Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives

Hi Interested Public,

Lots to cover this week as many of us batten down for the incoming storm. Students begin to respond to national headlines about federal immigration activity in Minnesota and elsewhere. The federal government continues its layoff drive at various agencies, while the new year gives some an opportunity to assess the effects of these efforts to-date. The Department of Education delayed its plans to garnish student debtors’ wages, and various communities look at new avenues for legal aid related to various immigration concerns. As always, these stories and more are in the links below. Solidarity,

Sam

Editor’s Choice(s)

• Six US Prosecutors Resign in Minnesota as Crackdown Builds (Bloomberg Law; 13 Jan 2026)

  “Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) condemned the development as ‘the latest sign that President Trump is pushing nonpartisan career professionals out of the Department of Justice and replacing them with his sycophants.’ Walz’s statement referred to resignations of ‘at least six prosecutors.’”

• Prosecutors Subpoena Minnesota Democrats as Part of Federal Inquiry (New York Times; 20 Jan 2026)

  “While the subpoenas did not cite a specific criminal statute, the inquiry as a whole was said to center on whether elected officials in Minnesota had conspired to impede the thousands of federal agents who have been in the state since last month looking for undocumented immigrants. But the investigation is likely to run up against stiff pushback for examining political speech and conduct that is traditionally protected by the First Amendment.” [emphasis added]

• Klobuchar, Smith Call on ICE to Allow Access to Legal Counsel (Sen. Klobuchar PR; 22 Jan 2026)

  “U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Tina Smith (D-MN) are calling on the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to follow federal law and the Constitution by allowing people in detention to have access to legal counsel. Reports indicate that some of those detained, including at least one U.S. citizen, are being denied their constitutional right to access an attorney.”

• ICE backs out of ASU law event amid student petition, backlash (The State Press; 21 Jan 2026)

• Students Petition GU Law Center to Remove ICE From Career Fair (The Hoya; 20 Jan 2026)

Federal Restructuring & Funding

• Shutdown odds plummet after House and Senate strike bipartisan deal on remaining funding bills (Government Executive; 20 Jan 2026)

• How the Trump administration erased centuries of Justice Department experience (AP; 16 Jan 2026)

• Trump defends cutting nearly 300,000 feds from their ‘boring’ jobs (Government Executive; 20 Jan 2026)

  “The president claimed without evidence that all federal workers forced out during his first year back were now in “better” jobs in factories making double or triple their government salary.”

• VA has shed 40,000 employees, Democratic report finds, with drastic impacts on veterans (Government Executive; 22 Jan 2026)

• CFPB staves off furloughs after receiving funding, but still pushes to shut itself down and squeeze staff (Government Executive; 16 Jan 2026)

• After confusion, State will move forward with hundreds of layoffs (Government Executive; 9 Jan 2026)

• HUD Whistleblowers to Testify before Senate Banking Committee After Facing Retaliation from the Trump Administration for Defending Fair Housing (Whistleblower Aid; 12 Jan 2026)

Non-Federal Funding & Restructuring

• [NY] Courts unveil $3.2 billion budget ask: Budget boost to cover costs of new judges, legal services and raises (Brooklyn Daily Eagle; 22 Jan 2026)

• Alberta Law Foundation board members ousted, staff resign in wake of controversial justice bill (Edmonton Journal; 16 Jan 2026)

Civil Society

• Public Defenders Face Scrutiny for Their Speech. Is It Worth It? (ABA Criminal Justice; 20 Jan 2026)

• Florida breaks ABA grip on who gets to take the bar exam (Tallahassee Democrat; 15 Jan 2026)

• 'Fight Like Hell': Hochul Urges Litigators to Fight for Democracy in Bar Association Speech (Law.com; 16 Jan 2026)

• The Legal War Against Immigrant Aid In Texas (The Texas Signal; 13 Jan 2026)

• Without reforms, AI could deepen America’s justice gap, expert says (Texas A&M Stories; 13 Jan 2026)

Student Debt & Other Student Concerns

• Education Department Pauses Wage Garnishment for Defaulted Student Loan Borrowers (Investopedia; 16 Jan 2026)

