When President Donald Trump returned to the White House in January, ProPublica reporters set out to cover how the second administration would reorganize the government and the country.
Our reporters detailed what happened when the Department of Government Efficiency, originally led by Elon Musk, cut federal agencies, including the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Social Security Administration. We’ve written about those caught up in the administration’s immigration crackdown, including more than 170 Americans detained by immigration officials. We profiled key figures in the administration, including the 22-year-old chosen to lead anti-terrorism efforts and the man said to be Trump’s shadow president.
Our newsroom focused on more than just the White House. Ginger Thompson has written a five-part series based on Doris Burke’s research that tells the story of American health care through one hospital in Albany, Georgia. Elise Shimani and Lexi Churchill expose a Texas charter school superintendent who makes $870,000. And David Armstrong tried to understand why one cancer pill costs the same as a new iPhone.
These are all among the research our readers have spent the most time researching this year. ProPublica will continue reporting on these stories, and more, in the new year.
In the meantime, revisit our most-read articles of 2025. This is measured by the total time spent reading articles across several publishing platforms.
1. Militia and Moles
Written by Joshua Kaplan
Wilderness survival trainers enraged by the January 6th Capitol riot have secretly been in the ranks of right-wing militia groups for years. He didn’t tell the police or the FBI. He didn’t tell his family or friends. The only person he spoke to was a reporter from ProPublica.
2. Illness in the hospital town
Written by Ginger Thompson, Researched by Doris Burke
Why did the people of Albany, Georgia, get so sick when the town’s most powerful institution was the hospital?
3. Inside ICE Air: Flight attendant on deportation plane says disaster is ‘just a matter of time’
Composer: Mackenzie Funk
Current and former flight attendants at Global
4. The untold story of what happened when DOGE raided Social Security
Written by Eli Hager
DOGE has ignored urgently needed reforms and upgrades at the Social Security Administration, even as the agency admits it has sometimes made matters worse, according to 15 hours of candid interviews with dozens of insiders and a former acting head of the Social Security Administration.
5. Trump’s own mortgage matches description of mortgage fraud, records reveal
Written by Justin Elliott, Robert Fatureki, Alex Mierzewski
The Trump administration has alleged that Fed Board member Lisa Cook may have committed mortgage fraud by declaring multiple principal residences on her loans. We found that Mr. Trump had previously engaged in exactly what he called “deceptive and potentially criminal.”
6. Receive “DOGE”: DOGE targeted him on social media. Then the Taliban took his family.
Written by Avi Asher-Shapiro and Christopher Bing
Mohammad Halimi, an Afghan scholar who fled the Taliban in 2021, has been working to help U.S. diplomats understand his homeland. DOGE then exposed his sensitive work for a U.S.-funded nonprofit, putting his family’s lives at risk.
7. “Intern in Charge”: Introducing the 22-year-old Trump campaigner chosen to be in charge of preventing terrorism.
Written by Hannah Arum
A year out of college and with no apparent expertise in national security, Thomas Fugate is a Department of Homeland Security official tasked with overseeing the government’s main hub for combating violent extremism.
8. The price of remission
Written by David Armstrong
When Armstrong was diagnosed with cancer, he set out to understand why a single Revlimid pill costs the same as a new iPhone. He has covered the soaring drug prices as a reporter for many years. What he discovered shocked him.
9. ‘Incalculable’ damage: How the ‘I’ll Buy Ugly House’ franchise left a trail of financial ruin across Texas
Written by Angenette Damon and Molly Simon
Charles Carrier is accused of orchestrating a multi-year Ponzi scheme that extorted tens of millions of dollars from both wealthy investors and elderly people with modest incomes. Despite signs of trouble, house flipping chain HomeVestors of America did not intervene.
10. The White House intervened on behalf of suspected sex trafficker Andrew Tate during the federal investigation.
Written by Robert Fatuleki and Avi Asher-Shapiro
Federal authorities were reprimanded for seizing electronic devices from Tate and her brother and ordered to return them, according to records and interviews. Experts said the intervention was highly inappropriate.
11. The county became a “model” for immigration raids by local police. It ended in civil rights violations.
Arizona Luminaria by Rafael Carranza. Co-authored with Arizona Luminaria.
Under Sheriff Joe Arpaio, Maricopa County became one of the first testing grounds for ICE’s 287(g) program, which forces local police to enforce immigration laws. Many Arizonans say these abuses are similar to what’s happening now under the Trump administration.
