Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives
Photo: Harris and Ewing Collection, Library of Congress
Hi Interested Public,
It’s been another eventful week, both in the news and for NALP–I’m so glad to have had a chance to see so many readers face-to-face over the past few days here in Cleveland. (If you weren’t able to make it, I look forward to catching you up on our conversations!) In the world outside our sessions, appellate decisions blocked lower court’s efforts to reinstate federal probationary workers, Berkeley Law students issued a public statement on the federal government’s expanding program for revoking student visas on a variety of bases, and a US House of Representatives committee withdrew its probe of a law school clinic after the clinic filed a lawsuit.
As always, these stories and more are in the links below.
Solidarity,
“The Justice Department is building a roster of lawyers willing to defend in court the most controversial parts of President Donald Trump’s agenda, firing career attorneys whom leaders view as standing in their way and hiring dozens of political appointees to carry out the president’s agenda.”
“The illegality doctrine gives the IRS sweeping authority to define and enforce “the law” using a single provision of the Internal Revenue Code. And the Trump administration’s creative use of this doctrine reveals that it is seriously capable of transforming tax law into a tool of ideological enforcement.”
“The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed the Trump administration to oust two board members who oversee independent agencies, for now. The action seems to signal the court’s support for President Donald Trump’s effort to remove limits on his power to hire and fire. Chief Justice John Roberts signed an order pausing a ruling from the federal appeals court in Washington that had temporarily restored the two women to their jobs. They were separately fired from agencies that deal with labor issues, including one with a key role for federal workers as Trump aims to drastically downsize the workforce.”
“The Supreme Court on Tuesday halted a federal judge's ruling requiring several federal agencies to reinstate around 16,000 workers the Trump administration had sought to fire. The decision to grant the administration's request means the federal government doesn't have to take steps to bring back some workers who were laid off while litigation moves forward before a federal judge in California.”
“In a win for President Trump, a panel of judges on the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals has vacated a lower court ruling ordering 20 federal agencies to reinstate tens of thousands of employees they had fired.”
“In a memo, the deputy attorney general, Todd Blanche, said that the bar association was “free to litigate in support of activist causes” but that the department’s employees “must conduct themselves in a manner that does not undermine or appear to undermine the department’s core mission of administering justice in a fair, effective, and evenhanded manner.” The department, Mr. Blanche wrote, “will no longer use taxpayer funds to pay for any travel to or engagement with A.B.A. events.” Any department employees who work in policy-related positions also may not “speak at, attend, or otherwise participate in” the association’s events in their official capacity, the memo continued, adding that those employees may not hold positions in the association or renew their memberships.”
“The Students Association at Berkeley Law, or SABL, condemned UC Berkeley School of Law administration for its silence regarding the revocation of student visas, and several officers stepped down from their positions Monday. In a statement titled “SABL Statement on Berkeley Community Member Visa Terminations” issued on the SABL Instagram, the organization expressed discontent that administration “is so quick to condemn student protest” but “remains silent in the face of current visa revocations.”
“Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Columbia University activist Mahmoud Khalil should be deported because his presence in the United States harms the country’s foreign policy interests even if his beliefs and statements are “otherwise lawful.”…Rubio said Khalil’s presence in the US “would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences,” a determination based on his “past, current, or expected beliefs, statements or associations that are otherwise lawful.”
“Now, an increasing number of student deportation threats involve the revocation of visas based on relatively minor offenses like years-old misdemeanors, according to immigration attorneys, or sometimes no reason at all…“All of these tools that exist in the (immigration) statute have been used before, but they use them in a way that causes mass hysteria, chaos and panic with the hope that students won’t get proper legal advice and they’ll just, through attrition, leave the country,” said Jeff Joseph, president-elect of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.”
“As of April 10, over 120 colleges and universities have identified 640-plus international students and recent graduates who have had their legal status changed by the State Department.”
“Ten national unions [including the American Association of University Professors] and dozens of locals representing more than 3 million members have issued a joint statement demanding the release of immigrant workers recently snatched by Immigration and Customs Enforcement…The unions are also calling on employers, university administrators, and local governments to refuse to cooperate—and demanding that elected officials ‘find their spines.’”
“We thus call on the Regents, President, and Chancellors of the University of California to expend every effort, commit necessary resources, and use all legal measures to defend our ability to conduct consequential, transformative research and provide high-quality teaching and mentoring. We call on our leaders to ensure the safety and privacy of students, faculty, and staff. And we further call on our leaders to protect academic freedom and faculty control of the curriculum—proactively and publicly.”
Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives
Photo: Harris and Ewing Collection, Library of Congress
Hi Interested Public,
This week, efforts by the federal government to restrict access to the legal profession for certain classes of potential clients spread from the federal executive to the legislative branch this week, when a U.S. House of Representatives committee opened an investigation into the manner in which Northwestern Law’s Community Justice and Civil Rights Clinic chooses its clients. (Law School faculty & legal educational associations released additional statements addressing these efforts.) The arrangement Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP negotiated with the Trump administration next week suggests changes to the Skadden Fellowship Foundation’s program may be imminent. The Department of Education announced hearings as a first step toward restricting the availability of the PSLF program, and civil service workers courts had ordered reinstated and civil society groups courts had ordered refunded are still waiting to see whether those orders will be obeyed. As always, these stories and more are in the links below.
Solidarity,
“A U.S. House of Representatives committee is investigating a Northwestern University's legal clinic over its decision to represent protesters it alleges engaged in "illegal, antisemitic conduct," in what appears to be the first U.S. school to be subjected to a Congressional inquiry over legal representation.”
“The Community Justice and Civil Rights Clinic at Northwestern’s Pritzker School of Law (Northwestern Law) is providing free legal representation in a civil suit to the organizers of an anti-Israel blockade of highway traffic to Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport…The fact that Northwestern, a university supported by billions in federal funds, would dedicate its resources to support this illegal, antisemitic conduct raises serious questions.”
“A four-decade-old launchpad for public interest attorneys is getting an overhaul as part of President Donald Trump’s deal with Wall Street law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom.
Skadden committed $100 million in pro bono work on causes aligned with Trump’s priorities, the president announced March 28. It also agreed to make changes to its prestigious, left-leaning fellowship program, pledging to include politically conservative participants and dedicate at least five spots to projects like “ensuring fairness” in the justice system and fighting antisemitism.”
“At least 300 international students who are “destabilizing” college campuses have had their visas revoked, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said at a press conference on March 27. “Maybe more, it might be more than 300 at this point,” Rubio said. “At some point I hope we run out because we’ve gotten rid of all of them, but we’re looking every day for these lunatics that are tearing things up.”
The effort has raised questions about free speech and the rights of legal noncitizens, and it’s prompted legal challenges and protests in support of the targeted students.”
