RealClearInvestigations Picks of the Week

RealClearInvestigations'

Picks of the Week

July 19 to July 25

RCI Podcasts & Videos

On The Miller Report: Real Clear Journalism, Maggie Miller speaks with Dr. Jonathan Lesser and Mitchell Rolling about their new National Center for Energy Analytics study, "Batteries and the Grid: The Hype, Hope, and Economic Reality." In a separate episode, Miller interviews RCI senior reporter James Varney about his article detailing how the federal government is increasingly acting like a venture capitalist by investing billions of taxpayer dollars in private companies.

Featured Investigation:

Biden Bucks: Climate Change Funds

a Bonanza for State Outfits

A RealClearInvestigations analysis by James Varney finds that Biden-era climate legislation triggered an unprecedented surge in federal grants to state energy agencies, with funding to Colorado, California, and New York growing tenfold or more over historical averages, prompting a legal fight after the Trump administration tried to halt the spending.

• The Colorado Energy Office, historically averaging $7 million a year from the Department of Energy, was slated to receive $157.5 million from DOE and $156 million from the EPA in FY2024 alone, plus $60 million more after Trump's election.
• New York's NYSERDA and the California Energy Commission saw similarly steep jumps — from around $3–5 million a year historically to over $335 million each in FY2024, with California later approved for an additional $630.5 million grant.
• An investigator with OpenTheBooks says Biden-era climate policy often prioritized disbursing money quickly over ensuring recipients could manage or oversee it responsibly.
• Much of the funding, drawn from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and Inflation Reduction Act, went to vaguely described purposes like "initial guidance" for future rebate programs and home weatherization efforts, a category previously flagged for fraud and poor-quality work.
• After taking office, the Trump administration canceled billions in Biden-era energy grants, calling the funding ideologically driven; Energy Secretary Chris Wright has pushed the department toward expanding traditional energy production instead.
• In February, a coalition of 13 Democratic state attorneys general sued to force release of the approved funds, arguing the cuts were politically motivated, unfairly targeting blue states, and would prevent states from meeting climate targets.
• Critics, including advocacy group Power The Future, argue taxpayers in other states shouldn't subsidize blue states' climate goals and call for fraud scrutiny of the grants.

 Waste of the Day

by Jeremy Portnoy, Open the Books

• NASA Throws Out Pricey Launcher, RCI
• Councilman’s Bills Are 27 Years Late, RCI
• Education Fraud Sweeps Nation, RCI
• South Pole Logistics, RCI
• Oakland’s Trashy Enforcement, RCI

 Trump 2.0 and the Beltway

• DOJ Redefines Its Civil Rights Mission and Targets California, Los Angeles Times
• The Great DEI Defunding, National Review
• Top Republican Calls on DOJ to Indict Special Counsel Jack Smith, AP
• Meet the Megadonors Pouring Over $1.6B Into Midterms, Washington Post
• The Army Veteran Killed Outside His ‘Trump House’, New York Times
• DOGE Is Supposed To Be Dead. Its Remnants Are Everywhere., Washington Post

Other Noteworthy Articles and Series

Satellite Images Show Iran Is Rebuilding. Fast. 

Wall Street Journal

This article reports that satellite imagery indicates that Iran has quickly rebuilt infrastructure damaged during the U.S. and Israeli bombing campaign over recent months, from missile bases nestled deep inside mountains to bridges, ports and production facilities.

The faster-than-expected progress worries some Israeli officials. It helps explain Iran’s continued resilience despite an air campaign that involved more than 20,000 strikes at the height of the war and that continues along Iran’s coast in an effort to break Tehran’s grip on the Strait of Hormuz. Near Kangavar, in western Iran, satellite imagery from Planet Labs in March showed two tunnel entrances and an access road damaged by airstrikes aimed at blocking access to an Iranian missile base. Within weeks, imagery from Airbus revealed a neatly paved road leading to freshly excavated entrances. In another case, an Israeli military official said, Iran repaired a bridge that Israel had struck with three bombs within days, surprising Israeli officials and prompting them to question the effectiveness of their targeting.

This article reports that “Iran faces an enormous, costly and time-consuming effort to dig out from under the damage caused by the U.S. and Israeli attacks. But the speedy work across the country cuts into claims by President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that their bombing campaign dealt a devastating blow.”

The ‘Surprise Billing’ Racket

Wall Street Journal

From the Annals of Gross Incompetence (a.k.a. your government at work) in the final days of President Trump’s first term, Congress tried to address the problem of sky-high medical bills some patients received from providers that did not accept their insurance. This editorial reports that the No Surprises Act established an arbitration mechanism to resolve payment disputes between out-of-network providers and insurers. Bizarrely, third-party arbitration companies are required to choose between payment rates proposed by a patient’s insurer and the provider. No splitting the baby.