12. H-2A visa trap
Written by Max Blau for ProPublica, Zaidi Sanchez for ProPublica, illustrated by Dadu Singh for ProPublica
Sophie left her children in Mexico with the promise of a better life. She ultimately became the victim of an operation that allegedly exploited the H-2A visa program and the workers it brought to the United States.
13. “Time Bomb”: The mother’s illness continued during pregnancy. She died in Texas because she couldn’t get an abortion.
Written by Kavitha Surana and Lizzie Presser, Photographed by Lexi Parra for ProPublica
ProPublica found multiple cases in which women with underlying health conditions died because they were unable to access abortions. Tierra Walker, a 37-year-old mother, was told by doctors there was no emergency before she died of pre-eclampsia.
14. To pay for Trump tax cuts, House Republicans float plans to cut benefits to the poor and working class.
Written by Robert Fatuleki and Justin Elliott
The menu of options being circulated by Congressional Republicans also includes new tax cuts for corporations and the ultra-wealthy.
15. Kristi Noem secretly received a portion of political donations.
Written by Justin Elliott, Joshua Kaplan, Alex Mierzewski
When Noem was governor of South Dakota, a black finance group paid her private company $80,000. She did not list this income on federal disclosure forms, which experts say could violate ethics requirements.
16. More than 170 U.S. citizens were found to be in immigration custody. They have been kicked, dragged and restrained for days.
Written by Nicole Foy, Photography by Sarabeth Manny
The government does not track how often its citizens are apprehended by immigration officials. So did ProPublica. Our tally (almost certainly incomplete) also includes people who were detained for several days without a lawyer. And we have nearly 20 children, two of whom have cancer.
17. Trump administration officials celebrate with cake after aid cuts. Then people died of cholera.
Written by Anna Maria Barry Jester and Brett Murphy, Photography by Peter DiCampo
Behind closed doors in Washington, top advisers made a series of decisions that would have devastating effects on the poorest country on earth. We went to South Sudan and found people who died as a result.
18. “The President wanted it and I did it”: Recording reveals Social Security chief’s thoughts on DOGE and Trump
Written by Eli Hager
In a recording obtained by ProPublica, acting Social Security Secretary Leland Dudek portrayed his agency as facing a crisis while encouraging patience with “DOGE kids.”
19. This charter school superintendent makes $870,000. He leads a school district of 1,000 students.
Written by Elise Shimani, ProPublica, Lexi Churchill, ProPublica, Texas Tribune. Co-published with the Texas Tribune.
On paper, Salvador Cavazos makes less than $300,000 from running Valere Public Schools, a small charter network in Texas. But the truth is, taxpayers probably don’t know that his total salary makes him one of the highest-paid superintendents in the country.
20. What you need to know about Trump’s shadow president, Russ Vought
Written by Andy Kroll
Mr. Vought is the architect of President Trump’s far-reaching plan to fire public servants, freeze government programs and dismantle entire government agencies. Here are some important things to know about the D.C. insider who is taking the ax to the federal government.
21. “Slow, low, or no pay.”
Written by T. Christian Miller
Blue Cross approved mastectomies and breast reconstruction for women with cancer, but refused to pay the doctor’s fees in full. A jury found this to be fraud and awarded the act a $421 million verdict.
22. ‘We are broken’: Prisoners are leaving in droves for ICE as federal prisons run out of food and toilet paper
kelly blakinger
Many of the problems the agency is currently facing are not new, but staff and inmates are concerned that the exodus of staff will make life in prisons even worse.
23. He spent money meant for Native Hawaiians on Polos and Porsches. The federal government was unable to stop him.
Honolulu Civil Beat by Nick Grube. Co-authored with Honolulu Civil Beat.
The small business program allowed Christopher Dawson to win big contracts if he promised to uplift Native Hawaiians. Instead, federal prosecutors allege, he used the money to line his own pockets.
24. Young girls were sexually abused by church members. They were told to forgive and forget.
Written by Jessica Lussenhop, ProPublica, Andy Mannix, Minnesota Star Tribune, Photo by Leila Navidi, Minnesota Star Tribune. Co-published with the Minnesota Star Tribune.
In Minnesota, leaders of the Old Apostolic Lutheran Church community held child abusers accountable by telling victims that once their sins were “washed away in the blood of reconciliation,” they could never speak of them again.
25. Texas bans abortion. After that, sepsis rates skyrocketed.
Written by Lizzy Presser, Andrea Suozzo, Sophie Chow, Kavitha Surana
ProPublica’s first-of-its-kind analysis is the most detailed look yet at the rise in life-threatening complications for women who miscarry under Texas’ abortion ban.