• This Is How the Federal Student Loan Repayment Plans Are Changing (US News; 22 Jan 2026)

• CFPB reports record number of complaints on student loans (JD Supra; 19 Jan 2026)

• University of Arkansas law students hold demonstration for academic freedom (Arkansas Democrat Gazette; 20 Jan 2026)

  “ University of Arkansas, Fayetteville law school students protested Tuesday what they contend is the university’s apparent capitulation to political pressure in rescinding an offer for Emily Suski to become dean of the law school…UA rescinded its offer less than a week after it announced Suski’s hiring, citing feedback from “key external stakeholders,” including Republican state lawmakers. ”

Conflicts Over Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility

• Northwestern law school defeats lawsuit alleging anti-white faculty hiring (Reuters; 22 Jan 2026)

• Federal government sues Minnesota over affirmative action in state hiring (KSTP; 15 Jan 2026)

• [Ed Note: I also refer readers out to NALP’s Weekly Industry News Digest, which has separate coverage of this topic]

Access to Justice

• NYC Indigent Defense Program In 'Crisis,' Task Force Reports (Law360; 21 Jan 2026)

• [TX] Gov. Abbott calls for creation of ‘chief state prosecutor,’ raising questions about local authority (Spectrum Local News; 21 Jan 2026)

• New Minnesota Nonprofit Launches To Offer Legal Support To Kinship Caregivers (Open Minds; 20 Jan 2026)

• Public defenders are in short supply in CT. Would a raise help? (CT Mirror; 20 Jan 2026)

• Public defenders leaving for better pay reaches ‘crisis’ in KY, lawmakers are told (Kentucky Lantern; 20 Jan 2026)

• [OH] Public defender exploratory board takes shape (The Lorain County Chronicle; 20 Jan 2026)

• Why WA’s tenant right-to-counsel law isn’t working [opinion] (Seattle Times; 17 Jan 2026)

• [MS] Public defender pilot program sees early success (Magnolia Tribune; 16 Jan 2026)

• Eighth Circuit probes right to counsel in Arkansas bail hearings (Courthouse News Service; 15 Jan 2026)

• San Francisco Judge Orders Public Defender's Office to Accept New Felony Cases Amid Legal System Standoff (Hoodline; 13 Jan 2026)

• Union wants UC to create a legal aid fund to help graduate student workers with visa issues (Los Angeles Times; 13 Jan 2026)

• [NY] Advocates Push for Legal Aid Expansion as Immigration Enforcement Intensifies (Davis Vanguard; 10 Jan 2026)

• Philly public defender launches new immigration unit amid growing federal arrests and deportations (Philadelphia Inquirer; 12 Jan 2026)

Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives

Hi Interested Public,

Welcome to a new year–and a return to our regular schedule.. Lots has happened since the last issue, including a number of major news stories regarding student loans. Also, a case in the 1st Circuit could upend IOLTA funds, the Vice President has announced a new attorney position that would report directly to the White House (not the DOJ, which recently fired its chief ethics official)…the list goes on. As always, these stories and more are in the links below. Solidarity,

Sam

Editor’s Choice(s)

• First Circuit questions legal aid funding across entire US (Courthouse News; 5 Jan 2026)

  “In 1993, the First Circuit upheld an IOLTA program against a similar First Amendment challenge. That case relied on a 1977 Supreme Court decision that allowed public-sector unions to force employees to pay union dues even if they didn’t support the union. In 2018, however, the Supreme Court overruled its 1977 decision in a case known as Janus. So Wescott claims the First Circuit’s 1993 decision is no longer good law and should be discarded as well.

  U.S. Circuit Judge Julie Rikelman agreed that the 1993 case “held that the interest belonged to no one. It wasn’t the client’s money. And that doesn’t hold up after Janus.” But the unspoken backdrop to the new case is that a ruling for the plaintiff could upend bar and legal aid programs across the country, which have relied on IOLTA funding since changes to federal banking law allowed the first such program in Florida in 1981.”

• Law School Student Groups Ask ABA to Review Accelerated Associate Recruiting Timelines (Law.com; 2 Jan 2026)

• As ‘right to counsel’ programs for housing court flourish, policymakers strain to maintain the staffing pipeline (AM Ny; 23 Dec 2025)

• As Federal Immigration Crackdown Intensifies, Coalition Calls for Major Investment in Legal Services and Swift Passage of Key Protection Bills (Vera Institute of Justice; 8 Jan 2026)

  “The coalition of more than 100 organizations—including the Vera Institute of Justice, the New York Immigration Coalition, Immigrant Advocates Response Collaborative (Immigrant ARC), New York Civil Liberties Union, Neighbors Link, and Immigrant Children Advocates’ Relief Effort—highlighted the dramatic escalation in federal enforcement, record number of people in detention, and evisceration of due process rights. ”

Federal Restructuring & Funding

• Vance rolls out new assistant attorney general to root out ‘fraud’ nationwide (Politico; 8 Jan 2026)

  “Whoever fills the new Justice Department position will initially focus on Minnesota, but will ultimately have a nationwide mandate.”

• Vance Says New Anti-Fraud Prosecutor Will Report to White House, Not DOJ (Bloomberg; 8 Jan 2026)

• Office of Special Counsel resumes Hatch Act enforcement against former feds for violations during their service (Government Executive; 29 Dec 2025)

• Deportation Judges, Counter-DEI Lawyers Top DOJ 2026 Hiring List (Bloomberg Law; 5 Jan 2026)

  “Upheaval at DOJ has led to more than 5,500 career employees leaving since the start of President Donald Trump’s second term, according to estimates from Justice Connection, an organization supporting former and current employees. The administration is recruiting for the Civil Rights Division’s election integrity and anti-DEI focus, while seeking “deportation judges” to replace the dozens of judges fired in DOJ’s immigration courts in the past year. The Trump administration is also searching for more lawyers to fill in offices of loyalist US attorney picks, including three that have remained at offices after judges ruled they were unlawfully appointed.”

• Trump’s DOJ hires voting rights lawyer behind L.A. case cited by conspiracy theorists (Los Angeles Times; 3 Jan 2026)

  “The Trump administration’s new top voting rights lawyer is Eric Neff, a former L.A. County prosecutor who led a failed case against a voting software company that was the subject of conspiracy theories about the 2020 election.”

• A top DoJ official trained Pam Bondi on ethics rules in the department. Then he was fired (The Guardian; 3 Jan 2026)

• Trump’s return-to-office mandate exempted feds with disabilities. Many are being ordered to work in-person anyway (Government Executive; 8 Jan 2026)

• Democrats decry reports that Trump will further slash FEMA's workforce (Government Executive; 7 Jan 2026)

• Trump’s pay hike for law enforcement leaves out EPA, IGs (Politico; 8 Jan 2026)

  “Trump last month signed off on a 1 percent increase in wages for all government employees in 2026 but tasked the Office of Personnel Management to determine which “certain Federal civilian law enforcement personnel” should receive a higher pay bump of almost 4 percent.”

• US DOGE Service is hiring following mass workforce losses across the government (Government Executive; 7 Jan 2026)

• Judge burns Russ Vought with his own words, sees right through DOJ effort to 'starve' Consumer Financial Protection Bureau 'with the stroke of pen' (Law & Crime; 30 Dec 2025)

• House OKs $540M For Imperiled Legal Services Corp. (Law360; 8 Jan 2026)

  “The "minibus" appropriations bill that the U.S. House of Representatives passed on Thursday includes a lifeline $540 million allocated toward the nonprofit Legal Services Corp. — representing a reduction of $10 million, or 3.6%, compared to fiscal year 2025's budget — whose funding the White House previously suggested should be slashed.”

Non-Federal Funding & Restructuring

• [Kansas] VOCA grants boost legal aid, mental health for crime victims (KSNF Joplin; 8 Jan 2026)

• Mamdani Names Lawyer Who Fought N.Y.C. Agencies to Human Rights Post (New York Times; 7 Jan 2026)

• Mamdani Taps Ex-Paul Weiss Pro Bono Chief as NYC Law Leader (Bloomberg Law; 30 Dec 2025)

• Fla. Justices Reject Atty Vacancy Proposal Backed by AG (Law360; 2 Jan 2026)

  “The Supreme Court of Florida has rejected a proposal from the attorney general’s office to allow out-of-statelawyers to work in some state government roles, despite the support it got from the governor’s office and others[.]”

