The Distraction Index

Weekly civic intelligence report · v2.2

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Undercovered High-Damage

Week 12: Mar 16 – Mar 22, 2025 · 🔒 FROZEN

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Events with high constitutional damage but low media attention (Attention Budget < −30).

Columbia University Capitulates to Trump Funding Threats
Resource Reallocationfederal · moderate
A
67.2
B
18.5
-49 UNDERCOVERED
IF YOU ONLY DO ONE THING

PRIORITY CONSTITUTIONAL ALARM: Document the specific policy changes demanded and implemented. Identify statutory authority claimed for funding threats. Track whether other universities face similar coercion. Monitor for legal challenges and congressional oversight responses. This represents direct executive overreach into institutional autonomy using financial leverage - a mechanism with severe precedential implications for separation of powers and academic freedom. Requires immediate transparency on what policies were changed and under what legal theory the administration claims authority to condition existing federal funding on unrelated policy compliance.

DHS Cuts Civil Rights and Immigration Oversight Offices
Resource Reallocationfederal · broad
A
58.5
B
13.3
-45 UNDERCOVERED
IF YOU ONLY DO ONE THING

PRIORITY CONSTITUTIONAL ALERT: Document the specific offices eliminated, their historical functions, pending cases/investigations affected, and legal authorities governing their existence. Track immediate impacts on civil rights complaints, immigration enforcement oversight, and vulnerable population protections. Monitor for legal challenges based on statutory requirements for oversight. This represents systematic dismantling of accountability infrastructure within a major federal agency.