“In the weeks since Donald Trump took office for his second term, we have seen the considerable erosion of democracy and the rule of law in the United States. The latest evidence is the unprecedented request for disclosure by the House Committee on Education and Workforce issued on March 27, 2025, seeking extensive information about Northwestern Pritzker School of Law’s Bluhm Legal Clinic, including its policies, procedures, sources of funding, and budget. This request specifically targets Clinical Professor of Law Sheila Bedi, Director of the Community Justice and Civil Rights Clinic, and her constitutionally protected representation of clients.
…
As experiential faculty members teaching and practicing law, we have duties beyond those as faculty members with academic freedom — we are representatives for our clients, officers of the court, and public citizens. Seeking to punish a lawyer for their ethical and zealous representation and advocacy compromises these core responsibilities. This, in turn, threatens the viability of our legal system — a system critical to the preservation of our democracy.”
“We, the undersigned law faculty members, write in solidarity with our colleagues at Northwestern Law’s Bluhm Legal Clinic and Professor Sheila Bedi, director of Northwestern’s Community Justice and Civil Rights Clinic, in the face of an unfounded and unprecedented request from the House Committee on Education and Workforce for clinical program and faculty employment records.
…
The government’s demand for such materials is intentionally designed to chill clinicians from representing unpopular clients — a core mission of lawyers, particularly those who represent clients disfavored by the majority and those who work to protect civil rights and civil liberties. To interfere with a lawyer’s representation of a client undermines the system of legal ethics that binds all lawyers and undermines the rule of law. Nothing in the Education Committee letter alleges that Professor Bedi, the Bluhm Legal Clinic, or Northwestern University have acted unlawfully or unethically. The letter instead rests on innuendo and threatens constitutionally protected legal advocacy. If such insinuations lead to document production and capitulation, no clinician can feel safe from harassment.”
“We write to you as state attorneys general and colleagues in the practice of law. Recent actions by the Trump administration targeting individual law firms and attorneys and statements attacking, and calling for the impeachment of, federal judges represent a clear threat to our system of justice and our profession. President Trump’s recent orders and statements – plus recent letters to law firms from the Acting Chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) – lay bare the administration’s desire to silence and suppress opposition to its policies, including by making it harder for those who oppose the administration’s policies to secure legal representation.
As state attorneys general, we stand for the rule of law. As members of the legal profession and of our state bars, we all must stand together. The President’s attacks on the practice of law must not, and will not, subvert our zealous representation of our clients.”
“Lawyers have special obligations to protect and uphold the rule of law. As the Model Rules of Professional Conduct provide: “A lawyer is … an officer of the legal system and a public citizen having special responsibility for the quality of justice.”
…
Reasonable people may disagree about how to characterize particular incidents in the news, but we are all gravely worried that the rule of law is under severe threat. We strongly condemn efforts to undermine these basic legal norms.”
“Each of us brings different, sometimes irreconcilable, perspectives to what the law is and should be. Diverse viewpoints are a credit to our school. But we share, and take seriously, a commitment to the rule of law: for people to be equal before it, and for its administration to be impartial. That commitment is foundational to the whole legal profession, and to the special role that lawyers play in our society. As the Model Rules of Professional Conduct provide: “A lawyer is … an officer of the legal system and a public citizen having special responsibility for the quality of justice.”
…
While reasonable people can disagree about the characterization of particular incidents, we are all acutely concerned that severe challenges to the rule of law are taking place, and we strongly condemn any effort to undermine the basic norms we have described.”
“In “dissent”to the letter, Professor Adrian Vermeule penned “An Open Letter To My Students” in The New Digest, a substack for essays on the classical legal tradition and common good constitutionalism (which Vermeule defines as a legal theory for which “the central aim of the constitutional order is to promote good rule, not to ‘protect liberty’ as an end in itself”)…He attacks how the open letter acts as a “consensus statement” and the effect that may have on conservative students or students who oppose Trump but do not agree with the fears conveyed in the open letter. (HLS website lists 141 individuals between their HLS Professors and Emeritus Professors – 91 signed the Saturday letter).”
“Legal aid clinics that sued the Trump administration after it canceled legal services for migrant children alone in the country say they are still in limbo a day after a federal judge in California ordered the reinstatement of direct legal assistance.”
“The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation along with two other organisations are facing allegations of running scholarship and career advancement programs that discriminate against white Americans. The American Alliance for Equal Rights (AAER) has accused the Gates Foundation, the Lagrant Foundation, and the Creative Capital Foundation of “intentionally” excluding white people, a claim detailed in letters sent to the IRS. The AAER argues that these alleged discriminatory practices may violate federal law and provide sufficient grounds for the IRS to revoke the organisations’ tax-exempt status.”
“On Thursday, the Education Department announced it would be holding two public hearings to solicit feedback on its plans to refine the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program and income-driven repayment plans. This is part of the negotiated rulemaking process, a lengthy process federal agencies are required to undergo to change existing regulations. The department said public hearings would be held in person on April 29 and virtually on May 1.” (emphasis added)
““Our office was the backstop of the federal student loan system,” said Gittleman. “We helped people get into repayment, fix credit reporting errors, and access public service loan forgiveness.”
She described the job cuts as devastating not just to staff but also to the borrowers left behind, who now face uncertainty and potential delays in their cases. Her email access was cut off abruptly on March 11, the day the layoffs were announced. She couldn’t tie up loose ends or redirect cases.”
“Christian Alvarez made what he believes to be his 120th and final qualifying payment toward Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) on March 5. Then Alvarez, already worried about President Trump’s executive order targeting PSLF, read a news article online about the Department of Education halving its staff. Now he’s on the edge of his seat, hoping his remaining federal student loan balance — over $143,000 — is still eligible to be wiped away.”
“Departments and agencies named as defendants in the lawsuit must now return the probationary workers’ jobs to status quo by 2 p.m. Eastern on April 8, Bredar ordered. The agencies also “shall not conduct any future reductions in force (“RIFs”) — whether formally labeled as such or not” involving the affected probationary employees unless the process follows the law, Bredar wrote.
The enjoined defendants include:
The departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense (civilian employees only), Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Labor, Transportation, Treasury and Veterans Affairs, as well as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Environmental Protection Agency, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, General Services Administration, Office of Personnel Management, Small Business Administration and the U.S. Agency for International Development.
The order will remain in place while the case is pending.”
“It has been three weeks since courts ordered the Trump administration to reinstate thousands of probationary workers it terminated in a flurry of mass cuts across the federal government. Many of the workers — already off-boarded, locked out of their offices and disconnected from emails when the rulings came down — have yet to return to their jobs. While they wait to learn their fate, many probationary employees appear to have been left in the dark, with some saying they face daily uncertainty made worse by limited and confusing communications about their benefits and positions.