Arbitrators last year ruled in favor of providers in nearly 90% of cases. Large provider groups on average win payments that are three to nine times in-network rates. One reason is that they can choose which CMS-certified arbitration company reviews their claims. No surprise, they funnel claims to those that rule in their favor. Arbitrators also have a strong incentive to rule for providers to attract more business. Arbitrators set their fees – typically about $600 per claim – which are paid by the losing party. Ruling for providers encourages them to file more claims. No surprise, claims have exploded. Insurers have challenged about 40% of claims by providers as ineligible for arbitration under the no surprise law, usually because they involve elective procedures. But arbitrators don’t often throw out ineligible claims. Why not? Because they don’t get paid unless they issue a payment determination.

In a separate article, the New York Times reports that the number of arbitration cases filed grew to 2.5 million last year, from 1.4 million in 2024 [in 2021, the Biden administration estimated that 17,000 cases would be filed each year]. Doctor payouts under the No Surprises Act hit almost $15 billion in 2025, after $4 billion was paid out in 2024, according to new data that C.M.S. released Wednesday.

Violence Repeatedly Erupts in Dementia Care

Despite Warnings 

NPR

This article reports that in nursing homes across the country – from those primarily occupied by impoverished people to posh assisted living facilities that cost upward of $10,000 a month – agitated residents are shoving, punching, biting and kicking others. They have wielded canes, walkers, pens, a plate, a mop stick, a shoe, a belt buckle, and even the footrests of wheelchairs as weapons, federal inspection reports show.

How often these altercations take place nationwide is unknown, but an in-depth study of 14 assisted living facilities in New York state led by Cornell University researchers estimated 1 in 7 residents experienced aggression within a month, including verbal, physical, or sexual acts. Their separate study of 10 New York state nursing homes estimated 1 in 5 residents experienced an altercation in a month. Researchers have found that these assailants are disproportionately likely to have dementia. … Often, altercations involving a resident with dementia erupt after danger signals are missed or ineffectively addressed, according to a KFF Health News examination of court records, police reports, and state and federal inspection reports.

This article reports that the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has faulted nursing homes at least 700 times since the start 2024 for failing to protect residents from physical, sexual, or verbal abuse by other residents. The federal records do not include assisted living facilities, which are regulated by states.

The Wild West of Private Schools Collecting Tax Money 

ProPublica

As private schools proliferate in Florida and across the country -- thanks, in part, to an infusion of taxpayer dollars -- states are choosing not to closely regulate who is operating them or to oversee student safety and achievement, a ProPublica investigation found. Some states, including Arizona, cannot say how many private schools exist or where they operate despite spending hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars on voucher-style programs. The federal government also does not keep a comprehensive accounting.

ProPublica analyzed data from 13 states of varying sizes that do publish private school directories and offer public funding to these types of schools, and found that at least 1,500 more are listed today than were five years ago – bringing the total to more than 9,600. … In this recent expansion, private schools have opened in farms and barns, addiction treatment centers, co-working spaces, people’s homes and parks, ProPublica’s review of 13 states found. A West Virginia family opened a school at the family fun center they operate. It’s next to the waterpark, mini golf course and go-kart track.

This article reports that while the majority of American students still attend public schools and the largest share of funding goes to public districts, EdChoice estimated that last year alone, states allocated $10.6 billion to programs that can be used to pay for private schools – a 29% increase over the previous year.

Smuggling Illegal Aliens Through El Paso Storm Drain 

Fox News

While illegal crossings along the Southern border have been greatly reduced since 2025, they have not reached zero. This article reports that Mexican cartels have been using the sprawling network of storm drains built for flood control in El Paso to smuggle migrants into the U.S.

Border Patrol told Fox News it takes smugglers and illegal migrants 45 minutes to an hour to make it through the storm drains, which are hot and tight, with oxygen levels that can change or drop unexpectedly. The underground system stretches for miles beneath El Paso. According to Border Patrol, there are 32 known entry points from the Rio Grande into the United States and hundreds of exit points scattered throughout neighborhoods, parks and commercial areas across the city. Jason Hartman, who leads the El Paso Sector’s Confined Space Entry Team, said one of the biggest challenges is where smugglers can emerge once they make it through the underground network. "There are exit points into schools, into elementary schools, where we sleep, where we play," Hartman told Fox News. "At any point, you can have smugglers or bad guys coming up in your backyard, in your playgrounds, in your kids’ schools."

This article reports that the Border Patrol says agents have apprehended 161 illegal migrants who used El Paso’s storm drain system since Oct. 1. At the height of the border crisis, Hartman said, agents sometimes encountered groups of up to 70 migrants moving through the underground maze. Today, he said, it’s more common to encounter groups of just two or three.