PSJD News Digest – April 18, 2025

April 18, 2025 at 2:59 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,

We’ve made it to the end of another week. The Department of Government Efficiency met with the Legal Services Corporation this week, and also explored the idea of assigning a DOGE team member to the Vera Institute of Justice (an independent nonprofit). The IRS is planning to rescind Harvard University’s tax exempt status after the school refused to comply with a second list of demands issued to it by multiple federal agencies–including audit-based enforcement of a “viewpoint diversity in admissions & hiring” policy. The Department of Justice argued in court that the Trump Administration’s recent pattern of unilaterally deleting foreign students’ SEVIS records did not equate to a revocation of their legal status; some advocates say their clients have been told the opposite. Leadership at the CFPB have shrunk the agency to a staff of around 200; a federal judge held a hearing earlier today to examine whether those reductions failed to comply with a preliminary injunction she had issued against en masse RIFs.

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

Sam

Editor’s Choice(s)

  • DOGE dodges discovery (Politico; 15 Apr 2025)

    “The meeting between DOGE and LSC President RON FLAGG was confirmed by LSC spokesperson CARL RAUSCHER.”

  • Trump attacks on law firms begin to chill pro bono work on causes he doesn't like (NPR; 13 Apr 2025)

    “"Increasingly, I'm hearing about political considerations being an issue in firms deciding whether they're going to be able to assist," said Dustin Rynders, the legal director of the Texas Civil Rights Project.

    "I have been turned down on some recent requests where people have expressed concern about political ramifications, about being involved in immigrant rights work in this time, about being involved in civil rights, voting rights cases, in challenges against the administration," he said.”

Federal RIFs

  • The CFPB Has Been Gutted (Wired; 17 Apr 2025)

    “The mass reduction in force, or RIF, comes nearly a month after a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order barring the Trump administration from removing probationary employees at the CFPB and other agencies. On Friday, an appeals court ruled that the CFPB could begin terminations again so long as “individual assessments” were conducted for each terminated employee. Around 200 employees will be left at the CFPB, effectively gutting the agency Elon Musk has previously said should be ‘deleted.’”

  • Trump extends government hiring freeze for civilian executive branch workers (WTOP News; 17 Apr 2025)

    “President Donald Trump signed a directive Thursday that will extend the hiring freeze for federal agencies for three more months.”

Civil Society

  • DOGE sought to assign a team to an independent nonprofit group (Washington Post; 17 Apr 2025)

    “U.S. DOGE Service representatives told leaders of a nonprofit group Tuesday that it wants to assign members of its team to work at all institutes or agencies that receive federal funds, highlighting its aggressiveness as it attempts to reshape the federal government, according to several people familiar with the matter. …A member of DOGE last week emailed the Vera Institute of Justice — an independent nonprofit organization that advocates for lower incarceration rates — to schedule a meeting about “getting a DOGE team assigned to the organization,” according to a copy of the email that was reviewed by The Washington Post.”

  • Why Harvard’s Decision Not to Comply with the Federal Government Matters (Nonprofit Quarterly; 17 Apr 2025)

    “In his statement to the Harvard community, Garber expressed why the university could not morally—or legally—comply with the demands of the federal government by linking to a letter he and Penny Pritzker, the leading member of the Harvard Corporation, had received just days prior from US Commissioner of the Federal Acquisition Service Josh Gruenbaum; US Department of Education Action General Counsel Thomas E. Wheeler; and US Department of Health and Human Services Acting General Counsel Sean R. Keveney. …Harvard was not the first university to be targeted by the Trump administration, but it is the first to definitively resist stipulated demands and give the indication that it would be willing to fight the federal funds drain in court. “A very big shift from what we’ve seen from other universities, but if anyone could do it, it’s Harvard,” wrote Patty Culhane Al Jazeera’s Washington Correspondent.”

    • 11 Apr letter from HHS, Dept. Ed, & GSA to Alan Garber, President (Harvard University) (Harvard; 16 Apr 2025) [5 pages]

      “Viewpoint Diversity in Admissions and Hiring. By August 2025, the University shall commission an external party, which shall satisfy the federal government as to its competence and good faith, to audit the student body, faculty, staff, and leadership for viewpoint diversity, such that each department, field, or teaching unit must be individually viewpoint diverse. This audit shall begin no later than the summer of 2025 and shall proceed on a department-by-department, field-by-field, or teaching-unit-by-teaching-unit basis as appropriate. The report of the external party shall be submitted to University leadership and the federal government no later than the end of 2025. Harvard must abolish all criteria, preferences, and practices, whether mandatory or optional, throughout its admissions and hiring practices, that function as ideological litmus tests. Every department or field found to lack viewpoint diversity must be reformed by hiring a critical mass of new faculty within that department or field who will provide viewpoint diversity; every teaching unit found to lack viewpoint diversity must be reformed by admitting a critical mass of students who will provide viewpoint diversity. If the review finds that the existing faculty in the relevant department or field are not capable of hiring for viewpoint diversity, or that the relevant teaching unit is not capable of admitting a critical mass of students with diverse viewpoints, hiring or admissions within that department, field, or teaching unit shall be transferred to the closest cognate department, field, or teaching unit that is capable of achieving viewpoint diversity. This audit shall be performed and the same steps taken to establish viewpoint diversity every year during the period in which reforms are being implemented, which shall be at least until the end of 2028.”

  • IRS making plans to rescind Harvard’s tax-exempt status (CNN; 16 Apr 2025)

    “The Internal Revenue Service is making plans to rescind the tax-exempt status of Harvard University, according to two sources familiar with the matter, which would be an extraordinary step of retaliation as the Trump administration seeks to turn up pressure on the university that has defied its demands to change its hiring and other practices.”

  • Justice department halts violence against women grants for the ABA, sparking concerns (KUTL; 17 Apr 2025)

    “A recent letter from the American Bar Association (ABA) has revealed that all grant funding from the Department of Justice’s Office on Violence Against Women has been terminated, effective immediately. The abrupt announcement has left organizations scrambling to assess the potential impact on their operations and services. The ABA's letter states, "As we consider our next steps, we must pause all work related to these grants."”

  • DOJ memo could threaten pro-bono Attorney of the Day program in SF immigration court (NBC Bay Area; 17 Apr 2025)

    “Among the Trump administration’s sweeping changes to our immigration system are new policies that threaten to limit pro-bono legal services in immigration court. …Atkinson helps oversee the Attorney of the Day program, and said their team of volunteer attorneys are not respondents’ official legal representatives, but appear as “friends of the court,” to help proceedings run smoothly and ensure immigrants know their rights and understand the daunting legal path ahead. They also help connect immigrants with local -bono legal services who might be able to take on their cases. …The memo reinstates a policy enacted at the end of President Trump’s first term but later rescinded by President Biden. It says anyone appearing as a friend of the court can’t engage in legal advocacy unless they’re the respondent’s official attorney. …Since the DOJ’s memo went out in February, Atkinson said they’ve continued to send lawyers with the Attorney of the Day program to immigration court. So far, she said, San Francisco Immigration Court judges and government attorneys haven’t objected to their presence.”

Non-Federal Funding

Student Debt & Other Student

  • Why federal Direct PLUS Loans are under fire — and how their potential end impacts your student loan options (Bankrate; 17 Apr 2025)

  • Trump Admin Downplays Impact of Terminating International Students From Key Database (Inside Higher Ed; 16 Apr 2025)

    “In court filings [an] assistant U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Michigan…argued that deleting a student’s records from the Student Exchange and Visitor Information System, a database that holds international students’ information, did not equate to a revocation of their status. …[S]ome immigration lawyers working closely with affected students and institutions say their clients have been told the very opposite regarding their legal status in the country.

    The filing appears to be the first time the government has responded in writing to lawsuits that have been filed against the Trump administration for its attacks on international students, excluding high-profile cases where the students were also detained. This particular response was to a lawsuit brought by four students from the University of Michigan and Wayne State University who lost their F-1 student statuses. So far, at least 50 students have sued across 16 lawsuits, according to an Inside Higher Ed review of court records.”

Conflicts Over Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility

Other News