"I'm hoping I get my job back, but it doesn't seem that way," said one probationary worker who was fired from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and rehired because of a court mandate…About six weeks after receiving that letter, he was on administrative leave with pay and benefits. Justice Department lawyers have said that administrative leave placement is "a first part of a series of steps to reinstate probationary employees" and an "intermediate measure taken by a number of the agencies in order to return probationary employees to full duty status."”
Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives
Photo: Harris and Ewing Collection, Library of Congress
Hi Interested Public,
If you haven’t heard about last weekend’s big development, I’ve led with it below (as well as various responses that have emerged over the course of the week). In other news, the gyre continues to widen. As always, these stories and more are in the links below. Looking forward to seeing some of you in Cleveland.
“Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11 prohibits attorneys from engaging in certain unethical conduct in Federal courts. Attorneys must not present legal filings “for improper purpose[s],” including “to harass, cause unnecessary delay, or needlessly increase the cost of litigation.” FRCP 11(b)(1). Attorneys must ensure that legal arguments are “warranted by existing law or by a nonfrivolous argument for extending, modifying, or reversing existing law or for establishing new law.” FRCP 11(b)(2). And attorneys must ensure that their statements about facts are “reasonably based” on evidentiary support, or a belief that such evidence actually exists. FRCP 11(b)(3)-(b)(4).
…Unfortunately, far too many attorneys and law firms have long ignored these requirements when litigating against the Federal Government or in pursuing baseless partisan attacks. To address these concerns, I hereby direct the Attorney General to seek sanctions against attorneys and law firms who engage in frivolous, unreasonable, and vexatious litigation against the United States or in matters before executive departments and agencies of the United States.
I further direct the Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security to prioritize enforcement of their respective regulations governing attorney conduct and discipline.”
“We the undersigned bar organizations stand together with and in support of the American Bar Association to defend the rule of law and reject efforts to undermine the courts and the legal profession.
In particular, as outlined by the ABA:
We endorse the sentiments expressed by the chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court in his 2024 Year End Report on the Federal Judiciary, “[w]ithin the past year we have also seen the need for state and federal bar associations to come to the defense of a federal district judge whose decisions in a high-profile case prompted an elected official to call for her impeachment. Attempts to intimidate judges for their rulings in cases are inappropriate and should be vigorously opposed.”
We support the right of people to advance their interests in courts of law when they have been wronged. We reject the notion that the U.S. government can punish lawyers and law firms who represent certain clients or punish judges who rule certain ways. We cannot accept government actions that seek to twist the scales of justice in this manner.”
“We write to reaffirm basic principles: The government should not punish lawyers and law firms for the clients they represent, absent specific findings that such representation was illegal or unethical. Punishing lawyers for their representation and advocacy violates the First Amendment and undermines the Sixth Amendment.”
“Nowhere yet have we seen true efforts at burden-sharing between those targeted and those not (yet) in the line of fire. Perhaps this is precisely because the types of institutions that Trump is going after have long thought of themselves as autonomous entities whose mission is to take care of themselves and their own. There are some small signs of promise beginning to bubble up, like the law firms looking to file an amicus brief in support of Perkins Coie’s lawsuit against the Trump administration. But there is scope for so much more.
If journalists, lawyers, and academics are going to be able to play the role that they need to perform as bulwarks of democracy and the rule of law, they and their employers must begin to think and act in collective terms. One source of expertise lies in the people and institutions in marginalized communities throughout this country and around the globe who have had decades of experience in navigating a world where simply looking out for one’s own best interests is insufficient for individual or collective survival. ”
Conflicts Over Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility
“Judge Matthew Kennelly of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois halted the Labor Department from requiring federal contractors or grant recipients from certifying that they don’t operate any programs in violation of Trump’s anti-DEI executive orders.
That certification provision has stepped up pressure on companies and other organizations to revisit their DEI practices because if the government were to determine they violated the provision, they would be subject to crippling financial penalties under the False Claims Act.”
“Entire teams across the Education Department’s Federal Student Aid office have been brought back after initially being cut during the agency's massive reduction in force actions, according to internal documents obtained by POLITICO.”
“Although the IDR application is now available, loan servicers are still updating their systems in accordance with the court’s actions. Servicers will begin processing applications in the near future. We will continue to update this page when new information becomes available, including when servicers resume processing IDR applications.”
“USSA is back and eager to continue their long history and tradition of involving more students from universities across the nation in federal education policy.
“For the last eight years, decisions have been made on the federal level without the USSA’s voice, without student voice. We can see how that has impacted students nationwide and how student voice has not been valued because it hasn’t been present and available,” said Kalwis Lo, former legislative director for the USSA. “USSA is coming back to fill a void. That’s very necessary because [that void] has been so impactful for so many years.”
Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives
Photo: Harris and Ewing Collection, Library of Congress
Hi Interested Public,
Tough week. Via an Executive Order, Donald Trump has directed his administration to unwind the Department of Education (student loans will spin off onto the Small Business Administration). Columbia University agreed to the Trump Administration's extensive demands for its internal restructuring as an opening to its negotiations over $400 million in withheld federal funding (a tactic believed by many experts to be unlawful: [Dorf]; [Feldman]). As always, these stories and more are in the links below.
“Now, with the Trump administration intent on making an example of Columbia, Armstrong stands at the center of a fight over the future of higher education in America. The school’s board of trustees faces a Friday deadline to meet nine far-reaching demands from Trump in negotiations over federal funding.”
“Compliance would make Columbia complicit in its own destruction, stripping shared control of academic and student affairs from the faculty and administration and replacing the deliberative practices and structures of the university with peremptory fiats from outside the institution,” the AAUP chapter said in a statement Tuesday. “We see no evidence that compliance would assuage the hostility of the White House.”
“A federal judge on Thursday ordered Columbia University and Barnard College to refrain from complying with a Republican-led House committee’s demand for student disciplinary records, at least until he holds a hearing next week on a request by Mahmoud Khalil and other students for a temporary restraining order.”
“The Trump administration laid out nine demands for the university to meet as a precondition to start talks about the federal funding. On top of those nine demands, Columbia now says it is already taking additional actions to encourage more intellectual diversity at the historically left-leaning institution.
…
A Columbia senior administrator said the school considered legal options to challenge the Trump team but ultimately determined the federal government has so many available levers to claw back money, it would be a difficult fight. Additionally the school believed there was considerable overlap between needed campus changes and Trump’s demands.
…
Schools nationwide are watching Columbia with alarm; many fear a demand for similar concessions. Their primary concern: without freedom to follow their intellectual curiosity, the discoveries and innovations that fuel the U.S.’s economy will decline or even grind to a halt.”
“A college president phone me the other day to ask for advice…he wanted to know what he could learn from my time as president of Central European University when Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, tried to expel us from Budapest.
…
I told him to frame his fight to gain as many allies as he can. Mobilize your alumni networks. Enlist families whose children’s lives have been saved in your hospitals; reach out to companies that have commercialized your research, make contact with universities in red and blue states, public and private, who face the same threat. Do it fast. Make sure your campaign is not just about you, because that opens you to attack as a defender of privilege. Make the case to the public that these attacks are senseless assaults on institutions that promote what America is famous for: life-saving science and world-class innovation.”
Conflicts Over Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility
“The first five repealed pieces of guidance reference COVID-19 conditions including mask exemption policies, access to resources that help disabled employees explain their rights, and regulations for a medical or family aide in hospital settings, in addition to rules for street eateries to remain ADA compliant.”
“Until recently, it was a little-known program to help Black and Latino students pursue business degrees. But in January, conservative strategist Christopher Rufo flagged the program known as The PhD Project in social media posts that caught the attention of Republican politicians. The program is now at the center of a Trump administration campaign to root out diversity, equity and inclusion programs in higher education. The U.S. Education Department last week said it was investigating dozens of universities for alleged racial discrimination, citing ties to the nonprofit organization…The investigations left some school leaders startled and confused, wondering what prompted the inquiries. Many scrambled to distance themselves from The PhD Project, which has aimed to help diversify the business world and higher education faculty.”
“This legal-aid network, substantially funded by LSC, has a 50-year history of advancing a radical agenda on controversial subjects such as racial preferences, transgenderism, homelessness, illegal immigration, and the growth of the welfare state. Where possible, legal-aid attorneys have sued in court; on other occasions, they have used advocacy tools outside the courthouse. Their efforts, in league with activist judges, have radicalized American society and institutions, undermining values and interests of the vast middle class. As Trump looks to eliminate wasteful and politicized spending, he needs to pick up where Reagan left off a generation ago, and this time the White House and Congress need to get the job done.”
“Today, we take a very historic action that was 45 years in the making,” he said at a signing ceremony at the East Room of the White House that included multiple school-age children sitting at classroom desks. “I will sign an executive order to begin eliminating the federal Department of Education.”
“The department’s useful functions … will be preserved, fully preserved,” Trump added, referring to Pell Grants, Title I funding and programs for students with disabilities. “They’re going to be preserved in full and redistributed to various other agencies and departments.”
“In declarations from 18 departments or agencies, officials said roughly 25,000 federal workers had been terminated across the government. Their disclosures are the largest insight yet into mass reductions that have become the signature focus of President Donald Trump's first 100 days in office. Agency officials were required to file the declarations by Monday night in a Maryland case brought by 20 Democratic state attorneys general who allege that the mass firings were illegal.”
“Recent reduction-in-force actions taken by the General Services Administration “have the potential to create both immediate and long-term effects on court operations and the services provided by GSA,” Paul Gamble, chief of the facilities and security office of the Administrative Office of the US Courts, wrote in a Monday memo.”
“The Department of Homeland Security is dismantling the office that investigates civil rights violations in immigrant enforcement and other departmental work as President Donald Trump aims to downsize federal agencies. Employees in the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties received news of the closure in a meeting Friday afternoon, according to a Senate aide and four people in the meeting or briefed on it in real time.”
“Trump administration lawyers insist that the IRS and other federal agencies have acted within their authority when they ordered waves of mass terminations since Trump took office. But according to previously unreported emails obtained by ProPublica, a top lawyer at the IRS warned administration officials that the performance-related language in his agency’s termination letter was “a false statement” that amounted to “fraud” if the agency kept the language in the letter.”
Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives
Photo: Harris and Ewing Collection, Library of Congress
Hi Interested Public,
Here we are again, riding out another turbulent week. Until last night, I would have highlighted for you the Trump administration’s efforts to halve the Department of Education and its Executive Order aiming to restrict access to Public Service Loan Forgiveness. (Both discussed below.) Instead, though, I’m leading by calling your attention to events that unfolded just last night as the Trump administration continues its efforts to condition federal funding for education on universities’ willingness to adopt increasingly intrusive policy directives.
“The letter stated that the University must comply with required policy shifts, listing nine bullet points…The letter demands that the University abolish the University Judicial Board and “centralize all disciplinary processes under the Office of the President,” empowering the Office of the President to suspend or expel students. The letter introduces a precondition that Columbia Public Safety officers have “full law enforcement authority, including arrest and removal of agitators.”
…Compliance would also require that the University begin the process of placing the Middle East, South Asian, and African studies department under academic receivership—a process that requires an outside chair to run the department—for a minimum of five years.
…It further demands the implementation of “time, place, and manner rules,” including a “plan to hold all student groups accountable,” and “a plan for comprehensive admissions reform.” It additionally adds a demand for the adoption and promotion of a formal definition of antisemitism.”
“Per the Kalven Report, “From time to time instances will arise in which the society, or segments of it, threaten the very mission of the university and its values of free inquiry. In such a crisis, it becomes the obligation of the university as an institution to oppose such measures and actively to defend its interests and its values.” We note the characterization here of the university’s role as an “obligation” and the characterization of executing this obligation as “active defense.” We believe it is clear what such an active defense entails in the present moment:”
Conflicts Over Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility
“Last month, a federal judge issued an injunction blocking President Donald Trump’s administration from implementing multiple executive orders designed to purge the government of anything related to diversity — including an order to prohibit contractors and grant recipients from doing literally anything to promote the concepts of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) within their organizations.
…After the judge clarified on Monday that his injunction does, indeed, bar the whole federal government from enforcing Trump’s anti-diversity orders, the administration hasn’t bothered to inform various nonprofits and grant recipients they do not currently have to comply with the president’s orders, according to two of the sources. The new contract terms the Trump administration attempted to foist on these organizations and recipients remain on their desks, with the threats about failure to sign still dangling over them.” [emphasis added]
“By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered:
…The Secretary of Education shall propose revisions to 34 C.F.R. 685.219, Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, in coordination with the Secretary of the Treasury as appropriate, that ensure the definition of “public service” excludes organizations that engage in activities that have a substantial illegal purpose, including:
(a) aiding or abetting violations of 8 U.S.C. 1325 or other Federal immigration laws;
(b) supporting terrorism, including by facilitating funding to, or the operations of, cartels designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations consistent with 8 U.S.C. 1189, or by engaging in violence for the purpose of obstructing or influencing Federal Government policy;
(c) child abuse, including the chemical and surgical castration or mutilation of children or the trafficking of children to so-called transgender sanctuary States for purposes of emancipation from their lawful parents, in violation of applicable law;
(d) engaging in a pattern of aiding and abetting illegal discrimination; or
(e) engaging in a pattern of violating State tort laws, including laws against trespassing, disorderly conduct, public nuisance, vandalism, and obstruction of highways.”
