Torrence Banks

I received my M.J. degree from @merrillcollege yesterday. I’m excited to announce my next opportunities: -I’ll be interning with @usnews as a summer education reporter intern. In September, I’ll be reporting for @NOTUS as a @AJI_Fellowships fellow. Looking forward to starting!

NOTUS is out with a very good forum this sunny Friday afternoon w/ commentary from @sallyquinndc, @CapehartJ, @Milbank, @AlyssaRosenberg and many other former Washington Post veterans about how to improve D.C. journalism --> notus.org/perspectives/1…

SCOOP: Keith Turi, a senior FEMA official who has been a public face for the agency, is planning to depart just weeks before the start of hurricane season. His departure will create another vacancy at the agency. @NOTUSreports w/@reporterjoe notus.org/trump-white-ho…

SCOOP: FEMA is losing another high-profile official — just before hurricane season and the World Cup. “Keith is one of the most trusted voices in the agency and it’s a huge blow to not only the workforce but our readiness at large.” w/ @BanksTorrence notus.org/trump-white-ho…

Meanwhile, his opponent State Sen. Travis Holdman said Trump is losing influence. “I think the shine is wearing off a little bit.” Plenty of other Hoosiers don’t want DC meddling in their primaries. And mostly, people are ready for today to be over… notus.org/2026-election/…

“I don’t know the last time that the chairman did an oversight hearing on DHS. I can’t think of it,” Sen. Josh Hawley told me last week. Other Republicans on the Hill say Congress should be keeping a closer eye on DHS. @NOTUSreports notus.org/congress/krist…

President Chuck Grassley? Saturday’s events took theoretical debate about line of succession into real possibility of a 92-yr-old senator becoming president. Experts have warned about this for years, but senators won’t act. My @NOTUSreports column. notus.org/analysis/presi…

In December, I talked to several of these employees for @NOTUSreports after they were placed back on leave after briefly being welcomed back. notus.org/trump-white-ho…

FEMA welcomed back at least 15 whistleblowers today who were placed on leave in August for highlighting their concerns over the agency's leadership. nbcnews.com/politics/polit…

Progressives were serious when they promised to leave no safe Democratic seat unchallenged this cycle. This led to a fight over the future of the Democratic Party in one of the country's most reliably red states: Utah. My latest for @NOTUSreports notus.org/2026-election/…

⚽️🚨: Some lawmakers say the DHS shutdown is hindering coordination for the World Cup. “When you’re talking about this many people coming from around the world, it doesn’t help that this is where we are,” Sen. John Cornyn told me. w/ @BanksTorrence notus.org/us-news/dhs-sh…

The DHS shutdown has lawmakers in host states for the FIFA World Cup concerned about safety coordination. With the games weeks away, they say a fully operational agency is key to ensuring the tournament's security. @NOTUSreports w/@avanidkalra notus.org/us-news/dhs-sh…

NEW: The Ethics Committee Investigated Rep. Alma Adams for Alleged ‘Inappropriate Relationship’ With a Staffer notus.org/congress/alma-…

When @JiraViolet spotted some weird math in a personal financial disclosure of Rep. @BennieGThompson (D-Miss.), she began asking questions. Thompson has now amended his erroneous 2022 disclosure to significantly re-value two land transactions. notus.org/capitol-gains/…

As Congress debates how to make daily life more affordable for everyday Americans, most of Mississippi’s congressional delegation is much wealthier than the average Mississippian. notus.org/capitol-gains/…

“@NOTUSreports identified errors in Thompson’s disclosures.” A revealing look from @JiraViolet and @BanksTorrence at the Mississippi congressional delegation’s wealth. notus.org/capitol-gains/…

A look at the wealth of Mississippi lawmakers for the @NOTUSreports Capitol Gains project. Plus: an error we found in Rep. Bennie Thompson’s disclosure. w/ @BanksTorrence notus.org/capitol-gains/…

NOTUS will become The Star in June. I'll still be covering the midterms & North Carolina. Want to chat campaigns? You can reach me on Signal at CD3.91 or at christadutton@notus.com (This email still works!) nytimes.com/2026/04/16/bus…

LLMs like Claude and ChatGPT are going to be major sources of information for voters in the '26 midterms. Most Republicans and Democrats have no idea what to do about that notus.org/2026-election/…

Acting FEMA Administrator Karen Evans defended the agency's termination of hundreds of employees critical to recovery efforts. @NOTUSreports Evans said supervisors determined "the work wasn’t needed." The administration is facing a lawsuit for firings. notus.org/trump-white-ho…

also... we're hiring! we've got some excellent editing and reporting jobs posted right now, with more to come. reach out if you've got questions! notus.org/about-us/jobs