LEVER WEEKLY: Clear Skies And Dirty Secrets

This is Lever Weekly, a recap of our work from the past week. If you only read one email from us all week, this should be it.

Here’s what The Lever published this week:

Airlines Are Collecting Your Data And Selling It To ICE. An aviation industry clearinghouse is collecting passenger information from billions of past and future flights and selling it to Trump’s immigration enforcers.

Republicans Aim To Enshrine Rental Price-Fixing. Accused of price gouging renters, RealPage could now get a legal shield from GOP lawmakers — after a lobbying surge and a flood of campaign cash.

A Potential Trump Power Grab, Brought To You By Democrats. Big Tech-backed Democrats could hand one of the country’s largest and greenest energy markets to Trump and his fossil fuel acolytes.

GOP Chooses AI Dominance Over Democracy. House lawmakers writing the upcoming budget bill just snuck in a provision that would wipe from the books every state law regulating artificial intelligence.

Republican Lawmakers Scramble To Save Their Personal Tax Cuts. As Trump changes his tune on cutting taxes for the richest of the rich, Republican lawmakers want to preserve their tax benefits.

The Secret Plan To Kill Free Tax Filing. Republicans’ tax-cut bill could eliminate the government’s popular free tax-filing system and pay off the president’s tax-prep industry donors.

Pay-To-Pollute, Now Accepting TrumpCoin. Lawmakers just added a budget bill provision to let oil and gas firms buy lenient regulatory treatment from the Energy Department — and pay with Trump’s cryptocurrency.

A Tax Cut For Mass Shootings. Republicans are planning to gut a tax on gun silencers after the tactical gear was linked to several high-profile massacres.

Trump Already Disarmed The War On Drug Prices. To the benefit of Big Pharma, the president’s new executive order on drug costs is missing a key price-lowering mechanism.

The Secret History Behind Trump’s Big, Beautiful Tax Bill. As Trump’s contentious tax-cut megabill moves forward, explore the untold story of how the anti-tax movement took over the country.

Not yet reading Lever Daily? You’re missing out on news like this:

📉 Trump country is bearing the brunt of the tariff fallout. President Donald Trump’s tariffs will cause Americans’ incomes to shrink by a full 1 percent by the time he leaves office in 2028, according to new Federal Reserve research, with some states faring worse than others. Notably, several red and purple states that went for Trump last election could see average incomes shrink by as much as 3 percent, including Michigan, Georgia, and Texas.

💸 Try this foolproof hack to stay recession-proof. Have you considered becoming the CEO of a company worth more than $10 billion? New research shows that chief executives of the biggest S&P 500 companies got an average 7.5 percent pay bump this year, bringing the median annual compensation to $16.8 million. It pays to fail upward: Among public companies worth more than $1 billion, year-over-year median revenue growth sank by over 40 percent in 2024, yet bonuses for these firms’ executives grew 14 percent.

👣 Migrant stop and searches rarely lead to drugs. President Donald Trump has justified his massive crackdown on immigration by claiming migrants are mass trafficking deadly illegal drugs into the country, specifically fentanyl. But new research from the watchdog group Project on Government Oversight reveals that of the 5.8 million migrants intercepted by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol between 2022 and 2024, just 249 stops resulted in the seizure of illegal drugs. Of these stops, half found marijuana, while just 11 found fentanyl. Statistically, the odds of dying from a bee sting were greater than finding a non-marijuana drug in a Border Patrol stop during this time.

Every week, our paid subscribers receive a newsletter full of policy wins, environmental victories, and social initiatives improving your life. 

A taste of this week’s good news:

• TSA checks get checked by lawmakers.
• One state clears its debt and gets a long-overdue raise.
• Contaminated waters catch up with the Navy.
• Big Tech data trackers pay a record fine.

Lever Leaders provide us with our highest level of support and score additional perks in return, including a yearly gift subscription for friends and family, access to an exclusive Lever staff meeting for a sneak peek at our future plans, and an annual gift of limited-edition Lever merchandise.

Join supporters like award-winning documentary producer Alex Gibney, who had this to say about becoming a Lever Leader: 

“I love The Lever for its fearless investigations.”

Rolling Stone — The magazine referenced our reporting on Trump’s plan to welcome white South African immigrants with funds intended for the most vulnerable refugees.

• This reporting was also cited in South African outlets The Citizen and City Press, Truthout, Common Dreams, Radio France Internationale, Pakistan-based outlet The News, and many other news sources.

Boing Boing — The website featured our reporting on the Elon Musk-backed Texas free speech battle that’s threatening to silence corporate critics.

The Cool Down — The environmentally focused site referenced our reporting on commercial insurers preemptively denying their liability for PFAS contamination, shifting the burden to small insurers and businesses.

Common Dreams — The news website featured our reporting on how the GOP tax bill is a gift to “predatory landlords” that will deepen the housing crisis.

The Guardian — The news outlet highlighted our reporting on the troubling heat-safety record of Trump’s potential workplace safety chief.

Heise — This German news outlet featured our reporting on airlines collecting passenger data and selling it to ICE.

📱 One of the largest news-related TikTok accounts also called out our reporting on airlines selling passenger information to immigration enforcers.