“President Trump’s executive order limiting the PSLF program cannot be implemented immediately. Under the program's governing statute, a president does not have the authority to unilaterally change its operation. Instead, the order directs the Department of Education to revise the PSLF program regulations to enact the set of restrictions. As a practical matter, even if this happens, it will take a while…But such wholesale changes to PSLF regulations may be illegal, even if the Department of Education follows each required procedural step perfectly. That’s because the statute governing PSLF does not give the president or the Department of Education discretion to limit PSLF eligibility, particularly for 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations or government entities, based on an organization’s activities.
…In addition, the wording of President Trump’s executive order is so broad that, if incorporated fully into new PSLF regulations, could easily be read to allow for sweeping restrictions on PSLF eligibility that may amount to constitutional violations, such as freedom of speech and association.”
“with the application websites down, he said he is “unable to progress towards forgiveness and with the application site down. I can’t restart them on a different repayment plan. I’m not even sure if my current employment is going to count towards repayment at this point.”
As the potential shuttering of the department of education looms, Pierce noted that “the worst things that could happen are already happening right now, and we don’t need to wait for the education department to shuffle the deck chairs around on the Titanic”.”
“The judge made clear the Trump administration, like any other, can engage in mass reductions of the federal workforce, but it must do so by following federal statutes and the Constitution. The Office of Personnel Management directed agencies to carry out the firings, Alsup concluded, which he said circumvented those established procedures.
…“The reason that OPM had wanted to put this based on performance was at least in my view a gimmick to avoid the [RIF laws],” the judge said.
He added: "It’s a sad, sad day when our government would fire a good employee and say it’s based on performance when they know good and well that is based on a lie."”
Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives
Photo: Harris and Ewing Collection, Library of Congress
Hi Interested Public,
Here we are again, hanging together yet (I hope). Major stories among the editor’s choices–including a letter out of Georgetown Law that’s worth a close look. In other news, the Trump Administration is planning a “final mission” for the Department of Education, which may include spinning student debt off onto the Small Business Administration. OPM has revised its instructions to federal agencies regarding probationary employees, and the Department of Defense has announced it will look at its independent authority to implement the employment policies laid out in Executive Orders along the lines formerly prescribed by OMB. The New York Times is working to track employees fired–and rehired–across the federal government, and state and local governments are stepping into the breach to try and catch employees cut from the federal civil service. As always, these stories and more are in the links below.
“OAH is launching an oral history initiative to document the experiences of federal workers and federal contractors affected by these shifts. These recorded histories will serve as a vital resource for historians and the public, offering insight into the lives and contributions of our nation’s federal workers, and documenting these stories for future generations.”
“Your letter challenges Georgetown’s ability to define our mission as an educational institution. It inquires about Georgetown Law’s curriculum and classroom teaching, asks whether diversity, equity, and inclusion is part of the curriculum, and asserts that your office will not hire individuals from schools where you find the curriculum ‘unacceptable’. The First Amendment, however, guarantees that the government cannot direct what Georgetown and its faculty teach and how to teach it…This is a bedrock principle of constitutional law–recognized not only by the courts, but by the administration in which you serve. The Department of Education confirmed last week that it cannot restrict First Amendment rights and that it is statutorily prohibited from ‘exercising control over the content of school curricula.’
Your letter informs me that your office will deny our students and graduates government employment opportunities until you, as Interim United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, approve of our curriculum. Given the First Amendment’s protection of a university’s freedom to determine its own curriculum and how to deliver it, the constitutional violation behind this threat is clear, as is the attack on the University’s mission as a Jesuit and Catholic institution.
…Georgetown-educated attorneys have, for decades, served this country capably and selflessly in offices such as yours, and we have confidence that tradition will continue. We look forward to your confirming that any Georgetown-affiliated candidates for employment with your office will receive full and fair consideration.”
“The terminations of federal workers by the Trump administration’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency — headed up by billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk — may ultimately stretch into the hundreds of thousands. That would amount to the largest mass layoff in U.S. history. The scale of cuts would likely “overwhelm” the Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) program, the “rarely utilized and creaky” system most federal workers use to claim unemployment benefits, according to a report by The Century Foundation, a progressive think tank. ”
Conflicts Over Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility
“Since taking office, the Trump administration has issued orders that threaten to broadly undercut the financial foundation of university based research, including deep reductions in overhead cost reimbursements through the National Institutes of Health. Court challenges have paused some of the cuts, but universities are bracing for uncertainty…In some cases, schools are pre-emptively cutting their expenses as a precautionary measure…
‘I hate to sound fatalistic,’ said Dr. Cooper, who specializes in the study of limb development. ‘But at this point I think they’re trying to break the academic enterprise. And cutting academic science has impacts on the educational mission of the entire university.’”
“Specifically, he said he hopes to shift Federal Student Aid to the Small Business Administration, which provides financial and counseling assistance to entrepreneurs. Linda McMahon, who was confirmed Monday by the U.S. Senate to lead the Education Department, previously ran the SBA during Trump's first term.”
“A draft of the executive order that circulated on Wednesday recognizes that the president does not have the power to shutter the Education Department…Rather, the draft calls on Education Secretary Linda McMahon to ‘take all necessary steps’ to facilitate the closure of the department ‘to the maximum extent appropriate and permitted by law.’”
“President Trump has moved swiftly to wage his war on the federal bureaucracy, defying norms and legal limits…This page will be updated periodically as numbers are confirmed.”
“In revised guidance issued to the heads of federal agencies, the Office of Personnel Management ― the human resources agency of the federal government ― tries to rewrite history by claiming it never actually ordered agencies to fire probationary employees (people who generally have held their jobs for a year or less)…Instead, OPM claims it’s been up to each agency all along to decide who to fire…OPM’s guidance doesn’t say anything about federal agencies being encouraged to rehire all the people who were fired…Separately, the memo spells out how agencies can use administrative leave as a way to remove employees from the workplace. It gives agencies until Sept. 13 to update their internal policies to comply with OPM’s regulations on this.” [emphasis added]
“Consistent with [EO 13217, EO 14210,] and the Secretary of Defense’s clear direction to streamline operations and…re-direct scarce and limited resources…the Department is taking independent steps to reduce the size of the civilian workforce…The first step in doing this will be terminating those probationary employees whose continued employment at the Department would not be in the public interest. These terminations will commence on Monday, March 3, 2025.” [emphasis added]
“Even as the Trump administration continues to slash federal jobs, a number of federal agencies have begun to reverse course — reinstating some workers and pausing plans to dismiss others, sometimes within days of the firings. The Office of Personnel Management on Tuesday revised earlier guidance calling for probationary workers to be terminated, adding a disclaimer that agencies would have the final authority over personnel actions. It is unclear how many more workers could be reinstated as a result.”
Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives
Photo: Harris and Ewing Collection, Library of Congress
Hi Interested Public,
Another breathless week. Federal employees received an email last weekend to which they either did or did not need to respond, which either would or would not result in their termination; they may receive another this coming weekend. Courts continue to issue orders against sweeping changes to the federal bureaucracy. The Merit Systems Protection Board and the federal judiciary have begun to weigh in on the administration’s tactic of terminating probationary employees for “performance” issues without naming what those issues might be. Trans service-members are set to be ejected from the US military, universities are beginning to scale back their future spending plans in the face of federal funding uncertainty, and income-driven repayment plans are no longer available on the Department of Education’s website.
“As professors of legal studies, we’ve taken a close look at the “Dear Colleague” letter. Here’s how the letter infringes on free speech, misunderstands the law and undermines education.”
“But the judge did not order the reinstatement of any fired workers, saying he was powerless to do so.
…The San Francisco-based judge, however, did order OPM to rescind any directives it has issued requiring the mass terminations. OPM also must inform several agencies that it has no power to dictate firings across the federal bureaucracy.
…Alsup, an appointee of President Bill Clinton, concluded that OPM advised the agencies to falsely claim the employees were fired for “performance” issues.
“That’s just not right in our country, is it, that we would run our agencies with lies like that and stain somebody’s record for the rest of their life?” Alsup said as he issued his ruling from the bench after a court hearing in a lawsuit brought by labor unions and organizations whose members are served by agencies hobbled by the mass terminations. “Who’s going to want to work in a government that would do that?”” [emphasis added]
“In response to the latest ruling, last Friday the department took down the online applications for IDR plans and for Direct loan consolidations. It appeared for several days that borrowers could still apply for these plans via a paper application, available for download through the Department of Education’s forms library. But then this week, the department removed the paper IDR application from the forms library – leaving borrowers with no means of applying for these plans. This could have profound implications for millions of student loan borrowers.”
“Each Phase 1 ARRP should identify…3. All agency components and employees performing functions not mandated by statute or regulation who are not typically designated as essential during a lapse in appropriations”
[Ed. Note: RIFs based on these Agency RIF and Reorganization Plans would essentially place the federal workforce in a permanent state of shutdown. Cf. OPM, “Guidance for Shutdown Furloughs” at 1.]
Conflicts Over Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility
“Right-wing activist Christopher Rufo had first reported on the matter on X earlier on Tuesday, noting that the DNI sent out a memo ordering all intelligence agencies to identify the employees involved in these chats…Gabbard responded to Rufo’s tweet saying the memo has been sent and added: “We know who they are. Action is underway.””
“It’s certainly true that the wealthiest schools, starved of federal funding, would find a way to continue paying for science. But most schools do not possess the kind of resources that Harvard, Yale, and Johns Hopkins do, nor can the relative handful of extremely wealthy institutions be expected to fund scientific research for the entire country. The vast majority of NIH money goes to institutions that, without federal support, would likely be forced to shut down most or all of their medical research.”
“It is important to note that Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) is established separately in statute and is not threatened by legal challenges to the SAVE plan.”
“House Republicans on Tuesday successfully passed a budget resolution that paves the way for trillions of dollars in tax cuts, which lawmakers hope to offset with significant reductions in federal spending. The move allows lawmakers to proceed with plans to draft legislation that would cut up to $330 billion in education-related spending, in part by slashing federal student loan forgiveness and repayment plan programs.”
“We don’t know the ultimate outcome in the case yet, but it did give the Trump administration what it wanted: not to issue the payments on Wednesday. Given what has happened here, it is a particularly concerning sign about Roberts’s willingness to support the independence of federal courts…The chief justice of the United States allowed an ongoing and increasingly bad-faith effort to distort and sidestep a district court’s temporary restraining order to work…While the Supreme Court might ultimately reject DOJ’s argument, allowing Ali to proceed with enforcing the TRO, the Trump administration’s effort to avoid court order compliance worked the first time in the new administration when Roberts was the last person standing between the administration and a deadline.”
“AliKhan had previously issued a temporary restraining order that prevented the Trump administration from freezing federal assistance while she considered the nonprofits' request for injunctive relief.”
“Acting Commissioner Lee Dudek called the closures of the Office of Transformation on Monday and the Office of Civil Rights and Equal Opportunity on Tuesday part of an effort to eliminate wasteful and duplicative offices…A spokesman for the Social Security Administration said about 50 people in the Office of Transformation and about 140 people in the Office of Civil Rights and Equal Opportunity have been placed on administrative leave.”
“Federal workers are slated to receive a second email Saturday asking them for a bullet-point description of what they did in the past week — only this time, a new strategy from the Trump administration means they might have to respond, according to three people familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private talks.”
Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives
Photo: Harris and Ewing Collection, Library of Congress
Hi Interested Public,
It’s been a cold, cold week. Aside from my editor’s choices below, I’d like to call everyone’s attention to the “Dear Colleague” letter issued by the Department of Education last weekend (see “Changes at the Department of Education”). Despite multiple court orders directing the Trump Administration to reverse its “funding pause” policies, continued interruptions in federal funding have begun to affect immigration legal services and hiring in higher education. Meanwhile, federal reductions in force expanded into several additional agencies over the course of the week.
“We are law professors who study and teach antidiscrimination law, education law, employment law, constitutional law, and civil rights…This memo explains why common DEI initiatives remain legally defensible notwithstanding President Trump’s January 21, 2025 Executive Order titled “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity” (the “J21 EO”) and related agency communications like the Department of Education’s February 14 Dear Colleague Letter (the “DCL”).
…We urge university leaders to respond confidently, with both law and moral principle on your side, and not to sacrifice essential and legally defensible DEI initiatives that help universities fulfill their most basic mission to pursue truth and knowledge for the common good.”
“Phase 1 focuses on rescissions of Biden administration executive orders related to DEI and shutting down targeted agencies. Phase 2 consists of placing on leave employees in non-DEI roles — who DOGE determines are somehow tied to DEI — as well as other employees working at offices whose existence is mandated by law. Phase 3 is slated to include large-scale firings, the documents show. The nation is now in DOGE’s Phase 2, which is scheduled to last until Wednesday [Feb 19], according to the documents.
…The final steps listed in the documents call for large-scale firings. DOGE intends for the Trump administration to terminate all DEI-linked employees via a Reduction In Force, or RIF, the government form of layoffs. Positions to be cut include employees in non-DEI positions and people working in offices required by law. The documents note the possibility of legal challenges and state: ‘We are exploring options for this.’”
