, the utility estimated that approximately 243 million gallons of wastewater had overflowed from the collapse site. On Monday, DC Water said there had been an additional “significant overflow” on Sunday during a period of high river flow, noting that some bypass pumps were not in service at the time.

The Potomac Riverkeeper Network, a local environmental advocacy organization, claimed in a Facebook post Wednesday that the total volume of sewage released had surpassed 300 million gallons.

An analysis of the water by the University of Maryland (UMD) and the Riverkeepers found "high levels of fecal-related bacteria and disease-causing pathogens" - which they say raise "urgent public health concerns." 

"Raw sewage from a 60-year-old pipe has vomited roughly 300 million gallons into the Potomac River and is still not fully contained," said PRKN President Betsy Nicholas. 

Dean Naujoks, who holds the title of Potomac Riverkeeper, told The Baltimore Sun that the only comparable sewage spill he could recall occurred in 2017 along the U.S.-Mexico border, when roughly 230 million gallons of wastewater were released.

“The Potomac River is a shared natural treasure, and any event that threatens its health understandably causes concern, frustration, and a sense of loss,” DC Water CEO David L. Gadis said in an open letter released Wednesday. “Those feelings are not only valid — but they are also shared by all of us at DC Water.”

Environmental experts say the scale of the spill is difficult to contextualize but extraordinary by regional standards.

Gussie Maguire, a Maryland staff scientist with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, compared the volume released in Washington to annual sewage overflow totals in Baltimore.

“The way that I put it into perspective for myself and for people before is I compared it to annual sewage overflow amounts,” Maguire told The Hill in a Thursday interview. “You don’t really necessarily want to think about it, but there are a lot of sewage overflows going on in any particular year.”

Maguire said Baltimore’s largest recent annual sewage overflow occurred in 2018, when the city released approximately 250 to 260 million gallons over the course of the entire year — a volume comparable to the Potomac spill from a single infrastructure failure.

She also noted that the section of sewer that collapsed had already been slated for upgrades, with DC Water having allocated more than $600 million for planned improvements.

While the spill itself was a single incident, Maguire said the underlying vulnerabilities that caused it are widespread.

“The sewage spill was a single event, but the circumstances that led to it are not unique,” she said, adding that sustained funding for infrastructure upgrades is “really, really important, so that we don’t see this sort of large-scale spill become a regular occurrence.”

The environmental consequences have been immediate. Researchers from the University of Maryland reported that E. coli bacteria levels at a Potomac River monitoring site were 10,000 times above Environmental Protection Agency recreational standards two days after the Jan. 19 rupture. A week later, those levels had fallen but remained 2,500 times above federal guidelines.

Officials have warned that monitoring and cleanup efforts will continue as repairs to the damaged sewer infrastructure move forward.

Tyler Durden Thu, 02/12/2026 - 22:10

Judge Boasberg Orders Government To Facilitate Return Of Deported Venezuelans

Authored by Stacy Robinson via The Epoch Times,

A federal judge in Washington has ordered the Trump administration to facilitate the return of Venezuelans whom he said should receive a hearing after their deportation under the Alien Enemies Act.

U.S. District Judge James Boasberg wrote in his Feb. 12 ruling that the government must parole those deportees into U.S. custody if they present themselves at a port of entry and provide them due process to contest their deportation.

Boasberg said his ruling was intended to mirror a Supreme Court ruling from last year, which upheld U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis’s order that the government “facilitate” the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia.

The government will also have to pay for the flights and provide a boarding letter to the deportees, but that only applies to those flying in from a third country, not Venezuela itself.

The return might be short-lived, Boasberg said, since anyone who is flown back or paroled into the country will be detained by U.S. immigration officials and held in custody while their case plays out.

They also face being deported again at the end of the proceedings.

An attorney for the plaintiffs previously told the judge that some of his clients were willing to take that risk.

The ruling is the latest chapter for the deportees, who were sent to El Salvador’s CECOT terrorism confinement center last year. They were subsequently released into Venezuela.

Boasberg ruled in December that the government needed to give the Venezuelans an opportunity to contest their deportation. When the Justice Department objected to that ruling, the judge ordered a hearing to discuss ways the government could provide due process.

“I never said, and the plaintiffs never said, they were not deportable,” Boasberg remarked at that hearing on Feb. 9.

The question, he told the court, was whether the plaintiffs were deportable under the Alien Enemies Act, and if they had been given due process.

The Justice Department argued, in a court filing ahead of the hearing, that Boasberg lacked jurisdiction over the detainees since they had been turned over to the El Salvadoran government and released into Venezuela.

The DOJ also said remote hearings were infeasible, since the U.S. government would have no way of combating perjury or testing the identity of witnesses in such proceedings.

The volatile political situation might also complicate matters, the DOJ argued.

Responding to those concerns, Boasberg said in his order that plaintiffs could file supplemental challenges to their deportation—along with proof that they were not Tren de Aragua members—and he would decide whether to require such hearings, and their logistics, later.

He also punted on the jurisdiction question, saying the government can argue against any upcoming plaintiff filings.

An attorney for the plaintiffs said some of his clients had no association with Tren de Aragua and would be able to prove it if given a chance.

He and his team had identified a “handful” of plaintiffs who managed to leave Venezuela, and were willing to return to the United States for in-person hearings, though he didn’t want to specify in open court where they were living.

Boasberg has ordered him to reveal those locations to the court, but under sealed documents.

Tyler Durden Thu, 02/12/2026 - 21:45

Inpex Warns Of Looming LNG Crunch in Asia

By Charles Kennedy of OilPrice.com,

Japan’s Inpex expects an LNG supply shortfall in the Pacific coastal region, including Asia, in 2035, as demand will nearly double from current levels, the oil and gas major said in its 2025 earnings report on Thursday. 

Global LNG demand is expected to increase to about 700 million tons per year in 2035, up from the current level of around 400 million tons annually, according to the Japanese company, which operates the Ichthys LNG project offshore Western Australia.  

“Demand will be concentrated in the Asia–Oceania region, accounting for about 60% of the total,” Inpex said in the outlook to 2035.  

“Supply shortfall is expected in the Pacific coastal region, including Asia,” the company noted in its LNG Supply and Demand Outlook in the report. 

While other regions look sufficiently supplied, the Pacific coastal region could see a supply shortfall of 231 million tons per year in 2035, according to Inpex. 

