Ariel Kennan
@arielmai.bsky.social
Building the Digital Benefits Network at the Beeck Center at Georgetown University
Ask me about service design, public benefits, product, digital identity, Rules as Code, and civic tech / gov tech.
📍NYC, and often DC
Ask me about service design, public benefits, product, digital identity, Rules as Code, and civic tech / gov tech.
📍NYC, and often DC
Reposted by Ariel Kennan
Reposted by Ariel Kennan
BREAKING: Zohran Mamdani wins the New York City mayoral race, NBC News projects. nbcnews.to/4nIzNUC
November 5, 2025 at 2:33 AM
BREAKING: Zohran Mamdani wins the New York City mayoral race, NBC News projects. nbcnews.to/4nIzNUC
Reposted by Ariel Kennan
2 MILLION VOTES: NYC! All before 9 p.m.
More of our election coverage can be found here at thecity.nyc
More of our election coverage can be found here at thecity.nyc
November 5, 2025 at 1:51 AM
2 MILLION VOTES: NYC! All before 9 p.m.
More of our election coverage can be found here at thecity.nyc
More of our election coverage can be found here at thecity.nyc
Reposted by Ariel Kennan
Food is a basic human need. How we respond in this moment will define whether we care for our neighbors—or allow millions to go hungry.
A group of civic tech nonprofits is issuing a statement on recent SNAP disruptions.
Read here: beeckcenter.georgetown.edu/statement-on...
A group of civic tech nonprofits is issuing a statement on recent SNAP disruptions.
Read here: beeckcenter.georgetown.edu/statement-on...
November 3, 2025 at 8:56 PM
Food is a basic human need. How we respond in this moment will define whether we care for our neighbors—or allow millions to go hungry.
A group of civic tech nonprofits is issuing a statement on recent SNAP disruptions.
Read here: beeckcenter.georgetown.edu/statement-on...
A group of civic tech nonprofits is issuing a statement on recent SNAP disruptions.
Read here: beeckcenter.georgetown.edu/statement-on...
Reposted by Ariel Kennan
This month’s Digital Benefits in the News starts with journalism telling the stories of those impacted by the federal shutdown disruption in SNAP and WIC.
Thank you to our community for all their work.
➡️ Read our full newsletter here
beeckcenter.org/4nrSKuq
Thank you to our community for all their work.
➡️ Read our full newsletter here
beeckcenter.org/4nrSKuq
Digital Benefits in the News
Sharing the latest stories across public benefits programs and digital service delivery
beeckcenter.org
October 28, 2025 at 2:12 PM
This month’s Digital Benefits in the News starts with journalism telling the stories of those impacted by the federal shutdown disruption in SNAP and WIC.
Thank you to our community for all their work.
➡️ Read our full newsletter here
beeckcenter.org/4nrSKuq
Thank you to our community for all their work.
➡️ Read our full newsletter here
beeckcenter.org/4nrSKuq
Reposted by Ariel Kennan
Millions of Americans enrolled in HuskyHealth, BadgerCare, TennCare, KanCare or other confusingly-named state health insurance programs might not even know they're the ones about to be kicked off of Medicaid. www.mediamatters.org/health-care/...
Many states' Medicaid programs have a different name, but local reporting is connecting the dots on One Big Beautiful Bill's massive cuts
On May 22, House Republicans passed their budget reconciliation omnibus — the so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” — which would cut hundreds of billions of dollars from Medicaid, among other spendi...
www.mediamatters.org
July 1, 2025 at 5:38 PM
Millions of Americans enrolled in HuskyHealth, BadgerCare, TennCare, KanCare or other confusingly-named state health insurance programs might not even know they're the ones about to be kicked off of Medicaid. www.mediamatters.org/health-care/...
Reposted by Ariel Kennan
NYC, vote if you haven’t already!
June 24, 2025 at 1:40 PM
NYC, vote if you haven’t already!
Hey New York, tomorrow starts early voting AND it's the last day to register to vote ahead of the primary! Register here: www.vote.nyc/page/registe...
Register to Vote | NYC Board of Elections
You can register to vote online, in-person, or by mail.
www.vote.nyc
June 13, 2025 at 3:28 PM
Hey New York, tomorrow starts early voting AND it's the last day to register to vote ahead of the primary! Register here: www.vote.nyc/page/registe...
Reposted by Ariel Kennan
We are excited to be back at #CfASummit and to be part of a community building a people-centered, digitally-enabled government for all.
@codeforamerica.org
@codeforamerica.org
May 29, 2025 at 6:10 PM
We are excited to be back at #CfASummit and to be part of a community building a people-centered, digitally-enabled government for all.
