{"id":108725,"date":"2025-02-20T09:03:28","date_gmt":"2025-02-20T17:03:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/02\/20\/trump-cancels-the-secs-westlaw-subscription-for-probably-the-dumbest-possible-reason\/"},"modified":"2025-02-20T09:03:28","modified_gmt":"2025-02-20T17:03:28","slug":"trump-cancels-the-secs-westlaw-subscription-for-probably-the-dumbest-possible-reason","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/02\/20\/trump-cancels-the-secs-westlaw-subscription-for-probably-the-dumbest-possible-reason\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump Cancels The SEC\u2019s Westlaw Subscription For Probably The Dumbest Possible Reason"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Get used to books, SEC!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The new administration has made it clear that they don\u2019t have much interest in enforcing the nation\u2019s securities laws. Except maybe as an avenue to accuse companies of dishonoring shareholders by promoting ESG initiatives. The point is, Trump has a meme coin to sell and a media company stock to fluff so SEC enforcement has to hit the bench for a few years. Meanwhile, shadow president Elon Musk still nurses a grudge toward the agency for having the audacity to enforce the voluntary settlement<\/em> he signed curtailing the risk he might commit fraud at scale over social media <\/a>.<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s not actually the reason they just cut off the SEC\u2019s Westlaw access. And while on the surface, the canceled contract looks like another ill-conceived cost cutting measure from Musk\u2019s bumbling speedrun through the federal budget<\/a>, the reality appears to be much dumber.<\/p>\n

So, in the parlance of our times, \u201cShot.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

The US State Department is forcing all of its employees to cancel subscriptions to any Trump-unfriendly media. pic.twitter.com\/QTDENWiq9g<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Dave Keating (@DaveKeating) February 19, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Earlier today, we learned that the word had gone out to executive agencies to purge all access to a variety of media that don\u2019t meet the administration\u2019s editorial standards. It\u2019s a vague book burning but the running theme seems to be publications that say things that hurt Trump\u2019s feelings. The New York Times won\u2019t renounce that Pulitzer they won reporting on Trump\u2019s ties to Russia, the country he\u2019s currently claiming Ukraine attacked for some reason. Or the Associated Press who refuses to stop calling it the Gulf of Mexico just because that\u2019s actually what it\u2019s called. Let\u2019s just pause to appreciate that we\u2019ve now reached a stage of epistemic collapse where The Economist \u2014 a publication that denounced city sewers as creeping socialism<\/a> \u2014 branded as a leftist rag.<\/p>\n

Note the inclusion of Reuters.<\/p>\n

And so, as sure as the night follows the day, may we present \u201cChaser.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

In their zeal to cut media contracts, DOGE appears to have cancelled the Securities and Exchange Commission’s contract with Westlaw (which is owned by Reuters’ parent company). Total savings: $0.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Brad Heath (@bradheath.bsky.social)<\/a> 2025-02-19T12:55:46.346Z<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Yeah, maybe this is just about \u201cmedia contracts,\u201d but in light of the other report it seems likely the administration saw \u201cReuters\u201d and starting purging agencies of everything in the Reuters family. Including the ubiquitous research tool.<\/p>\n

\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Make America Shepardize Again!<\/p>\n

\n

\"Headshot\"Joe Patrice<\/a>\u00a0is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. Feel free to\u00a0email<\/a> any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on\u00a0Twitter<\/a>\u00a0or Bluesky<\/a> if you\u2019re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The post Trump Cancels The SEC\u2019s Westlaw Subscription For Probably The Dumbest Possible Reason<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Get used to books, SEC!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The new administration has made it clear that they don\u2019t have much interest in enforcing the nation\u2019s securities laws. Except maybe as an avenue to accuse companies of dishonoring shareholders by promoting ESG initiatives. The point is, Trump has a meme coin to sell and a media company stock to fluff so SEC enforcement has to hit the bench for a few years. Meanwhile, shadow president Elon Musk still nurses a grudge toward the agency for having the audacity to enforce the voluntary settlement<\/em> he signed curtailing the risk he might commit fraud at scale over social media <\/a>.<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s not actually the reason they just cut off the SEC\u2019s Westlaw access. And while on the surface, the canceled contract looks like another ill-conceived cost cutting measure from Musk\u2019s bumbling speedrun through the federal budget<\/a>, the reality appears to be much dumber.<\/p>\n

So, in the parlance of our times, \u201cShot.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earlier today, we learned that the word had gone out to executive agencies to purge all access to a variety of media that don\u2019t meet the administration\u2019s editorial standards. It\u2019s a vague book burning but the running theme seems to be publications that say things that hurt Trump\u2019s feelings. The New York Times won\u2019t renounce that Pulitzer they won reporting on Trump\u2019s ties to Russia, the country he\u2019s currently claiming Ukraine attacked for some reason. Or the Associated Press who refuses to stop calling it the Gulf of Mexico just because that\u2019s actually what it\u2019s called. Let\u2019s just pause to appreciate that we\u2019ve now reached a stage of epistemic collapse where The Economist \u2014 a publication that denounced city sewers as creeping socialism<\/a> \u2014 branded as a leftist rag.<\/p>\n

Note the inclusion of Reuters.<\/p>\n

And so, as sure as the night follows the day, may we present \u201cChaser.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

In their zeal to cut media contracts, DOGE appears to have cancelled the Securities and Exchange Commission’s contract with Westlaw (which is owned by Reuters’ parent company). Total savings: $0.<\/p>\n

\u2014 <\/div>\n

Brad Heath (@bradheath.bsky.social)<\/a> 2025-02-19T12:55:46.346Z<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Yeah, maybe this is just about \u201cmedia contracts,\u201d but in light of the other report it seems likely the administration saw \u201cReuters\u201d and starting purging agencies of everything in the Reuters family. Including the ubiquitous research tool.<\/p>\n

\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Make America Shepardize Again!<\/p>\n

\n

\"Headshot\"Joe Patrice<\/a>\u00a0is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. Feel free to\u00a0email<\/a> any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on\u00a0Twitter<\/a>\u00a0or Bluesky<\/a> if you\u2019re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Get used to books, SEC! The new administration has made it clear that they don\u2019t have much interest in enforcing the nation\u2019s securities laws. Except maybe as an avenue to accuse companies of dishonoring shareholders by promoting ESG initiatives. The point is, Trump has a meme coin to sell and a media company stock to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":108708,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-108725","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xira.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Headshot-300x200-JVU9jF.jpeg?fit=300%2C200&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108725","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108725"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108725\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/108708"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108725"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108725"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108725"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}