Despite warnings of a near-term global LNG glut, top exporters in the Middle East, including Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), see strong demand going forward and flag insufficient investment in supply in the medium to long term.

The UAE is growing its LNG exports to meet surging global demand that will outpace investment in supply, Energy Minister Suhail al Mazrouei told Reuters at the end of last year.

“I agree with his excellency, Minister of Qatar, that the demand is going to be much, much more than the projects that we are seeing,” the UAE official added. 

Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, who is QatarEnergy’s CEO as well as the Minister of State for Energy Affairs of Qatar, said in December “I have no worry at all about demand in the future.”

“I have a worry about the lack of investment for additional supply in the future, which will cause prices to spike,” Al-Kaabi added. 

Tyler Durden Thu, 02/12/2026 - 20:05

The Canadian Press reports CPP Investments buying 50 per cent stake in Peruvian power company Inkia Energy: 

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board has signed a deal to invest in Peruvian private power generation company Inkia Energy alongside I Squared Capital.

Under the agreement, CPP Investments has agreed to acquire a 50 per cent stake in Inkia at a total enterprise value of US$3.4 billion.

I Squared, which has been invested in Inkia since 2017, will hold the other 50 per cent.

Inkia operates a diversified portfolio through its subsidiaries Kallpa Generación S.A. and Orazul Energy Peru S.A.

Bill Rogers, managing director and head of sustainable energies at CPP Investments, says Inkia operates a resilient power generation platform that aligns well with the fund's long-term approach to investing in high-quality businesses.

The deal is subject to closing conditions and government approvals.

Earlier today CPP Investments issued a press release stating it will invest in Inkia alongside I Squared Capital: 

TORONTO, CANADA & MIAMI, FLORIDA (February 12, 2026) – Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (“CPP Investments”) today announced that it will invest alongside I Squared Capital (“I Squared”) in Inkia Energy (“Inkia”), a Peruvian private power generation company in Peru. Under the terms of the transaction, CPP Investments has agreed to acquire a 50% ownership interest in Inkia at a total enterprise value of US$3.4 billion, with the remaining 50% ownership stake to be acquired by an I Squared-led continuation vehicle.

Inkia operates a diversified and reliable generation portfolio of 2.6GW through its subsidiaries Kallpa Generación S.A. and Orazul Energy Peru S.A., and plays a critical role in supporting Peru’s energy demand driven by a world-class mining sector. CPP Investments and I Squared share a long-term strategic vision to partner in the development of Inkia’s more than 4GW pipeline of wind, solar, gas, and battery storage projects, supporting its continued growth

“Inkia operates a highly resilient power generation platform that aligns well with our long-term approach to investing in high-quality businesses that can deliver attractive risk-adjusted returns for the CPP Fund,” said Bill Rogers, Managing Director, Head of Sustainable Energies, CPP Investments. “The transaction reflects CPP Investments’ continued focus on long-duration power generation assets with strong governance and sustainability practices, alongside our experienced partner I Squared.”

I Squared has been invested in Inkia since 2017, supporting the company’s transformation into a scaled, diversified and strategically important generation platform. Under I Squared’s leadership, Inkia successfully divested all non-core assets across 10 jurisdictions in Latin America while expanding its core Peruvian generation business from 1.6GW to 2.6GW today. I Squared will continue to play an active role in Inkia’s governance and strategic direction.

“Inkia is a developer at its core and represents exactly the kind of essential infrastructure platform we seek to build and grow over the long term,” said Gautam Bhandari, Global Chief Investment Officer and Managing Partner, I Squared. “This partnership with CPP Investments reflects our shared conviction in the long-term fundamentals of Peru’s power market and Inkia’s ability to play a leading role in meeting the country’s evolving energy needs. Together, we see significant opportunity to continue investing in the platform and supporting Peru’s energy transition.”

CPP Investments has been investing in Latin America since 2006 and has a disciplined approach to investing across asset classes in the region. I Squared has a long-standing presence in Latin American infrastructure, with deep operating experience across energy, utilities and transportation.

The transaction is subject to closing conditions and government approvals.

About CPP Investments

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments™) is a professional investment management organization that manages the Fund in the best interest of the more than 22 million contributors and beneficiaries of the Canada Pension Plan. In order to build diversified portfolios of assets, investments are made around the world in public equities, private equities, real estate, infrastructure and fixed income. Headquartered in Toronto, with offices in Hong Kong, London, Mumbai, New York City, San Francisco, São Paulo and Sydney, CPP Investments is governed and managed independently of the Canada Pension Plan and at arm’s length from governments. On September 30, 2025, the Fund totaled C$777.5 billion. For more information, please visit www.cppinvestments.com or follow CPP Investments on LinkedIn, Instagram or on X @CPPInvestments.

About I Squared Capital

I Squared Capital is a leading independent global infrastructure investor dedicated to the mid-market, managing more than $50 billion in assets. Founded in 2012, I Squared has evolved into one of the most diverse infrastructure investors in the world with investments across power & utilities; transportation & logistics; digital infrastructure; environmental infrastructure and social infrastructure, providing essential services to millions of people around the world. Today, our portfolio includes over 100 companies operating in more than 70 countries. Headquartered in Miami, the firm has a global team across offices in Abu Dhabi, London, Munich, New Delhi, São Paulo, Singapore, Sydney and Taipei. Learn more at www.isquare Capitaldcapital.com. 

When you think of Peru, you think of Lima, Machu Picchu, Cusco, Arequipa, the Sacred Valley and other beautiful sites to visit for the ultimate digital detox.  

You don't think "power generation" but Peru is growing fast and needs power to eep up with growing demand.

 It's an interesting asset for CPP Investments to acquire and they obviously did their homework:

“Inkia operates a highly resilient power generation platform that aligns well with our long-term approach to investing in high-quality businesses that can deliver attractive risk-adjusted returns for the CPP Fund,” said Bill Rogers, Managing Director, Head of Sustainable Energies, CPP Investments. “The transaction reflects CPP Investments’ continued focus on long-duration power generation assets with strong governance and sustainability practices, alongside our experienced partner I Squared.”  ...

