Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives

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.

Stay strong and stay in touch,

Sam

Editor’s Choice(s)

• DEI Programs Are Lawful Under Federal Civil Rights Laws and Supreme Court Precedent (Legal Memo from various law professors to “Colleagues, University Offices of General Counsel, and University Leaders”; 20 Feb 2025)

  “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.”

• See inside DOGE’s playbook for eliminating DEI (Washington Post; 15 Feb 2025)

  “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.’”

• Trump expected to take control of USPS, fire postal board, officials say (Washington Post; 21 Feb 2025)

  “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

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

Academic Funding Reductions

• Revealed: NIH research grants still frozen despite lawsuits challenging Trump order (Nature; 20 Feb 2025)

  “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.”

• Federal Funding Uncertainty Prompts Hiring Freezes (Inside Higher Ed; 19 Feb 2025)

  “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.”

Changes at the Department of Education

• Trump’s Pick to Lead ED Advances Through Committee (NASFAA; 21 Feb 2025)

• Dear Colleague Letter: Title VI of the Civil Rights Act in Light of Students for Fair Admission vs. Harvard (Dept. of Ed. Office for Civil Rights; 14 Feb 2025) [4 pages long]

  “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]

  • Law Schools Are Dropping 'Diversity' From Their DEI Branding (Bloomberg Law; 20 Feb 2025)

    “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.”

  • Despite Breakneck Changes to DEI on Campus, Counsel for Schools Shouldn’t Feel Rushed, Lawyers Advise (Law.com; 20 Feb 2025)

    “‘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.’”

Spending “Pauses”

• Legal organizations told to stop federally funded work for unaccompanied migrant children (NBC News; 19 Feb 2025)

  “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.”

• Texas' largest immigrant legal aid group is firing dozens, citing Trump funding freeze (San Antonio Express-News; 20 Feb 2025)

  • Judge again orders US to unfreeze foreign aid, stops short of contempt (Reuters; 20 Feb 2025)

    “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.”

2025 Federal Reductions in Force

• Trump’s cuts hit red states, triggering GOP pushback (Politico; 14 Feb 2025)

  “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.”

• Trump and Elon’s ‘Pointless Bloodbath’ at the FAA Is Even Worse Than You Think (Rolling Stone; 21 Feb 2025)

  “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.”

• Fired and rehired: the dizzying confusion of Trump's government overhaul (Reuters; 21 Feb 2025)

“Performance Management”

• Trump administration directs agencies to fire recent hires en masse (Government Executive; 13 Feb 2024)

  “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.”

• Civil servants are leading the American resistance – with GameStop as a guide (The Guardian; 20 Feb 2024)

  “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.”

• “Ensuring Accountability for All Agencies” (Executive Order; 18 Feb 2025)

  “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.”

Hiring Freeze

• As Defense preps for mass firings, Hegseth says a hiring freeze and more firings are coming (Defense One; 20 Feb 2025)

Probationary Employee “Purge”

• National Science Foundation Fires 168 Workers as Federal Purge Continues (Wired; 18 Feb 2025)

  “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]

• ‘It makes no logical sense’: A Mass. immigration judge is among more than 20 fired by Trump administration (Boston Globe; 18 Feb 2025)

  “‘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.”

• IRS cuts over 6,000 jobs in the middle of tax season (NPR; 20 Feb 2025)

• The Social Security Administration meant job stability. Not anymore. (Baltimore Banner; 20 Feb 2025)

• Social Security offers 40 probationary feds reassignments to avert blanket firings (Government Executive; 20 Feb 2025)

  • Laid Off Federal Workers: Hawaiʻi Governor Wants You For State Vacancies (Honolulu Civil Beat; 18 Feb 2025)

Deferred Resignation (“Fork in the Road”)

• These feds took Trump’s ‘fork’ deal. Then they got fired — creating a government ‘mess.’ (Washington Post; 21 Feb 2025)

Other Topics

• What Sway Does the Nonprofit Lobby Have in Trump 2.0? (Chronicle of Philanthropy; 21 Feb 2025)

Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives

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.

Stay strong and stay in touch,

Sam

Editor’s Choice(s)

• EXCLUSIVE: Judicial Branch Swept Up In Trump-Musk Lease Termination Spree (Talking Points Memo; 12 Feb 2025)

  “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.””

OMB Spending “Pause”

• Federal funding freeze sparks chaos for nonprofits in poorest, most rural states: ‘Huge step backwards’ (AP; 14 Feb 2025)

• The Courts Blocked Trump’s Federal Funding Freeze. Agencies Are Withholding Money Anyway. (Pro Publica; 10 Feb 2025)

• Gov. Shapiro and Pa. agencies sue federal government over Trump administration funding freeze (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; 13 Feb 2025)

  “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.”

• Day Thirteen of the Trump-Musk Treasury Payments Crisis of 2025: Bombshell Court Filings Confirm Wired & Notes on the Crises Reporting & Raise Alarms About BFS-Based Impoundment (Notes on the Crises; 12 Feb 2025)

  “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

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

Academic Funding Reductions

• What National Institutes of Health funding cuts could mean for U.S. universities (NPR; 12 Feb 2025)

  “[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]

• Judge Orders Nationwide Halt on NIH Cuts to Overhead Costs (AIP; 12 Feb 2025)

Changes at the Department of Education

• What Will Happen to Your Student Loans if Trump Closes the Department of Education? (Teen Vogue; 13 Feb 2025)

• Do You Still Have to Pay Student Loans if Department of Education is Abolished? (Newsweek; 10 Feb 2025)

• What dismantling the Department of Education could mean for colleges, student loans and college access (CNBC; 13 Feb 2025)

  “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.”

• Musk Staff Propose Bigger Role for A.I. in Education Department (New York Times; 13 Feb 2025)

  “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.”

• Education Dept. will shield federal student aid data from Musk's DOGE – for now (USA Today; 11 Feb 2025)

• Trump Vs. Education Department: McMahon Says She’ll Keep Pell Grants, Title I—As Trump Pushes To Shutter DOE (Forbes; 13 Feb 2025)

• True or false: Will student loans be forgiven after DOGE's alleged privacy breach? (Marca; 14 Feb 2025)

  “[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]

2025 Federal Reductions in Force

“Performance Management” (NEW)

• Sweeping cuts hit recent federal hires as Trump administration slashes workforce (NPR; 13 Feb 2025)

  “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.”

Hiring Freeze

• Trump Hiring Freeze Has Agencies Ditching Law School Recruiting (Bloomberg Law; 7 Feb 2025)

  “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.”

• Tax Bar Steps Up To Help 200 Law Students And Graduates With Rescinded Job Offers From The IRS And DOJ Tax Division Due To Trump Hiring Freeze (TaxProf Blog; 10 Feb 2025)

• Dechert Opens Fellowship to Students Hit by Trump Job Freeze (Bloomberg Law; 14 Feb 2025)

• Trump orders agencies to plan for widespread layoffs and attrition-based hiring (Government Executive; 11 Feb 2025)

  “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. ”

• Federal agencies can only hire one new employee for every 4 that leave under Trump's latest executive order (Business Insider; 11 Feb 2025)

• Implementing The President’s “Department of Government Efficiency” Workforce Optimization Initiative (Presidential EO; 11 Feb 2025)

Probationary Employee “Purge”

• Thousands fired in US government as Trump, Musk purge federal workers (Reuters; 13 Feb 2025)

• US consumer watchdog broadens layoffs beyond probationary staff, sources say (Reuters; 14 Feb 2025)

Administrative Leave for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility, and Environmental Justice Employees [among others]

• Judge extends order blocking USAID leave notices and evacuations (Government Executive; 13 Feb 2025)

Deferred Resignation (“Fork in the Road”)

• Trump’s Federal Resignation Program Moves Ahead After Court Win (New York Times; 12 Feb 2025)

• OPM advises agencies to fire probationary employees after ‘deferred resignation’ deadline (Federal News Network; 13 Feb 2025)

  “OPM stopped accepting new offers [sic] for its deferred resignation offer, as of 7:20pm on Wednesday night.”

• A federal worker tried to take Trump's 'Fork' resignation offer. Here's what happened (NPR; 14 Feb 2025)

  “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.”

Other Topics

• As much of Kansas faces an attorney desert, lawyers call attention to the issue (NPR; 10 Feb 2025)

• CBA urges new funding as Federal Court’s massive budget shortfall threatens drastic service cuts (Law360 Canada; 13 Feb 2025)

Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives

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.)

Stay strong and stay in touch.

Solidarity,

Sam

Editor’s Choice(s)

• Donald Trump to Sell Off Half of All Federal Property: What to Know (Newsweek; 5 Feb 2025)

  “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.”

• White House Preparing Executive Order to Abolish the Department of Education (NBC; 4 Feb 2025)

  “The White House is preparing an executive order to eliminate the Education Department, two sources familiar with the plans told NBC News.

  President Donald Trump cannot unilaterally abolish a federal agency without the approval of Congress.”

• Can Trump Dismantle the Department of Education? Here’s What to Know (Time; 6 Feb 2025)

  “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. ”

OMB Spending “Pause”

• EPA spending freeze continues despite court orders (Politico; 4 Feb 2025)

2025 Federal Reductions in Force

“Performance Management” (NEW)

• Request for Agency Performance Management Data (OPM Memo; 6 Feb 2024)

  “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.”

Hiring Freeze

• Interns Impacted by Hiring Freeze Left ‘In Limbo’ (Inside Higher Ed; 7 Feb 2025)

Probationary Employee “Purge”

• More than 1,100 EPA employees warned of immediate termination (CBS; 1 Feb 2025)

  “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.”

• CIA shares new employee names through unclassified email (The Hill; 5 Feb 2025)

Reclassification of Career Employees

• Guidance Regarding Redesignating SES CIO Positions (OPM Memo; 4 Feb 2025)

• OPM pushes to reclassify chief information officers, opening up position to politics (FedScoop; 4 Feb 2025)

  “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

• All the ways Elon Musk is breaking the law, explained by a law professor (Vox; 6 Feb 2025)

  “[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.”

• EPA employees who work on environmental justice are put on leave (NPR; 6 Feb 2025)

• USAID employees around the world will be placed on leave Friday and ordered to return to US (CNN; 5 Feb 2025)

  “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.”

• EXCLUSIVE: Leaked messages show chaos at USAID as HR staff dealing with employee exits are placed on administrative leave (Fortune; 5 Feb 2025)

Deferred Resignation (“Fork in the Road”)

• Legality of Deferred Resignation Program (OPM Memo; 4 Feb 2025)

• Federal workers’ unions challenge Trump’s ‘buyout’ offers in court (HR Dive; 5 Feb 2025)

• Judge Delays Program Offering Federal Workers Incentives to Quit (NY Times; 6 Feb 2025)

Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives

Hi Everyone,

This has been another week where decades happen. Apologies for omitting state-and-local stories; if I have a moment next week I’ll try and do a roundup for you. But this edition of the Digest is focused exclusively on unpacking the sweeping changes the nascent Trump administration is effecting across the federal workforce through executive orders and agency memoranda. I’ve grouped these efforts into broad categories for you which should give you a sense of the week’s major stories. (Additionally, I’ve circled back to two of the items I highlighted briefly in the introduction to last week’s Digest before I shifted my focus to the federal hiring freeze.)

Stay strong and stay in touch.

Solidarity,

Sam

OMB Spending “Pause”

On January 27th, OMB circulated an internal memo (available through the Washington Post) to the heads of all Executive Departments and Agencies, requiring that "each agency must complete a comprehensive analysis of all of their Federal financial assistance programs [… and i]n the interim, to the extent permissible under applicable law, Federal agencies must temporarily pause all activities related to obligation or disbursement of all Federal financial assistance, and other relevant agency activities that may be implicated by executive orders, including, but not limited to, financial assistance for foreign aid, nongovernmental organizations, DEI, woke gender ideology, and the green new deal."*

As we're all aware, both governmental organizations at the state-and-local level and also civil society organizations include federal financing in their budgets, either directly or indirectly. This new policy from OMB may have a significant impact on finances across the public service legal space-which may in turn affect those organizations' ability to recruit and retain their staff. As a result, I’ve been monitoring the developing fate of this “pause” quite closely this week.

Here’s what’s happened to-date:

• Nonprofits and multiple states launched lawsuits challenging the spending “pause”.

• The district judge assigned the nonprofit lawsuit granted an administrative stay on the executive branch’s spending “pause” pending a full hearing on 3 Feb.

• OMB issued a statement rescinding its 27 Jan memo declaring the “spending pause”.

• The White House Press Secretary announced “This [OMB act] is NOT a rescission of the federal funding freeze. It is simply a rescission of the OMB memo. Why? To end any confusion created by the court’s injunction.”

• The district judge assigned the states’ lawsuit “signaled he agreed the OMB’s rescission of its Monday night announcement did not moot the motion filed by 22 states and Washington, D.C.[: …] ‘[AG RI,] I think, has convinced me that that while the piece of paper may not exist, that there’s sufficient evidence that the defendants collectively are acting consistent with that directive[.]’”

“Fork in the Road” Deferred Resignation Plan

• “Fork in the Road: Deferred Resignation Email to Federal Employees” (OPM Webpage; 28 Jan 25)

  • “Fork in the Road” FAQ (OPM Webpage; 30 Jan 25)

    “The federal workforce is expected to undergo significant near-term changes. As a result of these changes (or for other reasons), you may wish to depart the federal government on terms that provide you with sufficient time and economic security to plan for your future-and have a nice vacation.”

• “Guidance Regarding Deferred Resignation Program” (OPM Memo; 28 Jan 25)

• Federal Workers Urged To Reject Trump Buyout (Newsweek; 29 Jan 25)

  The president has no authority to make that offer," Virginia Democratic Senator Tim Kaine said on the Senate floor Tuesday. "There's no budget line item to pay people who are not showing up for work.

Strategies for Terminating Federal Workers

• Probationary “Purge”

  • Guidance on Probationary Periods, Administrative Leave and Details (OPM Memo; 20 Jan 25)

    “Probationary periods are an essential tool for agencies to assess employee performance and manage staffing levels. Employees on probationary periods can be terminated during that period without triggering appeal rights to the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB). …No later than January 24, 2025, agencies should identify all employees on probationary periods, who have served less than a year in a competitive service appointment, or who have served less than two years in an excepted service appointment, and send a report to OPM listing all such employees[.]”

  • Probationary Federal Employees Targeted for Mass Purge (The American Prospect; 29 Jan 25)

    “Below is the copy of an email received by employees of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which was sent to people who “have been identified as an employee likely on a probationary/trial period.” It has been reported that agencies were asked to assemble lists of these newly hired employees. …”As a probationary/trial period employee, the agency has a right to immediately terminate you pursuant to 5 CFR § 315.804,” the email reads. It claims that the termination would occur immediately upon the employee receiving notice. The American Federation of Government Employees, which represents unionized EPA officials, sent an email to staffers, urging them to “Please do what you need to protect all of your information regarding your Federal employment … you need to download/print out all pertinent employment information such as your entire eOPF. Do this ASAP!””

• Reclassification

  • Guidance on Implementing President Trump’s Executive Order titled, “Restoring Accountability To Policy-Influencing Positions Within the Federal Workforce” (OPM Memo; 27 Jan 25)

  • Trump administration targets wide range of positions for removing federal job protections (Fed News Network; 27 Jan 25)

    “In a memo published Monday morning, Office of Personnel Management Acting Director Charles Ezell detailed how agencies should move forward with implementing President Donald Trump’s executive order on “restoring accountability to policy-influencing positions within the federal workforce,” while also announcing the suspension of portions of the Biden administration’s regulations aiming to prevent a return of the Trump administration’s previous Schedule F policy. …Trump administration officials have stated that the purpose of reclassifying career federal employees in policy-related roles is a way to give agencies more flexibility, and to be able to remove employees who are not carrying out the president’s agenda. The number of federal employees the new guidance could impact is uncertain. Some have said tens of thousands of feds could be reclassified, while other estimates put the number of impacted employees in the hundreds of thousands. Based on the language of the new memo, the Trump administration’s interpretation of “policy-influencing” positions appears to be relatively far-reaching, according to a source familiar with OPM policy and regulations who agreed to speak to Federal News Network on background. The source said the categories identified in the memo can be construed quite broadly — especially considering the memo’s encouragement for agencies to expand the interpretation further. Because of that, it’s likely the ultimate number of reclassified positions would reach the higher end of previous estimates. In an effort to prevent efforts similar to Schedule F from returning in a future administration, the Biden administration previously finalized regulations in April 2024 to reinforce civil service protections for career federal employees…The new memo from the Trump administration, however, described parts of the April 2024 final rule as “procedural obstacles,” and changed the interpretation of the rule to say “policy-influencing” roles do cover career federal employees. OPM’s memo pointed to certain portions of the final regulations that were issued under the authority of the president, saying that Trump’s executive order “immediately superseded” those portions of the final regulations.

    The Trump administration’s guidance said the Merit Systems Protection Board cannot hear appeals of career federal employees who are reclassified, due to the same interpretations of the regulations. The memo also rescinded the Biden administration’s OPM guidance on its final rule reinforcing civil service protections. “Despite this declaration, federal employees who are affected by reclassification should consult with a federal employment attorney on their legal rights,” the Alden Law Group, a federal employment law firm, wrote in a blog post Monday.”

  • CREW, Democracy Forward sue to block Trump’s illegal plan to fire government workers (CREW Press Release; 28 Jan 25)

    “President Trump’s executive order paving the way to convert potentially tens of thousands of merit-based civil servants to at-will employees, enabling political appointees to fire and replace them with loyalists, is unlawful and exceeds the president’s authority, according to a lawsuit filed today in Maryland federal court by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). PEER is represented in the suit by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) and Democracy Forward.”

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility, and Environmental Justice

• “Initial Guidance Regarding DEIA Executive Orders” (OPM Memo; 21 Jan 25)

• “Guidance Regarding RIFs [Reduction-in-Force] of DEIA Offices” (OPM Memo; 24 Jan 25)

  “In accordance with that order, each agency, department, or commission head shall take action to terminate, to the maximum extent allowed by law, all DEI, DEIA, and “environmental justice” offices and positions within sixty days” [emphasis added] “However, agencies can and should begin issuing RIF notices to employees of DEIA offices now.” [emphasis added]

• “Initial Guidance Regarding President Trump’s Executive Order Defending Women” (OPM Memo; 29 Jan 25) [2 pages long]

  “In light of Defending Women, each agency should take prompt actions to end all agency programs that use taxpayer money to promote or reflect gender ideology as defined in Section 2(f) of Defending Women. Specifically, agency heads should take the following steps…[n]o later than 5:00pm EST on Friday, January 31 2025:… Review all agency position descriptions and send a notification to all employees whose position description involves inculcating or promoting gender ideology that they are being placed on paid administrative leave effective immediately as the agency takes steps to close/end all initiatives, offices, and programs that inculcate or promote gender ideology.”

Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives

Hello, interested public!

The biggest public service news this week concerns sweeping actions taken by the new Presidential administration via Executive Order. A number of executive actions have profound implications for hiring and recruitment news, including an order “Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing” (w/accompanying OPM Guidance) and OPM guidance directing agencies to “identify all employees on probationary periods, who have served less than a year in a competitive service appointment, or who have served less than two years in an excepted service appointment[] and send a report to OPM listing all such employees,” and noting that “[e]mployees on probationary periods can be terminated during that period without triggering appeal rights to the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB).“

Having called your attention to these two already, I want to focus on the policy that seems to have created the most immediate concern and uncertainty for our community: the new federal “hiring freeze”. To help you think through this issue I have curated the following resources and breaking news into a narrative for you. You’ll find some news on other topics of concern this week further down in the Digest.

Solidarity,

Sam

Editorial Focus: The 2025 Federal “Hiring Freeze”

Authority (Written, Public):

On 20 Jan, Pres. Trump issued a Presidential Action titled “Hiring Freeze”. In this action, he ordered “a freeze on the hiring of Federal civilian employees[; …] no Federal civilian position that is vacant at noon on January 20, 2025, may be filled, and no new position may be created except as otherwise provided for in this memorandum or other applicable law.” [emphasis added] In a 20 Jan memo providing guidance on this order, the acting directors of OMB and OPM clarified that the freeze encompasses “all types of Federal civilian appointments, regardless of the length of the appointment.” [emphasis added]

Historical Context: The 2017 Hiring Freeze – Similarities and Key Differences

These documents appear to broadly mirror similar action taken by the first Trump administration in January 2017.¹ (Government Executive discussed the long-term impacts of that policy on 20 Jan.) Importantly, as in 2017 the current “freeze” also includes guidance directing agencies to revoke employment offers to hires that do not have a scheduled start prior to a specific deadline (in 2025, the relevant cutoff is 8 Feb).

However, two things seem notably different this time: (1) 2025 OPM/OMB guidance was issued the same day as the Presidential Action and (2) the 2025 Guidance includes clearer lines of communication for agency staff with further questions.² While in 2017 we saw a slight thawing of the hiring freeze after a week of confusion (between the Presidential announcement and the agency guidance), these differences suggest that agencies implementing this hiring freeze in its initial days already have the information they need. Without confusion, evidence is emerging that they are acting more broadly than they did under the first Trump administration under similar (written, public) directions.

Happening Now

Initial (Anonymous) Reports of Rescinded Paid Internship Offers Suggest Broad Application of OMB/OPM Guidance 

Anonymously in social media posts on 22 Jan and 23 Jan, some people shared that their pathways internships have been revoked as a result of this freeze. These reports, if credible, suggest that some agencies are interpreting this order very broadly. (According to OMB/OPM’s 20 Jan guidance, “[a]ppointments made prior to January 20, 2025, under the Pathways Internship…program [are permitted an exemption to the Federal civilian hiring freeze].”) 

Additional (Unattributed) Reports of Rescinded Unpaid Internship Offers Suggest Freeze Action Broader than Directed 

I’ve also heard some reports on background that agencies are shuttering their unpaid internship programs. Unpaid interns are not typically understood as either “federal employees” (under federal statute)³ or “federal appointees” (under OPM policy).⁴ It seems that some agencies are freezing hiring for volunteer placements that do not appear directly implicated by the written policies that instigated the freeze.

Potential Next Steps

I’ve heard from some people that applicants and recent hires have been attempting to contact agencies for more information. It’s worth noting that Government Executive reported on 22 Jan that “[OPM and OMB said] any correspondence with prospective applicants must cease” (it’s difficult to say whether these instructions include applicants at all stages of the hiring process or prospective hires; I wasn’t able to find a publicly available source for this language).

Under the circumstances, applicants and prospective hires for federal positions may want to consider reaching out to their congressional representative with a constituent service request asking for help getting clarity about their specific circumstances. The Congressional Research Service’s coverage of constituent services suggests that while no congressmember is obligated to mediate with federal agencies to help constituents answer questions (see CRS IF10503), “[c]ommon requests for [constituent services] casework involve…obtaining a missing record…from a government agency” (CRS R44726). Further, CRS provides congressmembers with sample language suggesting they inform constituents that “[a]lthough we cannot force an agency to expedite your case or act in your favor, we can frequently intervene to facilitate the processes involved, encourage an agency to give your case consideration, and sometimes advocate for a favorable outcome” (CRS RL33209) (I wouldn’t suggest that “a favorable outcome” here could be that a position would be reinstated, but an agency might be urged to discuss an individual’s case in greater detail, apply to OPM for an exemption from the hiring freeze policy, or reconsider its latitude under existing rules.)

Other News

Student Loans & Student Debt

• Fixing the Student Loan Crisis Starts With Defending the Department of Education (The Nation; 24 Jan 2025)

Non-Profit & Government Management & Hiring

• Dems say thwarting Trump’s controversial OMB pick is a top priority (Government Executive; 23 Jan 2025)
• Federal worker advocates file legal challenges to DOGE, Schedule F (FedScoop; 22 Jan 2025)
• Trump accelerates campaign to remake federal bureaucracy (Reuters; 23 Jan 2025)
• Broad exemptions to Trump’s federal hiring freeze begin to take shape (Government Executive; 22 Jan 2025)
• Justice Dept. Cancels Entry-Level Job Offers in Honors Program (New York Times; 23 Jan 2025)
  • Trump hiring freeze hits law students headed to the U.S. Justice Department (Reuters; 23 Jan 2025)
• Government Attorneys Face Reassignment, Rescinded Job Offers in First Days of Trump Administration (National Law Journal; 24 Jan 2025)
• Layoffs loom as Trump administration orders leave for federal DEI workers (Washington Post; 22 Jan 2025)
  • OPM Guidance (21 Jan 2025)
  • Federal workers placed on leave by Trump’s DEI order are angry and fearful of what lies ahead (NBC News; 23 Jan 2025)
  • DOJ Memo Warns Staff of ‘Adverse Consequences’ Over DEI Programs (Bloomberg News; 22 Jan 2025)
• What Employers and Nonprofits Should Know About Trump’s Executive Order Banning Diversity Preferences (Arent Fox Shiff; 23 Jan 2025)
• White House wants details on new federal employees by Friday (Reuters; 21 Jan 2025)
  • OPM Guidance (20 Jan 2025)
• Trump’s DEI Scrutiny Coming to Bar Associations, Law Schools (Bloomberg Law; 22 Jan 2025)
  • Trump Takes Aim at DEI in Higher Ed (Inside Higher Ed; 23 Jan 2025)
• [NH] Governor Ayotte Institutes State Hiring Freeze (Office of the NH Governor; 22 Jan 2025)

Access to Justice – Civil & Economic

• Legal Aid Ontario has a surplus worth millions. Meanwhile, many lower-income Ontarians can’t access it (CBC; 24 Jan 2024)

Access to Justice – Criminal

• Bill would expand access to Virginia public defenders, increase prosecutors’ workload (The Daily Item; 23 Jan 2025)
  ____________________________________________
  1. In his Hiring Freeze Memo of 23 Jan 2017, President Trump ordered “a freeze on the hiring of Federal civilian employees[; …] no vacant positions existing at noon on January 22, 2017, may be filled…” [emphasis added] In a 31 Jan memo providing guidance on that order, the acting directors of OMB and OPM clarified that the freeze encompassed “all types of Federal civilian appointments, regardless of the length of the appointment.” [emphasis added] 
  2. The 2025 OMB/OPM memo’s “Inquires” section includes the specific email addresses to which inquiries (by agency staff, not the public) should be sent, whereas in 2017 the same section merely stated that inquiries (by agency staff, not the public) should be sent to “contacts provided to Chief Human Capital Officers and HR Directors”. 
  3. Unpaid interns are not considered “federal employees” except in limited (non-applicable) circumstances (cf. 5 USC s.3111(c)(1)). 
  4. An “appointment” is a term of art in the OPM Guide to Processing Personnel Actions, including “[a]ny personnel action that brings an individual onto the rolls (staff) of an agency.” The term seems to include paid interns, but not unpaid ones. For example, according to the Pathways Programs Handbook (2016), “Pathways appointments are subject to the same requirements governing term, career or career-conditional appointment.” On the other hand, the OPM Guide to Processing Personnel Actions states that “[v]olunteers do not receive Federal appointments“.

Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives

Hello, interested public! Apologies for returning a week later than I’d anticipated. It’s good to be back. So much is happening right now–or anticipated. It’s been difficult to cull the news down to a digestible size for you all, but I’ve done my best below. Beyond the Editor’s Choices, I’ll note that US DOJ employees (in two divisions) just voted to unionize for the first time in history, that many state supreme court chief justices addressed access to justice or indigent defense issues in their annual remarks, and that remarks made by Russell Vought, President Trump’s nominee for OMB Chief, are getting a lot of attention. As always, these stories and more are in the links below.

Take care,

Sam

Editor’s Choice(s)

• The Great Nonprofit Downsizing (The Chronicle of Philanthropy; 14 Jan 2025)

  • Non-profits around the nation face funding shortages (WHSV; 16 Jan 2025)

• Trump says he will create an ‘External Revenue Service’ agency to collect tariff income (Federal News Network; 15 Jan 2025)

• US Attorneys Out, Allies in: Trump Said to Plan Quick Swaps (Bloomberg Law; 15 Jan 2025)

• Student Loan Forgiveness Tracking For IDR Goes Live — 4 Steps To Take Now (Forbes; 14 Jan 2025)

  …this week, the department formally published detailed IDR tracking information for every borrower, allowing them to know exactly where they are on their student loan forgiveness timeline. …Once logged in, your IDR tracker should be visible on your StudentAid.gov dashboard. The tracker will show the number of IDR payments made so far, and the number of IDR payments remaining before the borrower would qualify for loan forgiveness. …Just like with PSLF, it's a good idea to retain records of your IDR loan forgiveness progress reflected in the tracker. While you may never need them, if something happens to your account, or features on the website subsequently change, it may be important to have a record of the information that is displayed. The easiest way to keep records of your IDR loan forgiveness tracker would be via screenshots or converting the webpages into PDF images.

Student Loans & Student Debt

• Supreme Court to Review Biden’s Borrower Defense Rule (Inside Higher Ed; 13 Jan 2025)

• Biden announces final round of student loan forgiveness, bringing aid total to nearly $189 billion (CNBC; 16 Jan 2025)

• US student debt ends Biden era bigger than when he took office (Yahoo! Finance; 17 Jan 2025)

• Student Loan Borrowers: How Linda McMahon's Appointment Impacts You (Investopedia.com; 13 Jan 2025)

• 8 Million Student Loan Borrowers Will Have No Payments For Most Of 2025, As Loan Forgiveness Remains Stalled (Forbes; 16 Jan 2025)

Non-Profit & Government Management & Hiring

• DOJ trial attorneys vote to form its first known unions (ABA Journal; 14 Jan 2025)

• I’m a Federal Employee. This Is What We Need Most in the Trump Era. [opinion] (New York Times; 12 Jan 2025)

• Connecticut nonprofits request more funding for programs (WTNH News8; 14 Jan 2025)

• Office of Special Counsel has ‘growing staffing concerns’ amid record caseload (Federal News Network; 14 Jan 2025)

• Congressional Republicans dial up multiple bills to cull telework flexibility (Government Executive; 15 Jan 2025)

• Trump’s second term agenda includes cutting ‘slackers’ from federal workforce, former OMB official says (Federal News Network; 14 Jan 2025)

  • Trump’s pick for OMB chief defends removing civil service protections, withholding appropriated funds (Government Executive; 15 Jan 2025)

  • The civil service system is a barrier to effective talent management [opinion] (Government Executive; 17 Jan 2025)

Access to Justice – Civil & Economic

• New data shows how ‘rage giving’ boosted immigrant-serving nonprofits during the first Trump Administration (UC Santa Cruz; 13 Jan 2025)

• Kansas justice warns of ‘all-out crisis’ [in access to legal services] (The Iola Register; 16 Jan 2025)

• Texas Supreme Court to decide legal battle over El Paso migrant shelter’s future (Texas Tribune; 13 Jan 2025)

• Incentivizing Attorneys to Work in the ‘Legal Deserts’ of Rural America (ABA The Young Lawyer; 13 Jan 2025)

• The U.S. Needs A National Immigration Legal Defense Fund [opinion] (Above the Law; 14 Jan 2025)

• CT ‘right to counsel’ helped thousands stay housed; saved state $36M (CT Mirror; 15 Jan 2025)

• ‘Kept in limbo:’ As uncertainty over Trump plans looms, migrant children struggle to find legal aid (InvestigativeWest; 15 Jan 2025)

• Potential changes to Legal Aid Alberta funding source raises alarm among non-profits (The Canadian Press; 15 Jan 2025)

  • Province looks to double Alberta Law Foundation's contribution to Legal Aid Alberta (Edmonton Journal; 15 Jan 2025)

• [IN] Gov. Braun closes DEI office, mandates return-to-work in slew of executive orders (Indianapolis Star; 15 Jan 2025)

• West Virginia Governor Bans DEI by Executive Order (Inside Higher Ed; 15 Jan 2025)

• Funding Issues Threaten Future of Legal Aid (Action News Jacksonville [FL]; 16 Jan 2025)

• How is NYC prepping for stepped-up deportations under Trump? (Gothamist; 16 Jan 2025)

Access to Justice – Criminal

• Idaho Supreme Court must intervene in new, 'disastrous' public defense reform, ACLU says (Idaho Statesman; 5 Jan 2025)

• Legislative budget proposes $7 million cut to Kansas public defenders, despite shortage (Kansas Reflector; 15 Jan 2025)

• LA County’s innovative effort to address public defender conflicts wins plaudits (California Lawyer; 13 Jan 2025)

• Rural Texas needs more public defenders. A state commission wants nearly $44M to help (NPR; 13 Jan 2025)

• Port: Indigent defense in North Dakota 'perilously close to a constitutional failure' [opinion] (IN Forum; 13 Jan 2025)

• Iowa chief justice urges magistrate system changes, work to address public defender shortage (Quad-City Times; 15 Jan 2025)

• Chief justice says SD would benefit from expanding its new criminal public defense office (South Dakota Searchlight; 15 Jan 2025)

• Opinion: DA Vasquez is right. The public defense ‘crisis’ is a work stoppage (The Oregonian; 15 Jan 2025)

• [Los Angeles CA] Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman hires new special prosecutor for police misconduct (Los Angeles Times; 16 Jan 2025)

• Public defenders argue their own case (Rochester [NY] Beacon; 16 Jan 2025)

• [Stuben] County [IN] keeps plugging away at public defender expansion (The Herald Republican; 16 Jan 2025)

Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives

Hello, interested public! It’s another weighty digest this week as relevant news continues to pile up thick and fast as we barrel toward the New Year. I’ll do my best to help everyone keep up with the pace. Many stories that would have merited an “Editor’s Choice” in a slower week are collected in their respective sections; this is one worth reviewing carefully.

Take care,

Sam

Editor’s Choice(s)

• Justice Department’s storied Civil Rights Division will fight DEI under Trump (CNN; 11 Dec 2024)

  • Trump pick for DOJ civil rights draws blowback from advocacy leaders (Washington Post; 10 Dec 2024)

• Corporations and Higher Ed Are Backtracking on DEI. Will Foundations Fold? (Chronicle of Philanthropy; 11 Dec 2024)

Student Loans & Student Debt

• Biden’s Last Chance? Democrats Demand Urgent Student Loan Forgiveness Amid Trump’s Bold Education Overhaul Plans (Econotimes; 6 Dec 2024)

  • It’s Still Not Too Late for Biden to Deliver Debt Relief [opinion] (The Nation; 13 Dec 2024)

  • Biden’s Got One Last Chance to Cancel Student Debt [opinion] (The New Republic; 10 Dec 2024)

• GOP Leader Wants To Cut Student Loan Rates To 1%, But Would It Help? (Forbes; 11 Dec 2024)

• Connecticut hires first ever student loan ombudsman (Register Citizen; 11 Dec 2024)

• CFPB takes action to ban Student Loan Pro from offering consumer financial products (Consumer Finance Monitor; 11 Dec 2024)

Non-Profit & Government Management & Hiring

• Could Biden’s recent strategy to streamline government hiring be scuttled under Trump? (Government Executive; 12 Dec 2024)

• Lawmakers call on Biden to grant feds a 4.5% raise in 2025, restoring pay parity (Government Executive; 11 Dec 2024)

• Wisconsin court strikes down controversial law in a win for labor (NPR; 7 Dec 2024)

• Ohio law schools end race-based programs after think tank probe (The College Fix; 12 Dec 2024)

• Federal telework would be capped under a new House bill (Government Executive; 10 Dec 2024)

  • [Senator] Ernst’s report documenting telework ‘abuse’ obscures more than it reveals (Government Executive; 9 Dec 2024)

• Federal workforce is generally more diverse than the U.S. population, but gaps persist (Government Executive; 9 Dec 2024)

• Beyond Burnout: 6 Trends Reshaping The Nonprofit Sector (Forbes; 10 Dec 2024)

• Charities Look Inward After the Election but Are Ready to Fight (Chronicle of Philanthropy; 10 Dec 2024)

• Philly’s inconsistent contracting system left some nonprofits waiting months to be paid, report says (Philadelphia Inquirer (10 Dec 2024)

• Florida Bar poised to axe 'diversity and inclusion' policy (Reuters; 11 Dec 2024)

• Scholarship programs slapped with lawsuits for alleged discrimination against White men (Fox News; 12 Dec 2024)

• Threats to Nonprofits – and an Opportunity – on Capitol Hill in 2025 (Chronicle of Philanthropy; 10 Dec 2024)

Pro Bono

• Storefront Pro Bono: Proposal for Modest Law Firm Commitment to Provide Direct Legal Services (New York Law Journal; 6 Dec 2024)

• Starting a Pro Bono Program: A Blueprint for Law Firms (Daily Business Review; 11 Dec 2024)

Access to Justice – Civil & Economic

• Pilot project allowing nonlawyer legal providers gets OK in Washington (ABA Journal; 9 Dec 2024)

• Executive Summary: Legal Aid Interagency Roundtable 2024 Report (DOJ Office for Access to Justice; 9 Dec 2024)

• California must lawyer up to fight the federal rollback [opinion] (California Lawyer; 13 Dec 2024)

• Blue States Weigh Roadblocks to Hinder Trump Deportation Plans (Bloomberg Government; 10 Dec 2024)

• Immigrants 'Preparing for Deportation' Ahead of Trump's Inauguration Lead To Surge In Demand For Legal Services (Latin Times; 9 Dec 2024)

  • Rapid Response Immigration Legal Clinic Toolkit (ABA Commission on Immigration; 10 Dec 2024)

  • Sonoma County [CA]'s largest provider of immigration legal services in 'emergency preparedness' mode (Northern California Public Media; 10 Dec 2024)

• Legal Aid Is Essential to Effective Social Care Integration (Journal of the American Medical Association; 9 Dec 2024)

• New Report Builds a Framework for Civil Justice Innovation (Talk Justice; 10 Dec 2024)

  • Report: Achieving Civil Justice A Framework for Collaboration (American Academy of Arts & Sciences; Dec 2024)

• GN rejects pay increase for understaffed legal aid division (Nunavut News; 10 Dec 2024)

• Jersey City Eyes $400K Grant To Aid Right To Counsel Program (TAP into Jersey City; 11 Dec 2024)

• Province set to announce financial eligibility threshold increase to Legal Aid Ontario (QP Briefing; 10 Dec 2024)

• ACLU Tells Governors, State Attorneys General, Legislators, and Mayors: Build a Firewall for Freedom to Protect Our Rights During the Second Trump Administration (ACLU PR; 11 Dec 2024)

• [ME] Report says lack of legal representation in adult guardianship cases is a problem, some disagree (Maine Public Radio; 11 Dec 2024)

• Breaking the Ice: Pressing for legal aid for those in ‘critical times’ (Minnesota Lawyer; 12 Dec 2024)

Access to Justice – Criminal

• Denver district attorney joins letter calling on Biden to commute sentences of federal death row inmates (ABC 7 Denver; 11 Dec 2024)

• Wisconsin public defender budget request includes proposals to cut down criminal charges (Wisconsin Public Radio; 9 Dec 2024)

• Expanding student debt forgiveness program aims to stop the bleeding in [NYC] public defense, district attorney’s office (New York Amsterdam News; 12 Dec 2024)

• ACLU Statement on Alameda County District Attorney Appointment (ACLU Northern California; 10 Dec 2024)

• Okanogan County [WA] considers bringing public defenders in-house (Methow Valley News; 12 Dec 2024)

• Texas Judge Dismisses GOP Bid to Remove Liberal Prosecutor (Bloomberg Law; 12 Dec 2024)

Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives

Hello, interested public! It’s a doorstop of a digest this week as we catch up with two weeks of news (no digest last Friday on account of US Thanksgiving). Lots of major stories this week, including a large number of articles discussing anticipated or announced changes to federal work policies under the incoming administration and further discussion of the rapidly changing legal circumstances of non-profit organizations. As always, these stories and more are in the links below.

If you’re interested in the issues we cover in this Digest, consider attending NALP’s Public Service Conference, which will be held virtually via Zoom next week (!!) on December 10th & 11th. Hope to see you there!

Take care,

Sam

Editor’s Choice

• Calif bar considers campus protests in moral character review for lawyer licensing (Reuters; 4 Dec 2024)

• IRS Nonprofit Rule's Durability Is in Doubt After Chevron's End (Bloomberg Law; 29 Nov 2024) “Tax lawyers for nonprofits are facing an uncertain landscape after a recent Fifth Circuit decision brushing aside an IRS tax exemption rule.

  The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled that Memorial Hermann Accountable Care Organization isn’t entitled to a tax exemption meant for social welfare groups because it didn’t show its operations exclusively were intended to help the public.”

Student Loans & Student Debt

• Biden makes final push for student loan forgiveness before Trump takes office (Fox News; 23 Nov 2024)

• Hardship Student Loan Forgiveness Plan Hits Key Milestone, But Its Future Is In Doubt (Forbes; 4 Dec 2024)

• More employers add 401(k) plan match for workers paying student loans (CNBC; 4 Dec 2024)

• DAs and attorneys call on gov to expand atty loan forgiveness program (Queens Daily Eagle; 5 Dec 2024)

• Public Interest Lawyers in NY Fear Rollback of Federal Loan Assistance in '25, Ask Gov. to Add $4M to State Program (New York Law Journal; 3 Dec 2024)

Non-Profit & Government Management & Hiring

• What to know about the House bill that could punish nonprofits over alleged ‘terrorist’ ties (PBS; 23 Nov 2024)

  • How should nonprofits prepare for the 'nonprofit killer' bill becoming law? [opinion] (Religion News Network; 27 Nov 2024)

  • Yes, the ‘nonprofit killer’ bill is that bad—but it’s not invincible (The Real News Network; 26 Nov 2024)

• Agencies credit telework with recruiting, retention gains, GAO finds (Government Executive; 22 Nov 2024)

• White House, agencies warn of hiring freezes without ‘anomalies’ to upcoming spending bill (Government Executive; 3 Dec 2024)

• Justice-driven pro bono: building pro bono programs that tackle the justice gap (Reuters; 6 Dec 2024)

• Staff at Vermont Legal Aid and Legal Services Vermont join AFT (Vermont Biz; 6 Dec 2024)

• What to know about Wisconsin's collective bargaining law for public workers (Minnesota Star Tribune; 3 Dec 2024)

• A Primer on the Civil Service and the Trump Administration (Lawfare; 3 Dec 2024)

• Fed. Workers Union's New GC Vows To Fight Trump Attacks (Law360; 25 Nov 2024)

• Democratic AGs Gear Up to Fight Trump on Workplace Law Issues (Bloomberg Law; 3 Dec 2024)

• Deluge of Trump-Leary Government Lawyers Join Job Market, Setting Up Free-for-All for Law Firm, In-House Openings (Law.com; 3 Dec 2024)

• Colorado's federal judges give themselves increased disciplinary power over attorneys (The Denver Gazette; 3 Dec 2024)

• Trump signals new direction for IRS as he announces atypical plan to replace its leadership (Government Executive; 5 Dec 2024)

• Facing DEI scrutiny, University of Michigan abandons ‘diversity statements’ in hiring (Bridge Michigan; 5 Dec 2024)

Access to Justice – Civil & Economic

• $4.92 million NIH grant to support study of legal aid benefits for survivors of violence (Newswise; 22 Nov 2024)

• Legal Aid of WV receives grant to develop AI tools that help residents access legal info (West Virginia Watch; 27 Nov 2024)

  • Responsible Use Of AI Could Bridge The Justice Gap [opinion] (Law360; 6 Dec 2024)

  • Generative AI And Access To Justice: Incremental Solutions Or Overhyped Promises? [opinion] (Above the Law; 27 Nov 2024)

• Advocates Renew Campaign for Immigrant Right to Counsel in New York (New York Law Journal; 3 Dec 2024)

  • Pols call for immigration legal services boost as Trump builds deportation anxiety (Queens Daily Eagle; 5 Dec 2024)

• As Trump Administration Plans Mass Deportations, