Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives
Photo: Harris and Ewing Collection, Library of Congress
Hi Interested Public,
Welcome to the end of another week. I’ve highlighted five big stories across a range of issues that have consumed much of this newsletter’s attention over the past 10 months. Still, lots of big stories lurking in the lower headings as well.
“When the government shutdown ends, Donald Trump will have succeeded in staging the single biggest expansion of presidential power in American history because of the single largest shift in the constitutional balance of powers ever…This is vastly more important than Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, an unguided bulldozer rambling through government. Vought’s strategy is all out of a single piece of carefully woven cloth.”
“A striking number of former government attorneys who have served both Republican and Democratic administrations agree that a red line has been crossed and that the garbled legal justifications provided by the administration are inconsistent with the facts and the law. Based on reporting by the Wall Street Journal and CNN, there are lawyers currently serving inside DoD who also agree and have tried to push back.
…the current administration’s approach has been to centralize legal authority, discourage dissent, and marginalize career legal professionals—including military attorneys with deep operational law expertise. Reports suggest that Combatant Command and Pentagon lawyers were excluded from meaningful review of the Caribbean strikes, which, if true, would be a troubling departure from long-established practice. This sidelining reflects a broader pattern that predates the Trump Administration but has only accelerated: a “post hoc” approach to national security lawyering—where legal reasoning is developed after operational decisions are made, often without the benefit of full interagency legal review.”
“The White House did not provide a rationale for the removal, as required by law. The president has fired nearly 20 watchdogs since the start of his second term.”
“The government shutdown has raised lots of questions about the retirement process, and retirement benefits, for federal employees while agencies remain closed. Here are some of the most pressing answers.”
“North Carolina House lawmakers held a hearing Wednesday to question how millions of dollars in legal aid grants are distributed through a state program. The House Select Committee on Oversight and Reform questioned the Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Accounts. Under that program, the interest from certain accounts held in escrow is distributed to nonprofits that provide legal services for people who can't afford them. The General Assembly froze the program's grantmaking in July while lawmakers investigated how funds are given. Rep. Allison Dahle warned that the freeze could jeopardize hundreds of jobs at Legal Aid of North Carolina, the state's largest nonprofit law firm.”
“After a week of backlash from nonprofits angry that donation pages GoFundMe created for their organizations were showing up high in searches by donors, the company has announced it is making the pages opt in and removing and de-indexing pages that have not been claimed. Tim Cadogan, GoFundMe’s CEO, also issued an apology to nonprofits for the initial policy.”
“The Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, a nonprofit dedicated to defending freedom of speech, press, and government transparency, brought the suit after the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) allegedly failed to respond adequately to formal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. These requests sought the release of correspondence, memoranda, and agreements connected to pledges that several elite law firms reportedly made earlier this year to provide nearly $940 million in pro bono legal services to the Trump White House.”
“The primary federal agency charged by Congress with enforcing the federal employment discrimination laws recently made it easier for employers to discriminate against workers, according to a new internal memo, reported but not yet publicly released.”
“After urging Illinoisans last month to record concerning actions by federal agents, Gov. JB Pritzker signed an executive order Thursday creating a commission to review documentation submitted by the public.”
Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives
Photo: Harris and Ewing Collection, Library of Congress
Hi Interested Public,
It’s been a long week. I’ve highlighted a few urgent stories with my “Editor’s Choices” but there’s simply too many major items for that section to contain. In addition: the “Federal Shutdown” area contains some of our first glimpses of the Trump administration’s approach to government spending during the shutdown; some employees are continuing to draw paychecks (“We got the people that we want paid — paid,” Trump said”). “Non-Federal Government Issues” includes some interesting responses to our extraordinary circumstances from local governments: a proposed tax increase from the Mayor of Chicago and a newly-declared State of Emergency in Los Angeles County which will provide legal aid funding for affected residents. And “Civil Society” includes a story on planned efforts to retool the IRS to “Enable Pursuit of Left-Leaning Groups.” As always, these stories and more are in the links below.
“The judicial branch announced that beginning on Monday, Oct. 20, it will no longer have funding to sustain full, paid operations. Until the ongoing lapse in government funding is resolved, federal courts will maintain limited operations necessary to perform the Judiciary’s constitutional functions. Federal judges will continue to serve, in accordance with the Constitution, but court staff may only perform certain excepted activities permitted under the Anti-Deficiency Act.”
“Government attorneys looking to land on their feet in Big Law are facing an increasingly difficult job market. The job market for attorneys headed to the private sector has been over-saturated for months, and Big Law firms are hitting their limit on the number of government attorneys they can hire this year, recruiters say.”
“So far this year, however, the Justice Department has hired significantly fewer assistant US attorneys than in previous years…The administration has proposed hiring more than 400 additional attorneys in the US Attorneys' Offices, bringing the total to 6,144. So far, that's off to a slow start.”
“Multiple people at multiple agencies said their bosses have told them to email up the chain if they hear about RIFs, because, per one source, "they probably won't be told if people are fired."
““We believe it’s our duty to sound the alarm about this administration’s degradation of DoJ’s vital work, and its assault on the public servants who do it,” according to an open letter signed by 282 former officials, obtained exclusively by MSNBC.”
“The Defense Department started the trend this week by repurposing $6.5 billion in unspent research and development funds to keep active-duty service members from missing a paycheck on Wednesday. Military personnel have never missed a paycheck during a government shutdown. In another unusual step, FBI Director Kash Patel told reporters at the White House on Wednesday that the Trump administration has taken steps to ensure that the bureau’s special agents will be paid during the shutdown…Patel didn’t specify what funding the FBI would use to keep paying its special agents, and the FBI didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment…Meanwhile, attorneys at the Justice Department are continuing to represent the Trump administration in court, even though they are working through the shutdown without pay.”
“The Trump administration has promised tens of thousands of federal agents carrying out his immigration crackdown that they will be paid during the government shutdown, according to emails seen by Reuters, even as other federal workers go without pay…After the story was reported, Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, said in a statement that more than 70,000 law enforcement officers across DHS including those at CBP, Ice, the Secret Service and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) will be paid. They are to receive by 22 October a “supercheck” covering pay for all hours worked during the shutdown period and the next pay period, she said.”
“It is also far from normal for an administration to fire line-level civilian employees during a government shutdown as a way to punish the opposing political party. But this is precisely what President Trump has announced he is doing[.]”
“In a letter to the Office of Management and Budget, House and Senate lawmakers wrote that the law is clear: Furloughed employees are owed back pay, just as excepted employees are. The letter comes after OMB questioned whether the law actually guaranteed pay for furloughed feds. OMB’s legal opinion, though, quickly received backlash from lawmakers, unions and other employee organizations.”
“Gov. Gavin Newsom has vetoed Senate Bill 485, which would have required a three-fifths vote of county boards of supervisors and a showing of cause to remove chief public defenders from office. The decision drew disappointment from the California Public Defenders Association, which said the bill was a necessary safeguard for independence and integrity in public defense.”
“Rent relief for tenants who have fallen behind as a result of the ICE raids and money for legal aid and other services are among the provisions in the declaration.”
“Twenty-three Democratic members of Congress signed a letter addressed to Education Secretary Linda McMahon on Sept. 26, stating the government had failed to provide the required notice to borrowers. “These seizures have already led to evictions and utility shutoffs that are harming American families,” the Democrats wrote in the letter. The lawmakers say the Education Department is required to give borrowers 60 days’ notice before their tax refunds or Social Security benefits are seized.”
Conflicts Over Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility
Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives
Photo: Harris and Ewing Collection, Library of Congress
Hi Interested Public,
I wasn’t able to wade through last week’s news by the end of it, so you’re getting two weeks at once this week. But I’m splitting them up to make things easier to track. This digest covers news from this week, but you can find last week’s news digested for you here. I’ve highlighted several stories in the lede section, but lots of other important events are covered in the links below, including major stories related to student loans, federal restructuring, and the ongoing federal shutdown.
“The Trump administration began laying off federal workers on Friday, the 10th day of the U.S. government shutdown, administration budget chief Russell Vought said in a social media post…The Office of Management and Budget, which Vought leads, soon after confirmed that "RIFs have begun and are substantial."”
“The Trump administration plans to deploy America's counter-terrorism apparatus – including the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and the Justice Department – as well as the Internal Revenue Service and the Treasury Department against certain left-wing groups it accuses of funding and organizing political violence, the officials said.”