“Inkia is a developer at its core and represents exactly the kind of essential infrastructure platform we seek to build and grow over the long term,” said Gautam Bhandari, Global Chief Investment Officer and Managing Partner, I Squared. “This partnership with CPP Investments reflects our shared conviction in the long-term fundamentals of Peru’s power market and Inkia’s ability to play a leading role in meeting the country’s evolving energy needs. Together, we see significant opportunity to continue investing in the platform and supporting Peru’s energy transition.”

CPP Investments loves long duration power assets, just ask Bill Rogers, his team is always looking to acquire more all over the world.

The biggest risk I see here is currency risk which CPP Investments can hedge if it wants (don't know much about the Peruvian sol).

As far as I Squared Capital, it has experience mid-market experience and an innovative approach to building investment platforms.   

The firm invests globally including emerging markets and has a long list of successful investments.

In short, CPP Investments chose the right partner to enter into Peru's power generation business.

Below, Dr. Sadek Wahba, Chairman & Managing Partner of I Squared Capital, Juan Carlos Monterrey, Special Representative for Climate Change & National Climate Change Director of the Ministry of Environment of the Government of Panama, Gregorio Esteban, Vice Chairman of Santa Ana Global, and Stephen Keppel, President of the PVBLIC Foundation, join Jill Malandrino on Nasdaq TradeTalks to discuss sustainable and scalable infrastructure and climate investing solutions (4 months ago).

Next, I Squared Capital’s Sadek Wahba on why governments must set the rules but let private investors take the risk in future infrastructure projects (8 months ago).

Third, Sadek Wahba talks to CNBC's Diana Olick on how sustainable infrastructure is critical to deal with an earth in crisis (2 years ago).

Lastly, Machu Picchu is a testament to the power and ingenuity of the Inca empire. Built without the use of mortar, metal tools, or the wheel, Machu Picchu stands as an archaeological wonder of the ancient world. But why was it built—and deserted?

Two Israelis Arrested, Indicted After Using Classified Iran Info For Polymarket Bets

The Israeli government has announced the arrest and indictment of an IDF military reservist and a civilian with classified clearances who placed bets regarding military operations on the popular Polymarket prediction market.

A joint statement by Shin Bet and the Israeli Police, which teamed up to conduct the investigation, said bets were made "based on classified information to which the reservists were exposed as part of their military duties."

via AFP

Authorities have not confirmed details of the specific bets, but it follows Kan News first reporting suspicions that officials within the defense ministry had leveraged classified information to profit on Polymarket.

At least one of the accused reportedly bet on the timing of Israel's opening strike on Iran in last June's 12-day war. The indictments mention "serious security offenses" as well as bribery and obstruction of justice.

According to the Times of Israel, one of the men netted about $150,000 based on the insider knowledge:

Last month, Kan said a user who went by the name ricosuave666 placed several bets in June 2025 with suspicious accuracy regarding Israeli military operations in Iran, wagering tens of thousands of dollars and making a profit of around $150,000.

While not identifying the men, the defense ministry and Israel Defense Forces (IDF) issued a lengthy statement.

"The defense establishment emphasizes that engaging in such betting activities, based on secret and classified information, poses a substantial security risk to IDF operations and to the security of the state," the statement indicated.

An IDF spokesperson continued, "The IDF views with utmost severity any act that endangers the security of the state, particularly the use of highly classified information for the purpose of personal gain."

The IDF called it a "grave ethical failure and a clear crossing of a red line," and indicated that "In response to the incident, measures have been taken and procedures will be reinforced across all IDF units to prevent similar cases from recurring."

There have been several similar 'insider betting' scandals in the United States related to fast-moving geopolitical events, for example involving the timing of the Trump-ordered Venezuela military operation. Red flags have even been raised surrounding the Super Bowl halftime show:

Earlier this year, an anonymous bettor on Polymarket perfectly predicted the US invasion of Venezuela mere hours before over 150 US aircraft rocked the country’s capital of Caracas, netting them over $400,000.

The incident reignited a heated debate over insider trading on prediction market platforms like Polymarket and Kalshi. While the act is strictly forbidden on Wall Street, prediction markets are currently operating in a regulatory vacuum, allowing those who enjoy insider status to score big — while everyone else is left to pick up the bill.

And the evidence that prediction markets are rife with insider traders continues to grow. As one eagle-eyed Reddit user noticed, an anonymous day-old Polymarket account correctly guessed 17 out of around 20 bets about Sunday’s Super Bowl half-time show.

Vegas did $130M on the Super Bowl.

Prediction markets did $1.33B. 10x Vegas

1. @Kalshi - $871M
2. @Polymarket - $312M
3. @opinionlabsxyz - $92M
4. @predictdotfun - $31M
5. @Novig - $19M
6. @SX_Bet - $5M
7. @Overtime_io - $443K

— MovieTime (@MovieTimeDev) February 10, 2026

"All told, they made about $17,000 in profit," the report observes, and points to the extreme unlikelihood, statistically-speaking, in getting 17 out of the 20 bets exactly right.

Tyler Durden Thu, 02/12/2026 - 19:40

American Colleges Received $5.2 Billion In Foreign Funding In 2025, Education Department Reveals

Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

American colleges and universities received more than $5.2 billion in reportable foreign gifts and contracts last year through more than 8,300 transactions, the Department of Education said in a Feb. 11 statement.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) campus in Cambridge, Mass., on May 25, 2025. Learner Liu/The Epoch Times

The database was compiled from foreign funding disclosures submitted by educational institutions. Such disclosures are mandated by Section 117 of the Higher Education Act, which obligates universities and colleges receiving federal funding to annually disclose gifts and contracts from foreign sources valued at $250,000 or more.

The top recipient of foreign funds last year was Carnegie Mellon University, which received almost $1 billion. This was followed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, also at nearly $1 billion, Stanford University, which got more than $775 million, and Harvard University, which received more than $324 million, the department said.

Qatar was the biggest foreign source of reported gifts and contracts, pouring more than $1 billion into U.S. educational institutions last year. This was followed by the United Kingdom at more than $633 million, China at more than $528 million, Switzerland with $451 million plus, Japan with $374 million, Germany at more than $292 million, and Saudi Arabia spending more than $285 million.

The data has been made available for public inspection via the foreign funding higher education platform launched earlier this year by the Trump administration. The information is based on reports through Dec. 16, 2025.

Between 1986, when Section 117 was included in the Act, and Dec. 16, 2025, a total of $67.6 billion in foreign funding had been reported across 555 institutions, data from the platform show.

