2,044 events on record Subscribe September 10, 2026
Standing Record home The Standing Record A non-partisan record of US democratic norms —
and the events that erode them.

Timeline › 2025 › September › 16

September 16, 2025

4 entries on this date.

Trump signed a fourth executive order directing DOJ not to enforce the PAFACA TikTok divestment law, suspending the statute through December

President Trump signed EO 14350 on September 16, 2025, directing the Department of Justice to take no enforcement action under the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act through December 16, 2025 — the fourth consecutive executive order suspending a congressionally enacted, SCOTUS-upheld statute without legislative authorization.

GAO found FEMA illegally withheld food, shelter, and detention housing funds; sixth ICA violation in 2025

On September 16, 2025, the Government Accountability Office published its sixth finding that the Trump administration violated the Impoundment Control Act, concluding that FEMA illegally withheld or delayed congressionally- appropriated funds for the Emergency Food and Shelter Program — which supplements food and shelter services for homeless people — and the Shelter and Services Program, which funds temporary housing to relieve overcrowding in immigration detention. GAO determined that FEMA's delay in issuing a funding notice for the Emergency Food and Shelter Program constituted an "impermissible withholding," and that FEMA's complete failure to issue any notice for the Shelter and Services Program established "intent to impermissibly defer or preclude the obligation of budget authority." The Trump administration did not comply with the GAO's findings; the funds remained withheld.

DOJ sued Oregon to compel release of unredacted, sensitive voter roll data

On September 16, 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division sued Oregon and Secretary of State Tobias Read, seeking to compel disclosure of the state's complete unredacted voter registration list, including birth dates, driver's-license numbers, and partial Social Security numbers, and alleging violations of the National Voter Registration Act, the Help America Vote Act, and the Civil Rights Act of 1960. The suit was part of a broader DOJ campaign that went on to demand voter data from dozens of states. A federal judge dismissed the Oregon suit on January 26, 2026, after Attorney General Pam Bondi sent Minnesota's governor a letter suggesting the data would be used to advance the administration's immigration-enforcement agenda.

U.S. Agency for International Development adopted blanket "still interested" FOIA policy, threatening to close pending public-records requests

On September 16, 2025, the U.S. Agency for International Development published a Federal Register notice requiring requesters with FOIA requests filed before January 20, 2025 to reconfirm continued interest by October 31, 2025 or have their requests administratively closed. American Oversight warned USAID on October 31, 2025 that the policy exceeded the agency's statutory authority, and renewed the demand after an August 5, 2026 federal court ruling vacated the Department of Energy's nearly identical policy. It remains undocumented whether USAID has closed any requests under the policy.