• Fresno city attorney’s wage theft unit gets more teeth, higher fines as complaints surge (The Fresno Bee; 2 Jan 2026)

• [HI] Counties Are On A Hiring Spree, But Recruitment Challenges Linger (Honolulu Civil Beat; 1 Jan 2026)

• States Make a Pitch to Attract Public Sector Workers (Nat’l Conf. of State Legislatures; 23 Dec 2025)

  • California Tries to Lure Federal Workers in Year of DOGE Cuts (Bloomberg Government; 23 Dec 2025)

Civil Society

• Texas breaks with ABA, prompting other states to reconsider law school oversight (Just the News; 8 Jan 2026)

• DOJ sues Virginia over tuition aid for migrants (The Hill; 30 Dec 2025)

Student Debt & Other Student Concerns

• Federal student loans are changing. Here's what to expect in 2026 (NPR; 23 Dec 2025)

• The Hill: Student loan borrowers face major changes to repayment options, loan limits this year (National Consumer Law Center; 8 Jan 2025)

• Government Has Rejected Over 300,000 Requests for Lower Student Loan Repayments (NTD; 27 Dec 2025)

• Garnishing wages for student loans is cruel. There's a better way. [opinion] (USA Today; 7 Jan 2026)

  “Congress should offer people with educational debts the option of repaying the government through volunteer service in their communities by passing legislation that creates Volunteers for America…programs [like PSLF] have limited budgets and involve full-time employment in a much needed but limited range of jobs. These initiatives are not for everyone, nor could they accommodate every student borrower. What is needed by most student debtors is a way to pay down their obligations through community service while pursuing their chosen careers. The National Guard provides the model.”

• The Student Loan Default Rate is Already High. The End of SAVE Could Make It Worse (Investopedia; 8 Jan 2026)

• Student Loan Servicers Are Changing Repayment Terms Overnight (Saving Advice; 31 Dec 2025)

• As Trump takes 2 hard swings at Americans with student loan debt, some are discovering a surprising way out (MoneyWise; 31 Dec 2025)

• Bankruptcy success rate for student loan borrowers jumps to 87%, study finds (CNBC; 30 Dec 2025)

• PA Rep. looks to mitigate ‘heavy burden’ of student loans with new bill (CBS WTAJ; 30 Dec 2025)

  “Ciresi’s legislation would establish a Low-Interest Student Loan Program that would provide affordable, fixed-rate loans to Pennsylvania students attending approved institutions of higher education. Borrowers would need to complete a personal finance course, ensuring they are equipped to manage debt responsibly while building long-term financial stability.”

Conflicts Over Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility

• The Justice Department is using a fraud law to target inclusive hiring (Quartz; 29 Dec 2025)

• [Ed Note: I also refer readers out to NALP’s Weekly Industry News Digest, which has separate coverage of this topic]

Access to Justice

• The looming decisions that could change Maine’s criminal defense landscape (Bangor Daily News; 31 Dec 2025)

• State Supreme Court considers dismissing State of Maine from indigent defense lawsuit (Maine Public Radio; 8 Jan 2026)

  “Assistant Attorney General Paul Suitter argued that the state is covered by sovereign immunity, and can't be named in the lawsuit brought by the ACLU of Maine. Instead, he said, the correct defendants are state agencies like the Maine Commission on Public Defense Services.”

• The looming decisions that could change Maine’s criminal defense landscape (Bangor Daily News; 31 Dec 2025)

• $10 million in prosecutor funding is not enough to save [California’s] justice system [opinion] (The Hill; 8 Jan 2026)

• Funding to meet [WA] public defender standards uncertain for 2027 (Everett Herald; 7 Jan 2026)

• Lawyers stressed: Pacific County [WA] lowers public defender caseloads (Chinook Observer; 7 Jan 2026)