@codeforamerica.org
@codeforamerica.org
Reposted by Ariel Kennan
NEW: i spoke with several young AmeriCorps volunteers around the country who were abruptly pulled off projects building homes, readying forests for wildfire season, and working at food banks Tuesday afternoon. they are now on their way home thanks to DOGE cuts —
DOGE Cuts Pull AmeriCorps Volunteers Off of Disaster Relief Jobs
The youth volunteers who were working on projects ranging from rebuilding homes destroyed in storms to distributing supplies for hurricane recovery were suddenly pulled from service. Why? DOGE cuts.
www.wired.com
April 16, 2025 at 9:19 PM
NEW: i spoke with several young AmeriCorps volunteers around the country who were abruptly pulled off projects building homes, readying forests for wildfire season, and working at food banks Tuesday afternoon. they are now on their way home thanks to DOGE cuts —
Reposted by Ariel Kennan
The Trump Administration has made a shocking claim: that it can declare living people dead to cut off their access to government benefits and the broader U.S. financial system.
Thread on my colleagues’ new blog 🧵
www.cbpp.org/blog/trump-a...
Thread on my colleagues’ new blog 🧵
www.cbpp.org/blog/trump-a...
Trump and DOGE Claim Power to Falsely List Living Persons as Dead in Social Security Records | Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
The Trump Administration has made a shocking claim: that it can declare living people dead to cut off their access to government benefits and the broader U.S. financial system. According to reporting....
www.cbpp.org
April 15, 2025 at 9:24 PM
The Trump Administration has made a shocking claim: that it can declare living people dead to cut off their access to government benefits and the broader U.S. financial system.
Thread on my colleagues’ new blog 🧵
www.cbpp.org/blog/trump-a...
Thread on my colleagues’ new blog 🧵
www.cbpp.org/blog/trump-a...
Reposted by Ariel Kennan
NEW from me: A whistleblower says DOGE may have taken sensitive labor data...and then someone posted a threatening letter to his door.
www.npr.org/2025/04/15/n...
www.npr.org/2025/04/15/n...
A whistleblower's disclosure details how DOGE may have taken sensitive labor data
A whistleblower tells Congress and NPR that DOGE may have taken sensitive labor data and hid its tracks. "None of that ... information should ever leave the agency," said a former NLRB official.
www.npr.org
April 15, 2025 at 12:07 PM
NEW from me: A whistleblower says DOGE may have taken sensitive labor data...and then someone posted a threatening letter to his door.
www.npr.org/2025/04/15/n...
www.npr.org/2025/04/15/n...
Reposted by Ariel Kennan
MATHIEU VAN DER POEL (ALPECIN-DECEUNINCK) WINS PARIS-ROUBAIX FOR A THIRD CONSECUTIVE YEAR 🪨🪨🪨
April 13, 2025 at 2:58 PM
MATHIEU VAN DER POEL (ALPECIN-DECEUNINCK) WINS PARIS-ROUBAIX FOR A THIRD CONSECUTIVE YEAR 🪨🪨🪨
Reposted by Ariel Kennan
During the pandemic the Labor Department suggested states create "pseudo records" to track unemployment fraud while protecting identity theft victims -- basically, records of real fraud tied to make-believe people.
This week DOGE discovered those make-believe people. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/12/u...
This week DOGE discovered those make-believe people. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/12/u...
Musk’s Latest Fraud Finding Isn’t What It Seems
His team found cases of seemingly fake people receiving unemployment benefits. But that fake data exists for a reason.
www.nytimes.com
April 12, 2025 at 6:16 PM
During the pandemic the Labor Department suggested states create "pseudo records" to track unemployment fraud while protecting identity theft victims -- basically, records of real fraud tied to make-believe people.
This week DOGE discovered those make-believe people. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/12/u...
This week DOGE discovered those make-believe people. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/12/u...
Reposted by Ariel Kennan
SCOOP: Trump admin overrode objections from Social Security staff to label ~6,000 living immigrants dead. A senior exec who objected was escorted out of the building, and earlier warnings were ignored. The immigrants include 13, 14 & 16yos who staff didn't find criminal records for: wapo.st/3RKSQQt
Trump administration overrode Social Security staff to list immigrants as dead
A senior executive who objected was marched out of his office and put on leave, while earlier warnings about the agency’s deaths database were ignored.
wapo.st
April 12, 2025 at 10:47 AM
SCOOP: Trump admin overrode objections from Social Security staff to label ~6,000 living immigrants dead. A senior exec who objected was escorted out of the building, and earlier warnings were ignored. The immigrants include 13, 14 & 16yos who staff didn't find criminal records for: wapo.st/3RKSQQt
Nothing about this sounds efficient…
Scoop: DOGE now controls how grant opportunities get posted across government.