“In late September, President Trump signed an executive order purporting to designate “Antifa” as a “domestic terrorist organization.” A few days later, he issued National Security Presidential Memorandum 7 (NSPM-7) on Countering Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence. This analysis evaluates the claims made in these documents and their potential damaging effects, drawing on the Brennan Center’s decade of work on the government’s framework for responding to terrorism, both foreign and domestic.”
“NSPM-7 directs the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury), and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to aggressively monitor, investigate, and take action against organizations purportedly linked — directly or indirectly — to acts of “political violence or domestic terrorism.” This new framework combines tax enforcement, financial tracing, and criminal prosecution tools — creating substantial risks and exposure for tax-exempt organizations (including charities, advocacy groups, and political organizations), along with their networks of funders and supporters.”
“More than 3,000 nonprofits have signed an open letter condemning the directive, assailing the administration memo as a violation of free speech and civic engagement. However, it’s clear that strongly worded letters can only achieve so much. NPQ spoke with experts about how, beyond writing letters of protest, nonprofits and the public can effectively respond.”
“The “compact” is quite explicit: Universities that do not sign on to this thing thereby “elect[] to forego federal benefits.” What benefits? Well, that same first paragraph lists quite a few specific “benefits”: “(i) access to student loans, grant programs, and federal contracts; (ii) funding for research directly or indirectly; (iii) approval of student and other visas in connection with university matriculation and instruction; and (iv) preferential treatment under the tax code,” which means 501(c)(3) status. This compact is a “reward” in exactly the same sense that it is “rewarding” to purchase protection from the Mafia. The compact is an open, explicit threat. It nonetheless does represent a tactical shift on the part of the Trump Administration. The Trump team’s goal has not changed. They want an unprecedented—and flagrantly unconstitutional—degree of government oversight and control over American universities…the administration is pivoting to a new tactic, which seems to be to roll up the higher ed sector from what you might call the upper middle. Instead of starting at the very top with the high-stakes confrontation with Harvard and working their way down, the new tactical approach is to start with whichever prestigious schools seem likeliest—for various reasons—to be amenable to the government’s overtures.
In the remainder of this blog post I’ll do two things at once. First, for the benefit of any journalists who read this, I think it’s important to lay out in a few simple bullet points what this “compact” does, and why the spin adopted by so many mainstream reporters is incorrect…Second, along the way, and at the end, I want to situate this “compact” in this administration’s overall approach to law. That approach is to try to sideline law itself—its regularity, predictability, transparency, and treating likes alike—and replace the law with “the deal.””
“Next week, the City Council’s Rules committee will discuss a resolution that delegates authority to the City Attorney to defend officials — which would include councilmembers — when they’ve been accused of committing a crime in the course of doing their job…“This is not based on any actual threat or specific threat against any official in Oakland, whatsoever,” Oakland’s supervising deputy city attorney, Selia Warren, told The Oaklandside. “This is merely us trying to be proactive and actually stay ahead of events. We would love to not have to use this, ever.” However, Warren also said, “Anyone can read the headlines in the news these days about what’s going on.””
“Federal employee groups decried the second consecutive year of premium increases eclipsing 10 percent amid a government shutdown and a proposed 1% pay raise for non-law enforcement personnel.”
“When the Trump administration has faced pushback over attempted cuts to California’s federal funding, it has shifted strategy and gone after the funding again. The strategy has both complicated and expanded the scope of California’s legal fight against the administration, which now includes more than 40 lawsuits.”
“Trump’s public instructions to Attorney General Pam Bondi (which he may have intended as a private DM) were not subtle. The president named three public figures he has long detested and urged the Justice Department to prosecute them immediately. Now, less than three weeks later, two of them are under indictment: former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James. Both have denied wrongdoing. And the many other targets Trump wants to see in jail are bracing for who will be next.”
“The top lawyer at the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) argued in the draft that the law Congress passed and President Donald Trump signed in 2019 that guaranteed back pay to furloughed workers does no such thing.”
““The supposed ‘new legal analysis’ is, to use a technical legal term, horseshit,” said one former lawyer for the White House budget office of the threat to withhold pay.”
“Gibbons P.C. is pleased to welcome back to the firm Michael R. Noveck as the new Executive Director of the John J. Gibbons Fellowship in Public Interest & Constitutional Law…As Executive Director, Mr. Noveck will carry forward the Gibbons Fellowship’s legacy of pro bono representation involving cutting-edge cases implicating constitutional and individual rights and freedoms. He brings significant litigation experience in an array of areas, including criminal justice, Megan’s Law registration, police accountability, and education.”
