Archive for June, 2025

PSJD News Digest – June 9, 2025

June 9, 2025 at 8:33 am · Filed under Public Interest Law News Bulletin

Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives

Photo: Harris and Ewing Collection, Library of Congress

Hi Interested Public,

Coming to you with a (late) Monday-morning edition due to unforeseen circumstances. I plan to resume our regular schedule at the end of this week. The last week has been absolutely packed with huge stories, which I’ve tried to compile for you in the links below. Most significantly, the Trump Administration released its plan for ending the Legal Services Corporation, while we got some significant news about the potential future of the Skadden Fellowship program. In other news, the House of Representatives made highly-charged accusations against nonprofits in a public hearing, while the Trump administration threatened the ability of Columbia University students to secure federal student loans to cover their studies there.

As always, these stories and more are in the links below. Solidarity,

Sam

Editor’s Choice(s)

  • Trump Plan to Ax Legal Aid a Conservative Aim Targeting Poor (Bloomberg Law; 6 Jun 2025)

    “The 2026 budget appendix requests $21 million for an “orderly closeout” of the LSC, which was established in 1974 to provide financial support for legal aid to low-income people in the US. The independent agency, which provides funding to 130 non-profit legal aid programs, had requested $2.1 billion for fiscal 2026.”

  • Skadden Foundation head quits in protest (Politico; 4 Jun 2025)

    “I recently offered my resignation as executive director of the Skadden Foundation, rather than endorse actions that I believe will undermine its mission,” Kathleen Rubenstein, a former Skadden fellow herself who has run the program since 2019, [said]…Rubenstein’s departure adds to the air of uncertainty around the fellows program, which was specifically mentioned in the deal that Skadden struck with the White House in order to avoid an executive order like the kind the president issued against other law firms perceived as sympathetic to his perceived enemies. Four firms have sued the administration over such orders and three of those orders have been ruled unconstitutional.”

  • U.S. Supreme Court rules Wisconsin law makes Catholic Charities exempt from unemployment system (Wisconsin Examiner; 5 Jun 2025)

    “Advocates who supported Catholic Charities cheered the ruling as a blow for religious liberty and against attempts to define whether or not an organization’s motives are sufficiently rooted in faith…Organizations that represent workers, however, have raised questions about the decision’s broader implications for employees of other institutions connected to churches, including the large networks of Catholic hospitals across the U.S.”

Federal RIFs & Grant Cancellations

  • New OPM Rule Would Make it Easier to Fire Federal Employees (FedSmith; 4 Jun 2025)

    “Agencies would be allowed to refer misconduct cases to OPM instead of following the conventional disciplinary process. If OPM determines that termination of an employee is necessary, the agency would have five days to initiate the termination process. The proposed rule also incorporates new suitability criteria as directed by President Trump’s Executive Order issued on February 11, 2025[.]”

Civil Society

  • ‘NGOs Gone Wild’: House Republicans Target Nonprofits in Hearing (Philanthrophy Today; 5 Jun 2025)

    “Republican lawmakers alleged a “money laundering” scheme funneling taxpayer dollars to Democratic officials. Nonprofit defenders claimed the Trump administration is “weaponizing the federal government” to chill nonprofit activity and speech.”

Non-Federal Funding

Student Debt & Other Student Concerns

  • In fight with colleges, Trump administration turns to new weapon: threatening student loans (Dow Jones Market Watch; 5 Jun 2025)

    “With the announcement Wednesday that the Education Department's Office of Civil Rights had notified Columbia University's accreditor that it failed to meet its standards of accreditation, officials took their first shot at student loan and Pell grant money. Accreditors are independent bodies that assess schools' quality and finances and their determination is crucial to schools' flow of Title IV funds or federal financial aid.

    If a college isn't accredited, its students can't get federal loans and grants to attend. For most colleges, losing access to this funding would be catastrophic.“

Conflicts Over Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility

Access to Justice

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