DOGE engineer removed users’ permissions to post to Grants-dot-gov without telling them. Now requests flow thru DOGE-controlled mailbox.
with @carolynyjohnson.bsky.social + @hannahnatanson.bsky.social
DOGE engineer removed users’ permissions to post to Grants-dot-gov without telling them. Now requests flow thru DOGE-controlled mailbox.
with @carolynyjohnson.bsky.social + @hannahnatanson.bsky.social
DOGE takes over federal grants website, wresting control of billions
A DOGE engineer removed users’ access to grants.gov, threatening to further slow the process of awarding thousands of federal grants per year.
www.washingtonpost.com
April 12, 2025 at 6:06 PM
Nothing about this sounds efficient…
Proud to see my colleague @jenphillips.bsky.social with @aimstettner.bsky.social & @micheleevermore.bsky.social in the @nytimes.com setting the record straight on UI fraud claims, how fed gov & states worked to balance security & access, and the capacity states need. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/12/u...
Musk’s Latest Fraud Finding Isn’t What It Seems
His team found cases of seemingly fake people receiving unemployment benefits. But that fake data exists for a reason.
www.nytimes.com
April 12, 2025 at 3:49 PM
Proud to see my colleague @jenphillips.bsky.social with @aimstettner.bsky.social & @micheleevermore.bsky.social in the @nytimes.com setting the record straight on UI fraud claims, how fed gov & states worked to balance security & access, and the capacity states need. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/12/u...
Reposted by Ariel Kennan
❗ The Trump Administration is planning to falsify government records to declare alive people dead.
This triggers a nightmare, cutting them off from benefits, banks, credit, insurance.
If they can do it to one group, they can do it to anyone--in error or in malice
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/10/u...
This triggers a nightmare, cutting them off from benefits, banks, credit, insurance.
If they can do it to one group, they can do it to anyone--in error or in malice
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/10/u...
Pressuring Migrants to ‘Self-Deport,’ White House Moves to Cancel Social Security Numbers (Gift Article)
By placing migrants in Social Security’s “death master file,” the Trump administration is seeking to cut off their access to credit cards, bank accounts and other financial services.
www.nytimes.com
April 10, 2025 at 8:54 PM
❗ The Trump Administration is planning to falsify government records to declare alive people dead.
This triggers a nightmare, cutting them off from benefits, banks, credit, insurance.
If they can do it to one group, they can do it to anyone--in error or in malice
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/10/u...
This triggers a nightmare, cutting them off from benefits, banks, credit, insurance.
If they can do it to one group, they can do it to anyone--in error or in malice
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/10/u...
Reposted by Ariel Kennan
Alternative headline: Acting Head of IRS Resigns Rather Than Break the Law
The acting head of the Internal Revenue Service plans to resign, the Treasury Department said, a move that comes after the agency struck a controversial deal to share tax data on undocumented immigrants with federal agents reut.rs/3REmczY
US IRS chief quits after immigration data-sharing deal
The acting head of the Internal Revenue Service plans to resign, the Treasury Department said on Tuesday, a move that comes after the agency struck a controversial deal to share tax data on undocumented immigrants with federal agents.
reut.rs
April 9, 2025 at 6:40 AM
Alternative headline: Acting Head of IRS Resigns Rather Than Break the Law
Reposted by Ariel Kennan
☂️ Check out the April Digital Benefits Digest
mailchi.mp/georgetown/a...
💡 Special AI Edition!
⚡ New AI-Powered Rules as Code Research
📍 New AI-related Resources on the Digital Gov Hub
🔥 State of State AI + New Workshops
🗓️ Don’t miss: Digital Identity Community of Practice April 17
mailchi.mp/georgetown/a...
💡 Special AI Edition!
⚡ New AI-Powered Rules as Code Research
📍 New AI-related Resources on the Digital Gov Hub
🔥 State of State AI + New Workshops
🗓️ Don’t miss: Digital Identity Community of Practice April 17
The Digital Benefits Digest
For practitioners working to strengthen public benefits
mailchi.mp
April 8, 2025 at 4:19 PM
☂️ Check out the April Digital Benefits Digest
mailchi.mp/georgetown/a...
💡 Special AI Edition!
⚡ New AI-Powered Rules as Code Research
📍 New AI-related Resources on the Digital Gov Hub
🔥 State of State AI + New Workshops
🗓️ Don’t miss: Digital Identity Community of Practice April 17
mailchi.mp/georgetown/a...
💡 Special AI Edition!
⚡ New AI-Powered Rules as Code Research
📍 New AI-related Resources on the Digital Gov Hub
🔥 State of State AI + New Workshops
🗓️ Don’t miss: Digital Identity Community of Practice April 17
April 5, 2025 at 7:57 PM