Belt & Road Watch: June 2026 — Kenya’s $2.9 Billion Airport Caps a Megaproject Rebound
Belt & Road Watch is The Investigative Journal’s monthly tracker of China’s overseas infrastructure, lending, and influence activity. Figures and financing terms are drawn from public records, academic datasets, and…
Influence Watch: June 2026 — Trump-Tied Firms Power a Record Lobbying Quarter
Federal lobbying hit a record $1.4 billion in the first quarter of 2026 after an unprecedented $5.08 billion in 2025, with Trump-aligned firms like Ballard Partners dominating K Street.
Counterfeit Stamps: Inside the $349 Million Revenue Leak the Postal Service Still Can’t Detect
A USPS inspector general audit estimates counterfeit stamps cost the Postal Service more than $349 million in fiscal 2026, capping a year of escalating fraud warnings.
Week in Review: Who Watches the Watchdogs? A Week of Fiscal Alarms and an Audit of the Auditors
GAO says U.S. debt now rivals the economy — and an audit found the watchdog over inspectors general missing nearly every legal deadline this week.
EPA Watch: Week of June 15, 2026 — Union Pacific Settles PCB Disposal Case
EPA Watch is TIJ's weekly enforcement review: Union Pacific's $155,234 PCB settlement, a proposed $308,173 penalty against Rocky Mountain Steel Mills, criminal guilty pleas over falsified Texas wastewater data, two…
Think Tank Roundup: Week of June 15, 2026 — Brookings Sounds the Alarm on Social Security
Brookings on Social Security, Cato on Trump Accounts, Tax Foundation on tariffs and Heritage on the FY2027 defense budget—this week in policy research.
Fact-Check: Did Tariffs Drive Inflation to a Three-Year High?
TIJ tests four claims from the past week — on inflation, the Iran strikes, the border and ACA premiums — against BLS, IAEA, CBP and CBO data.
Investigative Monitor: Week of June 20, 2026 — Wagner-Linked ‘Watchmen’ Aboard Russia’s Shadow Fleet
TIJ's weekly Watchdog Roundup: Russia's shadow-fleet 'watchmen,' an EPA methane rollback tied to a donor, 770,000 children off SNAP, and a 42-state OpenAI subpoena.
Regulatory Roundup: Week of June 15, 2026 — SEC Moves to Repeal the Order Protection Rule
The SEC moves to repeal its 2005 Order Protection Rule and CMS codifies Medicare drug-price negotiation in a deregulation-heavy week of federal rulemaking.
Oversight Watch: Week of June 15, 2026 — Watchdog Over Inspectors General Broke Its Own Rules, GAO Finds
GAO found the Integrity Committee that polices inspectors general missed nearly every legal deadline, as the CFTC paid $8M to whistleblowers and the SEC penalized Foot Locker over award-waiver clauses.