PSJD News Digest – June 13, 2025

June 13, 2025 at 4:32 pm · 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,

It’s been another dramatic week. In DC, a Senator suggested that a legal services organization in Los Angeles had “provided logistical support and financial resources to individuals engaged in [] disruptive actions”, an employee association of government workers challenged the Office of Personnel Management’s recently-promulgated “Merit Hiring Plan”, and various commentators engaged with the Senate’s newly-released version of the Trump Administration’s budget bill. Nationwide, State Chief Court Justices appealed to Congress not to oblige the Trump Administration’s request to eliminate the Legal Services Corporation (a new section catalogues some responses to this proposed policy), a variety of state governments and academic institutions filed a slew of amicus briefs supporting Harvard in its dispute with the Trump Administration, and the Skadden Foundation released its 2025 Fellowship Application.

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

Sam

Editor’s Choice(s)

  • Employee groups challenge ‘favorite EO’ question as agencies begin rollout (Government Executive; 11 Jun 2025)

    ““How would you help advance the president’s executive orders and policy priorities in this role?” the question states. “Identify one or two relevant executive orders or policy initiatives that are significant to you, and explain how you would help implement them if hired.” Those questions already are becoming a requirement of the hiring process; a job listing posted last week by the Interior Department for the superintendent of Mount Rushmore National Memorial includes the questionnaire. However, responses are limited to “200 characters,” far short of OPM’s recommended 200-word maximum. But Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, an employee association made up of federal, state and local government workers, on Wednesday called on acting U.S. Special Counsel Jamieson Greer to take action against the questionnaire. The group argued that the executive order question in particular violates federal hiring laws that prohibit discrimination on the basis of “non-performance-related factors” and political affiliation, and that it conflicts with merit system principles.”

  • Judge finds OPM broke law in granting data access to DOGE (Federal News Network; 9 Jun 2025)

    “In a written opinion Monday, Judge Denise Cote found OPM “violated the law and bypassed its established cybersecurity practices” when officials first granted individuals from DOGE broad access to its IT systems. “The plaintiffs have shown that the defendants disclosed OPM records to individuals who had no legal right of access to those records,” Cote wrote. “In doing so, the defendants violated the Privacy Act and departed from cybersecurity standards that they are obligated to follow. This was a breach of law and of trust. Tens of millions of Americans depend on the Government to safeguard records that reveal their most private and sensitive affairs.””

  • Removed but not forgotten: Provision to label nonprofits as terrorist groups sparks concern (Racine County Eye; 12 Jun 2025)

    “A controversial measure in the U.S. House’s budget bill that would have allowed the federal government to label nonprofit organizations as terrorist groups has been removed from the Senate’s version. But legal experts warn the idea could resurface—and still presents a chilling possibility for free speech and civic engagement.”

Federal RIFs & Grant Cancellations

  • DOJ’s Funding Cuts Threaten Safety and Stability of Communities Nationwide (Davis Vanguard; 10 Jun 2025)

    “A growing coalition of prosecutors, local governments, and grassroots organizations is sounding the alarm over the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) abrupt termination of over $820 million in public safety and violence prevention funding…Among those weighing in are 17 states and the District of Columbia, a coalition of 25 prosecutors and municipal leaders including Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, and a group of community-based subgrantees warning that their survival now hangs in the balance.”

  • VA signs $700K agreement with OPM for assistance with mass layoffs (Government Executive; 10 Jun 2025)

    “VA [Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness] has never undertaken such a large restructuring, and does not have the capabilities, expertise or the internal resources to fulfill the requirement,” the department said in the memo. “Therefore, OPM, an outside resource, will be essential for this effort.”

Reactions to Proposed Elimination of LSC

Civil Society

  • GOP senator launches investigation into LA protests (The Hill; 11 Jun 2025)

    “Hawley, who serves as chair of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism, requested a history of internal communications and financial records from the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA) to address allegations that they are fueling chaos in California. “Credible reporting now suggests that your organization has provided logistical support and financial resources to individuals engaged in these disruptive actions,” Hawley wrote in the letter. CHIRLA did not immediately respond to The Hill’s request for comment on the matter. However, the 39-year-old nonprofit did deny reports that they were involved in the Los Angeles demonstrations…The organization has received funds from various sources including the Department of Homeland Security to facilitate local citizenship education training.”

  • Federal agencies hijack the ‘public interest’ to attack free speech [opinion] (Freedom of the Press Foundation; 13 Jun 2025)

    “We wanted to learn more about how federal agencies like the FCC, Internal Revenue Service, and Department of Justice are abusing their authority to target First Amendment rights, so we hosted a discussion with FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez and Ezra Reese, an expert in nonprofit tax law and political law from the Elias Law Group… …In many instances discussed by Gomez and Reese, officials have hijacked vague legal standards to use them in ways that would threaten the First Amendment. The FCC, for instance, has brought investigations under its “news distortion” policy or sought to use its statutory language instructing it to license the airwaves in the public interest to go after news outlets it disfavors because of their coverage.