Qatar also topped the aggregate list of foreign funding sources at $7.7 billion, followed by China at $6.4 billion, and Germany at $4.7 billion.

The top recipient during this period was Harvard, which received $4.2 billion in foreign funding. Carnegie Mellon University came in second at $3.9 billion, followed by MIT with $3.5 billion.

In this multidecade period, Harvard was also the top recipient of funds from parties located in “countries of concern,” at $610 million. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology was second, receiving more than $490 million, while New York University received more than $462 million to hit the third spot.

Foreign countries of concern include China, North Korea, Russia, Iran, and other nations determined as such by the Department of State.

“Thanks to the Trump Administration’s new accountability portal, the American people have unprecedented visibility into the foreign dollars flowing into our colleges and universities—including funding from countries and entities that are involved in activities that threaten America’s national security,” Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said.

“This marks a new era of transparency for the American people and streamlined compliance for colleges and universities, making it easier than ever for institutions to meet their legal obligations.”

In April 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order on transparency regarding foreign influence at American universities.

The order instructed the education secretary to ensure robust enforcement of foreign funding reporting at higher educational institutions to prevent harm to American interests.

“It is the policy of my Administration to end the secrecy surrounding foreign funds in American educational institutions, protect the marketplace of ideas from propaganda sponsored by foreign governments, and safeguard America’s students and research from foreign exploitation,” the order said.

Investigations and Lawsuits

In its latest statement, the Department of Education said it had initiated four Section 117 investigations since the start of the Trump administration amid reports of “inaccurate and untimely foreign source gift and contract disclosures.”

The universities subject to the probe were Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Michigan, and the University of California–Berkeley.

In addition to Section 117 enforcement, the Trump administration has engaged in legal conflicts with universities over various policies.

In July 2025, the administration withheld $584 million in research funds from the University of California–Los Angeles (UCLA), alleging that the institution failed to tackle anti-Semitism as well as discriminatory admission practices.

A lawsuit was filed in September 2025 by associations and labor groups representing employees at the university’s 10 campuses, alleging violation of First Amendment rights. In November 2025, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction blocking the Trump administration from cutting federal funding to the university.

Harvard filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration in April, seeking to restore $2.2 billion in contracts and grants withheld by the government.

A federal judge reversed the funding freeze, highlighting that the government violated First Amendment rights while pushing forward its efforts to counter anti-Semitism. The Department of Justice appealed the decision in December 2025.

On Feb. 2, Trump announced that his administration would seek $1 billion in damages from Harvard, calling the university “strongly anti-Semitic.”

Tyler Durden Thu, 02/12/2026 - 19:15

Confirmed: US Covertly Sent Thousands Of Starlink Terminals Into Iran Amid Unrest

The Trump administration has confirmed what was already long suspected -the US sent Iranian protesters thousands of Starlink terminals amid last month's raging economic protests and unrest.

The mainstream media had claimed the whole time that the demonstrations were both purely peaceful and completely spontaneous, but a Thursday Wall Street Journal piece greatly muddies this MSM narrative.

Source: Getty Images

"After Iranian authorities smothered mounting unrest in January by killing thousands of protesters and severely cutting internet connectivity, the U.S. smuggled roughly 6,000 of the satellite-internet kits into the country, the first time the U.S. has directly sent Starlink into Iran," WSJ writes.

This also contradicts earlier claims from weeks ago that it was merely activist non-profit NGO groups which got a small amount of Starlink systems to protesters. That was perhaps the 'cover' narrative. But later it became evident the SpaceX-made comms equipment was more ubiquitous.

Skeptical observers questioned how that amount of sophisticated equipment could so easily get across Iran's borders at a moment security forces were on a high state of alert. They concluded, reasonably, that it must have had the involvement of Western intelligence services.

“The State Department had purchased nearly 7,000 Starlink terminals in earlier months—with most bought in January—to help antiregime activists circumvent internet shut-offs in Iran, officials said.” https://t.co/1Hmx3QNQCR

— Bianna Golodryga (@biannagolodryga) February 12, 2026

WSJ tries to tiptoe around the obvious contradictions:

President Trump was aware of the deliveries, officials said, but they didn’t know if he or someone else directly approved of the plan.

Tehran has repeatedly accused Washington, without evidence, of playing a role in fomenting popular dissent and organizing last month’s nationwide demonstrations in the country of 90 million people. Iranians were protesting years of economic mismanagement, a weakening currency and hard-line rule.

The U.S. has denied any connection to the uprising, though the Starlink operation shows the Trump administration has done more to support antiregime efforts than has been previously known.

The publication brazenly claims the accusations of an external hidden hand are "without evidence" while in the very next stanza admitting a direct connection, and then seeking to downplay it.

Trump had even in real-time repeatedly said "help is on the way" - even as dozens or possibly hundreds among the dead and injured were police officers and among security forces. This showed some level of an armed element mixed into the destabilizing demonstrations.

Starlink devices, clearly present during the protests given local photo and video evidence, are illegal in Iran and authorities are still trying to uncover and hunt down presumed smuggling networks.

Russian media taking note of the emerging story:

US SMUGGLED 1,000S of Starlink terminals into IRAN after protests erupted — WSJ report

In 'an effort to keep dissidents ONLINE'

'Provided covert support' to RIOTERS pic.twitter.com/s6tEezhtJA

— RT (@RT_com) February 12, 2026

The State Dept has been calling its ongoing purchases of Starlink terminals for Iran part of an 'internet freedom' initiative, but if the situation were reversed, Washington obviously wouldn't stand for it. It is easy to imagine American outrage in the scenario where Iran was the one issuing communications equipment to anti-Trump protesters in the US on a mass scale, for example.

Tyler Durden Thu, 02/12/2026 - 18:50

Half Of Gen Z Brings Parents To Job Interviews: Survey

Authored by Oscar Mackey via The College Fix,

80% said their parents have communicated with their manager at least once...

Over 50% of college-age job seekers had their parents sit with them at an in-person interview, a January survey by Resume Templates found.  What’s more, over 35% of surveyed individuals reported parents either writing a cover letter or performing a test assignment for them.  

Julia Toothacre, a career coach and chief career strategist at the survey group, said she had never seen parents this involved in their child’s job searches in the past. 

