Lydia DePillis

Reporter

Photo of Lydia DePillis

Lydia DePillis joined ProPublica in 2019. Before that, she covered national economics issues for CNN Business, Texas’ economy for the Houston Chronicle, labor and the workplace for The Washington Post, and the business, culture and politics of the technology industry for The New Republic. DePillis was also previously a real estate columnist for the Washington City Paper, where she authored its award-winning Housing Complex blog. Her work has appeared in the New York Observer, Pacific Standard, Slate and various trade publications. She’s from Seattle, and is based in Washington, D.C.

A stock photo of the Paycheck Protection Program application form.

Judge Orders the Release of Data on Emergency Loans for Small Businesses

A consortium of news organizations, including ProPublica, has won a legal fight against the Small Business Administration. It will now have to publicly release the names of borrowers who got government pandemic loans.

Una clave que podría decidir la elección: si el Partido Republicano logra impedir que los votantes subsanen boletas rechazadas

Muchos estados permiten a los votantes corregir y entregar de nuevo las boletas que fueron rechazadas por razones técnicas. Se llama “subsanar” votos, y el partido Republicano está intentado impedir que se cuenten porque podrían ayudar a Biden a ganar.

Whether the GOP Can Stop Voters From Legally Fixing Rejected Mail-In Ballots Could Decide the Election

Many states allow voters to fix and resubmit ballots rejected for technical reasons. It’s called “curing” votes, and the GOP is trying to prevent them from being counted because they could help Biden win.

Millions Still Haven’t Gotten Stimulus Checks, Including Many Who Need Them Most

As many as 12 million Americans didn’t get their stimulus payment. Usually it’s because their income was too low. Here’s what they can do: Apply through the government’s glitchy platform (if they even qualify), and do so before Nov. 21.

Robert Lighthizer Blew Up 60 Years of Trade Policy. Nobody Knows What Happens Next.

Trump’s trade representative joined the administration with one mission: Bring factory jobs back from overseas. The results so far? Endless trade wars, alienated allies, and a manufacturing recession.

The Big Corporate Rescue and the America That’s Too Small to Save

Girish Patel doubts his small, 20-year-old shop will survive the pandemic economy. Thirty stories above, aerospace company TransDigm has sustained eye-popping profits thanks to steep layoffs and raised over a billion with help from the U.S. government.

The Small Biz Double-Dip: Temp Companies Got Cheap Government Money, Got Paid by Clients for the Same Workers

One of the biggest beneficiaries of the Paycheck Protection Program for small businesses were temp agencies. Many have been able to turn the government loans into profits.

Inside One Huge Company’s (Mostly) Successful Campaign to Escape Trump’s Tariffs

Minnesota-based company Polaris has lobbied relentlessly to get out of tariffs. Its CEO donated to Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who later advocated for the company. And it has leveraged support from several others in Congress and the administration.

Oyster, Air Fryer and Bicycle Companies Say Their Goods Are Essential to Fighting Coronavirus So They Can Get Tariff Relief

Trump’s trade agency is taking applications for products that should escape new tariffs. Companies making everything from shoes to hors d’oeuvres are submitting justifications that are … creative.

This Treasury Official Is Running the Bailout. It’s Been Great for His Family.

Deputy Treasury Secretary Justin Muzinich has an increasingly prominent role. He still has ties to his family’s investment firm, which is a major beneficiary of the Treasury’s bailout actions.

A hand clutching a stack of money and a surgical mask.

A Closer Look at Federal COVID Contractors Reveals Inexperience, Fraud Accusations and a Weapons Dealer Operating Out of Someone’s House

The Trump administration has promised at least $1.8 billion to 335 first-time contractors, often without competitive bidding or thorough vetting of their backgrounds.

The Trump Administration Says a New Bailout Program Will Help 35 Million Americans. It Probably Won’t.

Experts from across the political spectrum fear that the Federal Reserve’s new Main Street Lending program won’t reach enough businesses or save enough jobs.

Did Your Company Get Bailout Money? Are the Employees Benefiting From It?

How has your company treated its workers during the crisis? As bailout money in the form of huge loan programs reaches to your company, what are you watching for or worried about?

To Understand the Medical Supply Shortage, It Helps to Know How the U.S. Lost the Lithium Ion Battery to China

The failed U.S. effort to dominate global production of the lithium ion battery — which is key to energy independence, automobile innovation and more — holds lessons for leaders grappling with the U.S.’s reliance on China for emergency medical supplies.

Lessons Learned From Running ICUs in Disaster Zones

We talked to a doctor about what hospitals in the throes of the coronavirus epidemic could learn from far less developed hospital systems in times of crisis and came away with three main points.

Coronavirus Tests Are Being Fast-Tracked by the FDA, but It’s Unclear How Accurate They Are.

“What good is a test if you don’t know it’s giving you reliable results?” one expert said. Concerns are mounting that a lack of accurate testing will make it more difficult for America to relax social distancing.

In Desperation, New York State Pays Up to 15 Times the Normal Prices for Medical Equipment

State data shows that New York is paying enormous markups for vital supplies, including almost $250,000 for an X-ray machine. Laws against price gouging usually don’t apply.

Here’s Why Florida Got All the Emergency Medical Supplies It Requested While Other States Did Not

The Department of Health and Human Services has come under fire as several states’ requests for supplies from the emergency medical stockpile go unfulfilled. A chaotic distribution plan is buckling under a big problem: Nobody has enough.

How South Korea Scaled Coronavirus Testing While the U.S. Fell Dangerously Behind

By learning from a MERS outbreak in 2015, South Korea was prepared and acted swiftly to ramp up testing when the new coronavirus appeared there. Meanwhile, the U.S., plagued by delay and dysfunction, wasted its advantage.

The FDA Is Forcing the CDC to Waste Time Double Testing Some Coronavirus Cases

The FDA’s strict guidance on test confirmations is one of several obstacles that has slowed the federal government’s response to COVID-19. The FDA could change its rules to speed things up, but hasn’t.

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