May 2026

Tyler Kim and Caelin Sutch publish a blog post on the National Design Studio site about how they have incorporated an AI agent into the freedom250.org navigation. They don’t mention which AI it is using as a model, but it does describe some of the attempts to apply safety guardrails through tweaking the model’s randomness and mentions that it is using the Vercel AI SDK.

Peter Arnell and James Ayres start at NDS.

Noah Peters writes an op-ed defending a proposed regulation that would move the appeals process for reductions in force (RIFs) from the MSPB to OPM. He is described as a Senior Advisor at the agency.

Ruling on two separate lawsuits against the NEH that were merged into a single case, Judge McMahon issued a 143-page ruling declaring DOGE’s grant cancellations at the agency were unconstitutional and caused irreparable harm to the plaintiffs. She ruled that the law does not allow an administration to cancel grants just because it disagrees with a previous administration or wants to direct funds elsewhere. It is unclear how this ruling might affect cases against grant cancellations at other agencies.

Despite great fanfare and hopes that it would bring in substantial revenue, only 338 individuals have started the application process for the Trump “Gold Card” visa with only 165 paying the application fee and a mere 59 people starting the application process. Many immigration lawyers have advised clients against the program, since it is legally dubious and could be revoked by legislation or a future executive order.

In response to the Trump organization suing the IRS about a leak of Trump’s tax returns, Trump’s former personal lawyer signs a settlement in his role as the Acting Attorney General to create a new “anti-weaponization fund” that consists of 5 members to be appointed by him and which will distribute funds to political allies who claim they have been targeted by the government. The settlement is also signed by Frank Bisignano in his role as Acting Chief Executive Officer of the IRS.

A report in the Washington Post describes how GAO is facing unprecedented opposition from federal agencies in response to its requests for information on what systems DOGE has accessed. The article cites an example at HHS, where attorneys have blocked the release of information to GAO over concerns that it might conflict with information that has been publicly released through litigation, but it also states that many other unidentified agencies are also resisting GAO’s oversight activities.

A year after DOGE-led reductions and the “fork in the road” email, the Office of Environmental Management at the Department of Energy is operating with roughly half of its expected workforce. This office handles the cleanup of nuclear waste.