“When I was doing career development at the college level, we would see parents come in to talk about majors and sometimes career choices, but they weren’t sitting in on interviews or communicating with managers,” Toothacre told The College Fix in a recent interview via email.

When asked what she believed caused this trend, Toothacre replied, “I think COVID played a larger role in this parental involvement than many people want to admit.” 

She elaborated:

“Right now, one of the main factors is the unpredictable market. I think parents are seeing how difficult it’s been to get hired and how many entry-level and early-career positions are being replaced with AI or simply being limited. 

“Second, I believe this generation, while more emotionally aware, also experiences greater anxiety than previous generations. Couple that with living through COVID during formative years, and there is going to be a portion of this generation that feels like they need additional support,” Toothacre told The Fix.

The survey polled young adults ages 18-23.  

Parental involvement in this survey was defined as “the actions a parent took for their child during the job search process.”

The young adults surveyed reported parental involvement was often repeated.  They also said parents submitted applications (64%), completed test assignments (51%), and sat in on in-person interviews (51%). 

Additionally, 80% said their parents have communicated with their manager at least once, including 67% who reported multiple instances.  During these interactions, the most common topic was their schedule or hours (58%), and the second most common was workplace accommodations (38%).  

What’s more, young men were more likely to report repeated involvement by their parents than young women: 70% of men said their parents submitted an application for them compared to 59% of women.  Young men also reported a similar trend in parents writing emails (61% vs. 52%) and joining multiple in-person interviews (57% vs. 47%).

The career service group also polled 181 parents in a separate survey. A majority of the parents said their involvement was requested by their child, and their reasons for doing tasks on their child’s behalf included a difficult job market, inexperience, and anxiety.  

According to the parents surveyed, 71% reported their adult child requesting help, while 25% offered help.  

When asked about the survey, Lenore Skenazy, a journalist and founder of Let Grow, a movement advocating for child independence, said parents to step back and let their children learn more on their own. Speaking with The Fix in a recent phone interview, she said doing so encourages resilience and independence. 

“It’s a natural impulse, helping our kids,” Skenazy said. 

And while it’s good for young adults to ask for help, she said parents also need to let their children step up. The older children become, the more parents need to trust them to do things on their own, Skenazy said.

A 2024 survey by Resume Templates found similar results with one in four young adults saying they brought their parents to a job interview, The Fix reported previously.

“[I]t’s becoming clear that constant adult supervision and intervention are hurting young people. This over-assistance is undermining their self-confidence and competence,” Skenazy told The Fix at the time.

Tyler Durden Thu, 02/12/2026 - 18:25

India's Richest Man Sees Company Shares Dip After OFAC Request On Iranian LPG Allegations

Shares of Adani Enterprises Ltd fell as much as 3.5% in Mumbai earlier this week before trimming losses, after the company disclosed that a US agency has sought information over alleged imports of Iranian petroleum products.

In a stock exchange filing, the flagship of the Adani Group said it received a request on Feb. 4 from the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), according to Telegraph India and Bloomberg.

The outreach followed voluntary discussions the company initiated after a June 2025 Wall Street Journal report that claimed Adani-linked firms may have brought Iranian liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) into India, potentially exposing transactions to US sanctions risk.

The company said OFAC is conducting a civil inquiry into certain transactions routed through US financial institutions that may have involved, directly or indirectly, Iran or sanctioned parties. It emphasized that the communication “does not contain any findings of aberrations/non-compliances” and that it is “voluntarily engaging and fully co-operating” with the US authority.

The Journal had reported that US prosecutors were examining whether companies controlled by billionaire Gautam Adani imported Iranian LPG through Mundra port in Gujarat. It also said some tankers operating between Mundra and the Persian Gulf displayed characteristics experts associate with sanctions evasion. Purchases of Iranian oil and related products are restricted under US sanctions tied to Tehran’s nuclear programme.

At the time, the conglomerate described the allegations as “baseless and mischievous” and said it “categorically denies any deliberate engagement in sanctions evasion or trade involving Iranian-origin LPG.” The group added that it does not handle cargo from Iran at its ports or manage vessels owned by Iranian entities.

Adani Enterprises said the matter has no financial impact. LPG contributed 1.46% of the company’s revenue and about 0.5% of overall group revenue in the fiscal year ended March 2025. It added that it halted all LPG imports from June 2, 2025, out of “abundant caution.”

The inquiry comes as the group continues to face scrutiny in the US, including a separate bribery probe and earlier allegations of stock manipulation and accounting irregularities by short seller Hindenburg Research in 2023, claims the conglomerate has denied.

Tyler Durden Thu, 02/12/2026 - 18:00

China's Central Bank Keeps Buying Gold... And Dumping US Debt

Authored by Andrew Moran via The Epoch Times,

China’s ferocious appetite for gold is influencing the global metals market, and that demand is what will keep driving up metal prices, according to Michael Howell, founder of CrossBorder Capital.

The People’s Bank of China’s gold holdings totaled 74.19 million fine troy ounces by the end of January, up from 74.15 million in the previous month, according to recent central bank data.

Beijing’s value of gold reserves also surged to $369.58 billion, from $319.45 billion in December 2025.

Gold accounts for almost 9 percent of China’s total reserves, the World Gold Council estimates.

The metals market has been on a roller coaster ride over the past few months.

Gold prices are currently trading at about $5,000 per ounce—up by 17 percent this year—on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Silver, the sister commodity to gold, is hovering at about $80 per ounce. The white metal has fallen sharply since reaching an all-time high of $121.

The commodities boom will continue, with a focus on oil and gold, Howell said in a recent interview with Siyamak Khorrami, host of EpochTV’s “California Insider.”

Global financial markets are experiencing a commodities boom, particularly in industrials, which coincides with the buildout of artificial intelligence infrastructure. At the same time, Howell said, energy is also witnessing a dramatic increase.

“Stronger economic activity worldwide will elevate oil prices from their current subdued levels,” he said. “Gold has had a tremendous rally over the last 18 months. It’s defied most predictions, but it continues to go up.”

China is playing an outsized role in its meteoric ascent.

Although retail traders are fueling sizable inflows into gold investments, China has been on a gold-buying spree for years as part of the country’s de-dollarization efforts.

For more than a decade, Beijing has been diversifying its foreign exchange reserves to reduce its exposure to the U.S. dollar and American assets, particularly Treasury securities.

In October, China’s holdings of U.S. debt fell to $688.7 billion, down by nearly 10 percent from the previous year, according to Treasury Department data.

Reports have surfaced that Chinese regulators have advised banks to trim their holdings of U.S. government bonds because of market volatility. Whether this shows up in the data over the coming months could further cement China’s long-term plans to ditch the dollar and remain in gold.

Influential Force in Gold Markets

As China remains one of the world’s largest buyers, it will also maintain an immense influence in global gold markets, according to Howell.

“The reason gold is going up is because of what’s happening in China,” he said.

It is no secret that China has largely shaped the global metals market through physical demand, whether through industrial consumption or retail use.

But recent activity on the Shanghai Futures Exchange indicates that Beijing is also influencing prices, said Ewa Manthey, commodities strategist at ING.

“Rising turnover and open interest signal a greater role for speculative positioning in driving momentum, and notably, key price breaks in gold and silver have increasingly occurred during Asian hours, with Europe and the US following rather than leading,” Manthey said in a Feb. 6 research note.

Domestic investors are increasingly turning to commodity futures to express macro views and hedge risks, as property markets are weak, equities are uneven, and capital outflows face tighter controls, according to Manthey.

In this environment of economic and geopolitical uncertainty, metals—across the base and precious spectrum—have become a more prominent alternative investment channel.

Gold trading at a premium in China sends various signals to global markets, mainly the sign that domestic stockpiling is underway. This, Manthey said, sends the message that supplies are tightening and worldwide availability could be tightening.

Although fundamentals trump short-term speculative forces in precious metals, influential noise can trigger greater volatility and abrupt, sharper price corrections.

The Great Debasement

One long-term factor supporting the bullish case for gold is money printing.

Over the years, China has frequently engaged in monetary debasement through aggressive stimulus programs.

Howell estimates that officials have injected more than $1 trillion in liquidity into the financial system to prop up the world’s second-largest economy amid diminished household demand, trade strife, and slowing factory activity. At the same time, China is grappling with enormous debt.

“China’s probably got the biggest problem of the lot, because it’s still sitting on that huge real estate debt which has been saddling the economy,” Howell said.

Although Evergrande and Country Garden have not captured international attention lately, the fallout of China’s real estate bubble burst persists, featuring a mountain of red ink.

Today, China’s general government debt accounts for more than 100 percent of gross domestic product, reflecting the years-long dependence on credit-fueled growth.

The only solution for the authorities to prevent a debt-fueled crisis is to print money, according to Howell. Although defaults are one strategy, they would inevitably destroy the credit system.

“So what happens is central banks come in, and they print money, and that is the solution to every financial crisis you can think of going backwards, and that will be the solution to future financial crises,” Howell said.

“Given the fact that the debt levels are rising remorselessly year after year after year, politicians are kicking the can down the road,” he said. “They’ve got no appetite to control spending, and they just think the easy way out is either take on more debt or print money.”

At a time when assets have become the go-to investment for institutional investors and armchair traders, one of the most important strategies is to refrain from selling gold.

“You don’t want to be selling gold right now,” he said. “Strategically, you’ve got to hold gold.”

Good as Gold

In 10 years, gold could reach $10,000 per ounce, according to Howell—and he is not the only one presenting a bullish prognostication.

Yardeni Research forecasts $10,000 by the end of the decade.

“This is all happening because rising geopolitical tensions are driving a military arms race, and defense companies need metals to increase their output,” Yardeni Research said in a Jan. 25 research note.

“Also boosting metals prices is the geopolitical AI arms race, which is escalating capital spending on technology.”

Meanwhile, “deep currents” are supporting gold’s rally, such as U.S. deficit spending and central bank buying, said David Miller, senior portfolio manager at Catalyst Funds.

“These are very powerful forces and will likely drive gold significantly higher over the next three, five, or even [10] years,” Miller said in a note emailed to The Epoch Times.

Tyler Durden Thu, 02/12/2026 - 17:40

US Forces Pull Out Of Syria's Tanf Base, Hand Over To Jolani Regime

After many years of being there, American forces have withdrawn from the Al-Tanf Garrison, a base in southern Syria near the borders of Iraq and Jordan, according to fresh reporting in AFP.

US troops had long operated out of Tanf to pressure the Assad government as part of the long-running US-backed regime change project. The US primarily trained the Syrian Free Army (FSA) in that remote desert area - which was an umbrella group of various factions, likely among them jihadists, armed and funded by Washington.

Wiki Commons

A Syrian military source told AFP and other international outlets Wednesday that the "American forces withdrew entirely from Al-Tanf base today" and relocated to a Jordan base.

The report said that Syrian military personnel replaced the US forces - but that the Pentagon will "continue to coordinate with the base in Al-Tanf from Jordan."

So after over a decade-long proxy war, the bearded 'ISIS-lite' jihadists of Jolani/Sharaa's army were just handed an American base overnight. Perhaps that was the plan all along. Al Jazeera provides further confirmation:

Syrian ⁠forces ⁠have taken control of the strategic al-Tanf military base near the border with Iraq and Jordan, the Syrian defense ministry has said, amid the withdrawal of a longstanding United States troop presence at the base.

The ministry said in a statement on Thursday that Syrian Arab Army units had taken control of al-Tanf, securing the base and its surroundings, "through coordination between the Syrian and American sides".

Army units had "begun deploying along the Syrian-Iraqi-Jordanian" border nearby, the ministry said, while border guards would be deployed in the coming days.

It was only in December that an insider attack took place in the central town of Palmyra, resulting two US soldiers and a civilian killed. Washington tried to pass it off as a "lone ISIS gunman" but the Syrian government itself admitted the attacker belonged to their security forces.

US officials have admitted to The Wall Street Journal that post-Assad Syrian Army is "riddled with jihadist sympathizers, including soldiers with ties to al-Qaeda and ISIS and others who have been involved in alleged war crimes against the Kurds and Druze."

In northeastern Syria, a place where most US troops are based, there have been signs of large-scale withdrawal into Iraq over the last several weeks.

This has been extremely controversial as the US-backed Kurds and SDF forces have been attacked as Damascus forces move in. The Kurds are once again being thrown under the bus, with no support, after having been armed and trained by Washington for much of the last decade. Abandonment of the stateless Kurds has been a clear pattern over time.