    Gomez was highly critical of these moves, explaining, “The idea that the FCC would take enforcement action or revoke a broadcast license based on editorial decisions is antithetical to the First Amendment and the Communications Act, which prohibits the FCC from censorship.” As she succinctly put it, “The administration is conflating the public interest with its interests.””

  • Lawyers Sitting Out Trump Fight Threaten Justice for Millions [opinion] (Bloomberg Law; 11 Jun 2025)

    “Destroying LSC would compound other Trump administration attacks on the nation’s legal fabric, including its efforts to: impound legal services funding for unaccompanied immigrant kids, survivors of domestic violence, and victims of natural disasters; intimidate attorneys from engaging in pro bono work; and decimate government enforcement agencies that check abuses…Inside every firm, nonprofit, and corporation, lawyers must ask how we can shore up the rule of law. Options abound.”

Non-Federal Funding

  • Restrictions on Legal Aid for Immigrants Slipped Into State Budget Proposal (Law.com; 12 Jun 2025)

    “Even as California fights President Donald Trump's use of military forces to assist immigration actions, state lawmakers are poised to restrict who can receive taxpayer-funded legal help in deportation proceedings. Tucked into a 1,000-page spending bill endorsed by legislative budget committees on Wednesday are two sentences that would bar spending any Equal Access Fund money on defending immigrants with felony convictions. The quiet addition to legislation set for full house votes on Friday has legal aid groups scrambling to figure out how to comply at a time demand for their services is soaring.”

Student Debt & Other Student Concerns

  • Major student loan changes just came one step closer to becoming law (USA Today; 11 Jun 2025)

    “Like the House bill, the Senate measure proposes cutting the number of student loan repayment plans to just two. That change would kill President Joe Biden's Saving on a Valuable Education, or SAVE, program, which former Education Secretary Miguel Cardona repeatedly called the "most affordable repayment plan ever." SAVE has been stalled in court for months, placing roughly 8 million people in forbearance…The Senate bill would also dramatically curb lending for graduate students and parents (though at lower caps than House Republicans wanted). Ben Cecil, a senior education policy advisor at Third Way, a center-left think tank, said he was pleased to see the bill appeared to make compromises…Melanie Storey, president of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, said she was "relieved" some of the "most harmful" provisions of the House bill had been nixed.”

  • Senate GOP Endorses Repeal Of Student Loan Forgiveness And IDR Plans (Forbes; 11 Jun 2025)

    “While GOP senators would make some modest changes to the House bill, most of the House-passed provisions repealing key student loan forgiveness and affordable repayment programs would remain intact. This increases the likelihood that the changes would make it into the final version of the bill and ultimately become law.”

  • Student Loan Update: Court Documents Reveal Details of Trump Admin Plans (Newsweek; 12 Jun 2025)

    “The documents, submitted to a federal court, showed that the Department of Education had been negotiating a deal with the Treasury to oversee federal student loans, a role historically managed by the department's Federal Student Aid office. The plan was put on hold after a federal judge blocked the administration's broader efforts to dismantle the Department of Education.”

  • Slew of universities, attorneys general urge court to side with Harvard in federal funding suit (WBUR [NPR]; 10 Jun 2025)

  • New motivations weigh on students’ law school aspirations (Cleveland Jewish News; 10 Jun 2025)

    “Overall, the number of applicants to law schools is up nationwide. Historically, high salaries, status and furthering academic and career goals were at the top of the list of reasons students chose to pursue a legal degree. But now, most students say that what inspires them is a desire to do good…While many students have always studied law to help serve them in other professions, this too, is shifting. Alber said that most of their applicants express a genuine interest in practicing law or otherwise using the degree to further their goals related to public policy.”

Conflicts Over Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility

  • Federal Court Partially Blocks Enforcement of Parts of Executive Orders on DEI and Gender Identity (Littler Mendelson PC; 11 Jun 2025)

    “On June 9, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California issued a ruling in San Francisco AIDS Foundation v. Trump, temporarily blocking the enforcement of several provisions in executive orders issued earlier this year by President Trump. These orders target diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives and so-called “gender ideology.”…While the injunction applies only to the named plaintiffs in the case and the challenged provisions remain in effect for all others, the court’s reasoning offers early insight into how similar legal challenges may be evaluated as litigation continues to unfold.”

Access to Justice