“The board is planning to fight Trump’s order, three of those people told The Washington Post. In an emergency meeting Thursday, the board retained outside counsel and gave instructions to sue the White House if the president were to remove members of the board or attempt to alter the agency’s independent status…Trump’s order to place the Commerce Department in charge of the Postal Service would probably violate federal law, according to postal experts.”
Conflicts Over Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility
“The Trump administration issued an order on 27 January freezing payment on all federal grants and loans, but lawsuits challenging its legality were filed soon after, placing the order on hold. The fact that payments still aren’t going out because Trump’s team has halted grant-review meetings is exploiting a “loophole” in the process, says Aaron Hoskins, an RNA biochemist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who has had to reconsider hiring graduate students because of a frozen grant application. “It’s really quite nefarious.”
Some legal scholars say this ‘backdoor’ approach to freezing funding is illegal.”
“Even some of the wealthiest universities in the nation have already frozen hiring, paused graduate admissions and taken other actions as officials estimate the potential damage if the National Institutes of Health plan to cap reimbursements for indirect research costs moves ahead.”
“Although SFFA addressed admissions decisions, the Supreme Court’s holding applies more broadly. At its core, the test is simple: If an educational institution treats a person of one race differently than it treats another person because of that person’s race, the educational institution violates the law. Federal law thus prohibits covered entities from using race in decisions pertaining to admissions, hiring, promotion, compensation, financial aid, scholarships, prizes, administrative support, discipline, housing, graduation ceremonies, and all other aspects of student, academic, and campus life. Put simply, educational institutions may neither separate or segregate students based on race, nor distribute benefits or burdens based on race.” [emphasis added]
“Some top US law schools have dropped mentions of diversity from their websites as academic centers face a compliance deadline to ensure continued federal funding…The changes come as schools, businesses and nonprofits look for ways to adapt to heightened scrutiny of their diversity, equity and inclusion practices. Law schools are required to adhere to the American Bar Association’s DEI standards by its accrediting body. Schools are facing a Feb. 28 deadline to ensure their DEI policies, initiatives and programs do not violate federal law or risk their federal funding, according to a Feb. 14 letter from Craig Trainor, the acting assistant secretary for Civil Rights at the Education Department.”
“‘I think that the creation of chaos certainly seems intentional,’ Kayleigh Baker, an attorney and senior consultant with TNG Consulting, told Law.com. ‘That makes it very hard for everyone to catch their breath and figure out the actual implications of any one set of materials.’”
“The Interior Department sent a stop-work order to the nonprofit Acacia Center for Justice on Tuesday, cutting off funding for “all activities” under Acacia’s federal contract to provide legal services for unaccompanied migrants younger than 18, according to the text of the letter obtained by NBC News…It is unclear why the most recent stop-work order, the second the Acacia Center for Justice has received in recent weeks, was issued. In January, the Justice Department issued a stop-work order to four legal access and education programs for immigrants run by the Acacia Center, but the Justice Department lifted it after a judge issued a temporary restraining order stemming from a lawsuit against the Trump administration.”
“A federal judge on Thursday ordered Trump administration officials to comply with his earlier order that they lift a freeze of nearly all foreign aid, though he stopped short of holding them in contempt of court.”
“The fight illustrates how efforts by DOGE and OMB to slash the federal bureaucracy are poised to create conflicts with industries and interests that Republican lawmakers hold dear. The confrontation is also the latest test of Capitol Hill’s power in the second Trump era, and a new front for lawmakers who have a direct say over federal spending.
…It’s an awkward position for GOP lawmakers who have otherwise voiced support for DOGE.
…But when it comes to government waste, Republican lawmakers are beginning to see things differently as constituents in red states speak out. Many are waiting to see if the courts strike down some of DOGE and OMB’s actions, according to a senior Republican Hill aide granted anonymity to discuss party dynamics.
Some Republicans are “chafing about the basis of [the] executive doing it rather than it being done by Congress,” said the aide.”
“Late last week, just as Presidents’ Day weekend was starting, Donald Trump and Elon Musk purged hundreds of Federal Aviation Administration employees — including multiple lawyers whose job was to help prevent pilots with drug and alcohol problems from getting in the cockpit, knowledgeable sources tell Rolling Stone.
According to a person familiar with the matter and another source briefed on it, the mass job cuts at the FAA hit multiple legal offices at the agency, which is part of the Department of Transportation. Different kinds of lawyers were abruptly let go, blindsiding numerous staffers and officials who could not see much rhyme or reason to these dismissals.”
“One SBA employee who received a termination notice for poor performance said the letter arrived despite not yet working a single day for the agency. Others said they had only received outstanding grades in their performance reviews.”
“On Reddit, one poster encouraged federal employees to think with a view to the public record. They should write letters, the poster urged, on behalf of the “trashed colleagues”. It was imperative to put on paper that these colleagues “did indeed have good performance despite the firing”.
The poster offered a list of reasons to write these letters, among them that references help workers get new jobs. But the biggest reason to praise colleagues who have been fired under false pretenses is that, as the poster wrote, “it’s the truth.”
“previous administrations have allowed so-called “independent regulatory agencies” to operate with minimal Presidential supervision…The Director of OMB shall establish performance standards and management objectives for independent agency heads, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, and report periodically to the President on their performance and efficiency in attaining such standards and objectives.”
“Earlier this month, however, these permanent workers were suddenly told by NSF that their one-year probationary period should have been two years and they were no longer safe from being terminated. The Trump administration has ordered federal agencies to fire nearly all probationary employees who had not yet gained permanent status, thereby receiving civil service protections. But NSF workers who believed they were safe suddenly found themselves without jobs today.” [emphasis added]
“‘EOIR has determined that retaining you is not in the best interest of the Agency,’ the letter read.
Doyle, who grew up in Chelmsford, is one of more than 20 judges across the nation fired by the Trump administration in recent weeks, 13 of whom had yet to be sworn in and who were dismissed last Friday, according to Matthew Biggs, president of the International Federation of Professional & Technical Engineers, a union representing federal workers, including some immigration judges.”
Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives
Photo: Harris and Ewing Collection, Library of Congress
Hi Interested Public,
The news continues to pile up with increasing bite. Last night was hard. I don’t know what this evening and this weekend will have in store, but hopefully we’ll have a chance to unpack it together next week. For the time being, here are the stories worth sharing. Our overall framework for understanding this moment has grown a bit from last week. In particular, I’ve introduced a section on “Academic Funding Restrictions” which may surprise some of you. I hope the pull quote I’ve provided will illustrate why it seems worthwhile to pay careful attention to dramatic changes in the funding ecosystem for university staff on the STEM side of things as well.