Tyler Durden Thu, 02/12/2026 - 17:20

Victor Hanson On Our Super Bowl Satyricon

Authored by Victor Davis Hanson via American Greatness,

In recent years, Americans have known what to expect from our Neronian Super Bowl halftime shows: mediocre music veneered over with gaudy, flashily lit, but ultimately empty and meaningless sets.

As seen again this year, the usual array of supporting dancers twerk and simulate intercourse, in sync with the main singer, mindlessly grabbing his/her genitals—apparently to highlight the explicit sexual allusions of mostly nonsensical lyrics.

For some strange reason, this Roman orgiastic ritual is supposedly designed by the NFL each year to appeal to American families of all ages as they gather together around the living room TV on their festive cultural holiday.

But the script has now grown predictable and trite. This year’s mess jumped the shark and had a force-multiplying boring effect on one of the most tedious Super Bowl games in history.

The decision to have Bad Bunny as the main attraction to sing solely in Spanish—only 14 percent of the U.S. population is fluent in Spanish, while 90 percent is proficient in English—was apparently designed to grow the NFL’s global audience, particularly in the Western Hemisphere, or perhaps to shock America to get accustomed to its new official multilingual identity.

Yet of the anticipated 60 million Americans who likely watched this flat show, more than 50 million of them could neither read nor comprehend Spanish.

And they had previously been insulted by Bunny to hurry up and learn Spanish before the game—or else?

How odd that America provides translations of every conceivable language in its courts, hospitals, and schools for minorities of non-English-speaking residents. And yet at its annual signature sporting event, the marquee and main-event non-English speaker would not even provide translations for the vast majority of the viewing population.

Part of the hype of Bunny’s appearance was his supposedly edgy decision to perform entirely in Spanish. But was that really so avant-garde?

What would have been far more against-the-grain and bold for Bad Bunny would have been to find some way to reconnect with the millions of disenchanted families who simply wish a hiatus from the monotonously gross and politicized Super Bowl bacchanalias.

Most in the stadium had no idea what Bad Bunny was singing about, if we can call his nonstop talking and mumbling true music.

Fortunately for Bunny, that language barrier turned out to be about the only good thing about the entire Sunday disaster.

Most of Bunny’s lyrics were raunchy and demented, and likely out-Epsteined the imagination of the late Jeffrey Epstein.

In his vile, obscene “Safaera,” to avoid being censored, Bunny omitted a few of the song’s lyrics about his celebration of exploitative sodomy, fellatio, and anilingus—with misogynistic trashing of his compliant female sexual partners as “hoes.”

(Do woke intersectional feminists weigh in on the side of Bunny’s DEI credentials and sexual fluidity, or do they bristle at Bunny’s “objectification” of women, as he reduces them to mere mindless receptacles of violent and toxic masculinity?).

If Bunny’s purpose was to shock America, then he should have sung his full lyrics of “Safaera” in English, ensuring that his first-time listeners were forced to hear and react to his sick adolescent riffs on breasts, bottoms, phalluses, and vaginas.

Bunny had been previously instructed not to repeat his prior performance-art trashing of ICE and to keep his politicking subtle and coded.

Translated, that meant the NFL had greenlighted some of his obscene references as long as they were relegated to a Spanish-speaking audience only and toned down a bit. But he was not overtly to alienate over half of the NFL’s viewership, who not long ago had voted to stop illegal immigration and millions crashing the border.

Bunny mostly complied, albeit with empty platitudes about hate and love, and reducing the American flag to a status similar to that of the other South and Central American states.

Ricky Martin chimed in with his own incoherent Spanish-language harangue about the American rape of paradise in Hawaii (“They want to take my river and my beach too/They want my neighborhood and grandma to leave”).

If Martin’s point was the arrival of too many newcomers, then he might have first reflected on the 10-million uninvited illegal aliens who, during the Biden tenure, stormed America’s southern border.

A writer for the now-defunct sports section of the Washington Post had earlier and ludicrously boasted that the mostly forgotten Colin Kaepernick—the Dylan Mulvaney of the NFL—would be the most relevant figure at the 2026 Super Bowl.

Perhaps he was—if the writer meant by “relevant” the narcissistic Kaepernick’s past popularizing of taking-the-knee during the National Anthem.

That antic likely reduced NFL viewership by 25 percent in 2016-2017, and turned Sunday afternoons into racial psychodramas with two race-coded National Anthems.

In sum, last Sunday was the same old, same old Super Bowl Satyricon.

Tyler Durden Thu, 02/12/2026 - 17:00

Dollar Detente? Kremlin Memo Explores Rejoining US-Led Financial System

The Kremlin apparently has a highly ambitious proposal for finally mending relations with the United States and wooing the Trump administration to its side regarding resolution to the Ukraine war.

It centers on Russia weighing a return to the dollar-based settlement system as part of a broader economic reset with the White House, according to an internal Kremlin memo reviewed by Bloomberg.

via Shutterstock 

The high-level document drafted this year lays out seven sectors where Russian and US economic interests could converge in the aftermath of a Ukraine war settlement.

One central item is the call for pivoting back to fossil fuels over green energy, expanding joint ventures in natural gas and offshore oil, while partnering on critical minerals - with significant upside for American firms.

The partnership would include, per the Bloomberg report:

1. US and Russia working together on fossil fuels

2. Joint investments in natural gas

3. Offshore oil and critical raw material partnerships

4. Windfalls for US companies

5. Russia's return to the USD settlement system

The memo was reportedly circulated among senior Russian officials and would mark a dramatic and sharp reversal from the Kremlin's de-dollarization push, with obvious major implications for global financial flows.

It's as yet unclear if the proposals have been formally presented to the US side - it seems unlikely at this stage - given Ukraine-focused talks have really gone nowhere of late.

All of the above seems a pipe dream if the basic issues at play stoking the Ukraine conflict can't be resolved. Chief among them remains territorial concessions, Ukraine's NATO and EU ambitions, and the fate of Russia's frozen sovereign assets in Europe.

President Putin has repeatedly slammed the US for weaponizing the dollar as a tool to pressure other countries, through sanctions and other methods of economic isolation. But he also point out this 'strategic mistake' is backfiring while in reality slowly weakening the dollar and eroding global confidence.

Kremlin spokesman Peskov has yet to comment. In Moscow, is the discussion that BRICS de-dollarization us now a dead game?