“Trump administration officials are exploring options to sell off parts of the federal government’s $1.6 trillion student loan portfolio to the private market, according to three people familiar with the matter…Selling federal student loan debt raises significant logistical and legal concerns, adding new uncertainty for borrowers. Key questions include what happens to borrower protections—typically more generous than in the private market — and whether the government would continue guaranteeing any of the loans. The federal government enjoys more powerful debt-collection abilities — such as garnishing tax returns or Social Security benefits — than do private lenders.”
“Sharlyn Grace, the deputy public defender for policy at the Cook County Public Defenders Office, noted that ICE has not coordinated with court authorities either, especially in cases where immigrants have been detained while at court on other business. “There is no coordination or cooperation with us,” Grace said. “We’ve had clients not show up and later we have to identify them and find out they’ve been detained. There is no regard for the state court process or any sharing of information. The client’s other cases are forced to the side, and they could end up with warrants issued against them inappropriately, because the court wasn’t notified that they were detained.” Grace said she suspects ICE is accessing public documents to find the names of people to target without warrants.”
“The long-running legal challenge over Maine's failure to provide attorneys to criminal defendants who can't afford them has reached the state Supreme Court.”
Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives
Photo: Harris and Ewing Collection, Library of Congress
Hi Interested Public,
I wasn’t able to wade through last week’s news by the end of it, so you’re getting two weeks at once this week. But I’m splitting them up to make things easier to track. These stories cover last week. The next edition will cover the current week. I’ve highlighted several stories in the lede section, but lots of other important events are covered in the links below.
“The brief, unsigned order cautioned that the ruling “should not be read as a final determination on the merits” but instead “reflects our preliminary view, consistent with the standards for interim relief.”…Justice Elena Kagan dissented, in an eight-page opinion that was joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson. Kagan wrote that “the effect” of Friday’s order “is to prevent the funds from reaching their intended recipients—not just now but (because of their impending expiration) for all time.””
“Trump’s conduct, the judge wrote, violated the sacred oath of a president to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States” and the actions of his administration represented a “full-throated assault on the First Amendment.”…Young, highlighting the significance of the case, wrote that it is “perhaps the most important ever to fall within the jurisdiction of this district court” and “squarely presents the issue whether non-citizens lawfully present here in United States actually have the same free speech rights as the rest of us.””
“The administration wants to bring in as many as 600 military-trained attorneys to help make decisions about which immigrants can stay in the country. Advocates are alarmed by the move to use military lawyers to bolster staffing in the backlogged immigration courts as President Donald Trump's administration ramps up immigration arrests…“They’re letting a lot of experienced judges go, terminating them with no notice, and yet they claim that there’s a shortage so they need to have these military JAG officers step in and take over,” said Margaret Stock, a retired Army lieutenant colonel and immigration lawyer…“It will lead to more appeals of decisions. It will further increase the backlog. It’s going to be an inefficient and costly endeavor,” [Matt] Biggs[, president of IFPTE,] said. “It sets a dangerous precedent in this country when it comes to due process protections.””
“The American Federation of Government Employees filed a lawsuit accusing the US Department of Education of unlawfully inserting partisan language into automated out-of-office emails sent from accounts of furloughed workers. The union claims email settings for department workers were changed without their permission to include messages blaming the shutdown on Democratic lawmakers. The lawsuit alleges that forcing civil servants to speak on behalf of the political leadership's partisan agenda is a blatant violation of federal employees' First Amendment rights.”
“The top national security prosecutor for the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Eastern District of Virginia circulated a scathing departure letter to his former colleagues Friday slamming DOJ leadership, who he said "is more concerned with punishing the President's perceived enemies than they are with protecting our national security."”
“Our Constitution and its First Amendment remain the same,” former UnidosUS Education Policy Analyst Tania Valencia told department officials. At the time of the hearing, she was serving as a higher education senior program manager at the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. “The department does not have the authority to exclude employers based on their participation in disfavored speech and activities. Every major civil rights advancement, from the desegregation of schools to marriage equality, began as a viewpoint that challenged existing power structures.”
Get a weekly summary of news items that affect the public service legal community, with an emphasis on funding, job market, law school initiatives, and access-to-justice developments.