“Elements of the judicial branch, including public defender offices, have been caught up in the Trump administration’s headlong rush to terminate thousands of leases of government office space, TPM has learned. Unlike the vast majority of federal workers whose office leases are under review for termination, public defenders are not executive branch employees. They work for the judicial branch…Some federal public defenders’ offices received a notice last week from the General Services Administration titled “Right-sizing the Federal Inventory.” The notice, obtained by TPM, was issued by acting GSA Administrator Stephen Ehikian and asked recipients to indicate whether terminating the lease on a given office will leave their mission “irreparably compromised,” and whether the location “directly serves the public.””
“The Shapiro administration on Thursday [2/13] sued the federal government over its implementation of President Donald Trump’s executive orders, challenging a freeze of federal funding and saying state agencies can’t access $1.2 billion and face roadblocks on $900 million more.”
“What [Dep. Asst. Comm. for Federal Disbursement Services, BFS] Vona Robinson is saying is that the Trump administration has already reached beyond stopping payments from agencies they do not like to stopping specific appropriations they do not like regardless of the agency doing the spending…What the officials at the agency are “supposed to be” doing according to the Trump administration is reviewing them for “violations” of the president’s executive orders which unconstitutionally order sweeping spending freezes. Thus, this process is operationally elevating executive orders above all other laws.” [Ed. Note: Executive Orders are not laws.]
Conflicts Over Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility
“[Q:] What kind of financial trade offs would administrators have to consider under this policy?
[A:] There are a lot of numbers floating around from different institutions as to how much they would be cut. But a lot of the larger ones would have to find $150 [million] or even $200 million every year to replace the money that they're getting from the federal government. The choices that they have are all pretty bleak. They'd have to cut other programs in order to fill that hole in, which could affect any discipline or any function of the university. Or they would have to cut corners in the way they administer the research, which could create all kinds of problems with accounting or noncompliance with the government's regulations.” [emphasis added]
“Some experts have speculated that the Treasury Department would be the next most logical agency to administer student debt. However, it’s uncertain whether Treasury would be as focused on students as the Education Department, said former U.S. Under Secretary of Education James Kvaal.
“People take out student loans at a very young age, and Congress created all these benefits that are available on student loans that aren’t available on other types of credit,” Kvaal said. “There’s a question if the Treasury would have the same ethic of prioritizing students.”
Instead, “Would they [the Treasury] prioritize loan collection?” Kvaal asked.”
“A new chatbot would answer questions from student borrowers…But transitioning into using generative A.I. for student aid help, as a replacement for some or all human call center workers, is likely to raise questions around privacy, accuracy and equal access to devices, according to technology experts.”
“[T]he internet is buzzing with speculation as TikTokers claim that student loans could be forgiven following allegations that Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) illegally accessed private student data…"Let me be clear: there is no legal pathway right now for loan forgiveness due to a FERPA violation," said Andrew Miltenberg, a legal expert specializing in education law.” [emphasis added]
“According to an Energy Department official, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) had suggested the agency use a template that cited "performance reasons" as the cause of the firings. The official said the Energy Department letter had removed that phrasing because many of the employees had performed well during their probationary period. The Energy Department's press office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.”
“For some of these students, the fact that these jobs were pulled may make the difference of whether they ever become a practicing attorney or not,” said Nikia Gray, NALP’s executive director. “This is happening at a really critical juncture in their career development.”
“President Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order that will require federal agencies to severely curtail hiring once the current freeze is lifted and develop new plans to implement widespread layoffs across government. The order will place Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency at the center of the efforts, reinforcing a demand Trump issued on his first day in office. The renewed effort for cuts is the latest salvo in the Trump administration’s battle to significantly shrink the federal workforce and diminish government capacity. ”
“Goggin is among roughly 75,000 federal employees who agreed to resign, according to OPM. But she is also one of an unknown number of people who have since learned they can't take the deal, because their positions are exempt.”
Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives
Photo: Harris and Ewing Collection, Library of Congress
Hi Everyone,
The news continues to pile up. I’ve pulled back from as-it-happens updates on NALP Connect to try and provide more of a week-end synthesis. Let me know how that works for you. The Public Service Section had a useful “huddle” last Monday where we sketched out a helpful framework for understanding the dramatic changes burning across the federal administrative state. Since we talked that framework through (on Monday), I need to add an additional prong to the “2025 Federal Reductions in Force” list, based on a new OPM memo regarding “performance management data” (see below). (For background on each of these categories, please consult the last two editions of the Digest.)
“The General Services Administration (GSA) reportedly sent out notice on Tuesday that it plans to sell half of the federal property it manages—a move that appears to contradict Donald Trump's and Elon Musk's plans to get federal employees to return to in-person work in the office.”
“President Donald Trump is reportedly finalizing an Executive Order that would attempt to dismantle the Department of Education, which would fulfill a campaign promise as he seeks to shrink the size of the federal government. As Trump tests the limits of his presidential authority, experts say the abolishment of the agency would be difficult, though not impossible. ”
“Pursuant to the President’s direction…OPM is developing new performance metrics for evaluating the federal workforce…no later than Friday, March 7, 2025, all agencies should submit data regarding their performance management plans and policies—including those contained in collective bargaining agreements—and identify any barriers to ensuring that 1) agency performance plans make meaningful distinctions based on relative employee performance and 2) the agency has the ability to swiftly terminate poor performing employees who cannot or will not improve.”
“an email, which has been viewed by CBS News, warn[ed] they could be immediately fired because of their probationary status as an employee with less than a year in their current role.”
“the move seems to be focused on making it easier for the government to install outsiders — potentially from the tech industry or those associated with Elon Musk — into the CIO role, similar to the ongoing and highly controversial activities led by the Department of Government Efficiency.”
Administrative Leave for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility, and Environmental Justice Employees
“[Q:] One thing that really has struck me about the new administration’s tactics so far is this extremely aggressive use of paid administrative leave. Career officials who’ve resisted DOGE’s demands have been quickly put on administrative leave. So were government officials working on DEI. Nearly all of the staff of USAID, the US Agency for International Development, has met that fate.
[A:] This is very strange and likely illegal. Federal law limits administrative leave to 10 workdays per year. So they will be exhausting the cap very quickly for many of these people. Normal administrations use it the way normal businesses use it, as a patch for a variety of problems….This is making strategic use of it on a vastly grander scale and there’s simply no legal authority for that.”
“As of 11:59 p.m. ET Friday, “all USAID direct hire personnel will be placed on administrative leave globally, with the exception of designated personnel responsible for mission-critical functions, core leadership and specially designated programs,” said a statement posted on the USAID website, which is back online after going dark last week.”
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