Tyler Durden Thu, 02/12/2026 - 16:40

Senate Blocks DHS Bill As Shutdown Looming Intensifies

Update (1555ET): The Senate has failed to pass legislation that would pass the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) just one day before it's set to run out of money.

52 senators voted for a procedural step to advance a full-year spending bill, falling 8 votes short of the 60-vote filibuster threshold. 47 senators opposed it. 

Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) notably sided with Republicans in support of the measure, while Thune (R-SD) switched his vote to a 'no' as a procedural move to allow him to bring it up again. 

As the Epoch Times notes further, the appropriations bill passed the House in January before it returned to the Senate ahead of a funding deadline at the end of that month.

A standoff over immigration law enforcement funding there, touched off in the aftermath of the shooting of two protesters in Minneapolis, triggered a partial government shutdown involving five other spending bills. That lapse continued until Feb. 3.

While the five other spending bills ultimately passed both chambers, DHS was funded through a short-term continuing resolution that is set to end on Feb. 13, giving lawmakers a small window to reach a deal.

That deadline comes just ahead of Presidents Day and scheduled breaks in the House and Senate next week.

Soon after that deal was announced, some lawmakers were already forecasting another lapse in funding.

“I think DHS is going to stay shut down for a while,” Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) predicted to reporters on Feb. 4.

The Senate has taken the lead in negotiations that have involved the White House.

Ahead of the vote on Feb. 12, Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said on the Senate floor that the White House had sent Democrats “an extremely serious offer” on Feb. 11.

Democrats have generally been resistant to overtures from Republicans, hewing to a list of demands that include stepped-up warrant requirements for immigration law enforcement and a virtual end to the masking of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and other federal agents.

After border czar Tom Homan announced on Feb. 12 that the administration’s immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota was ending, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) suggested that was not enough.

“Regardless of what Tom Homan says, ICE’s abuses cannot be solved merely through executive fiat alone,” Schumer said on the floor of the Senate.

With the fast deadline approaching, Thune said that “the onus is on Democrats” to agree to an additional funding patch.

In a press conference that same day, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said that “funding for ICE and the Department of Homeland Security should not move forward in the absence of dramatic changes that are bold, meaningful, and transformational,” adding that the House and Senate Democrats are aligned on the issue.

Rep. Jay Obernolte (R-Calif.) voiced frustration about the state of DHS negotiations.

“There are a lot of agencies in DHS that Americans depend on,” Obernolte told reporters after a Feb. 12 vote in the House.

He cited the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Transportation Security Administration, as well as the Secret Service.

Obernolte noted that ICE has ample funding for years thanks to last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

*  *  *

On Wednesday, the House of Representatives passed the SAVE America Act by a margin of 218-213. The bill would require proof of citizenship to register to vote as well as photo ID to vote in federal elections. One Democrat, Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas, joined Republicans in voting for it, while one R and one D did not vote. 

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, is leading the push in the Senate to pass voter ID legislation and is pitching multiple paths that Republicans could take to do it.  (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Sadly for anyone who values election integrity, Senate Republicans need 60 votes to pass it, and there "aren't anywhere close to the votes" according to Majority Leader John Thune (SD). Thune says he supports the SAVE Act, but he's not about to change the Senate rules to create a pathway to passing it - and that his position is widely supported among the Senate Republican Conference. 

"It’s not just me not being willing to do it. There aren’t anywhere close to the votes, not even close, to nuking the filibuster," he said of a proposal to lower the threshold for advancing legislation to a simple majority by voting along partisan lines to establish new precedent - effectively changing the Senate's rules with what is known as "the nuclear option," The Hill reports.

"We’re having a very robust conversation among our Senate Republican colleagues about the path forward. I think most are supporters … I certainly am — of the SAVE Act and what it attempts to accomplish," Thune told reporters following the meeting. "You ought to be able to prove that you’re a citizen of this country in order to be able to vote. How we get to that vote remains to be seen," he said. 

According to Thune, however, the nuclear option "doesn’t have a future. Is there another way of getting there? We’ll see."

Meanwhile, Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) is pushing for a 'standing filibuster' to try and pass it, and implored the Senate GOP conference on Tuesday to interpret the current Senate rules to require Democrats to continuously hold the floor with active debate to block the SAVE Act.

"Nothing in the Senate's an easy move," Lee said after the meeting. "This one's certainly not. But if we want to do this, this is how we have to go about it."

Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-WY) told Fox News that Republicans would continue to press the issue.

"To get on an airplane you need a photo ID. You want to buy a beer at a football game? You need a photo ID. Go to the library, you need a photo ID for just about everything," he said. "And now you see Democrats are demanding photo IDs to go to any meetings that they have, and we just saw that in Georgia."

DHS Shutdown On Deck...

Meanwhile, the vast majority of the Department of Homeland Security are set to shut down Saturday unless lawmakers can strike a last-minute deal to fund the agency. Democrats have vowed to oppose any legislation that doesn't include restrictions on immigration enforcement - and have provided a laundry list of demands after federal immigration agents killed two protesters last month in Minneapolis. The White House is reportedly open to some of the ideas, however, no agreement has been reached by lawmakers. 

On Wednesday night, the White House sent a detailed proposal to Democrats, WaPo reports, however it's unclear what their response was. 

"If they don’t add things that will rein in ICE, they are not getting our votes," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) told reporters Wednesday prior to receiving the White House proposal. 

Any last-minute deal would also require the House to pass it, which might be difficult in itself after House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) said that Democrats won't support any DHS funding bill that doesn't include "dramatic changes" to the agency. 

That said, a shutdown won't disrupt ICE or US Customs and Border Protection operations because Republicans allocated tens of billions of dollars in additional funding last year for padding. Instead, the Transportation Security Administration, FEMA, Coast Guard and other agencies within DHS will be directly affected, equating to roughly 13% of the federal civilian workforce, according to DHS / OPM data. 

"The pain will be felt by the men and women of TSA, who will once again work to keep our airways safe without a paycheck," Rep. Mark Amodei (R-NV) told WaPo on Wednesday. "There will be uncertainty for our Coast Guard men and women — who have no choice but to show up for work. … It will reduce the amount of funding in the Disaster Relief Fund — just weeks after massive winter storms affected wide swaths of the country."

The Senate is expected to vote today to take up legislation to fund DHS through Sept. 30. 

Tyler Durden Thu, 02/12/2026 - 15:53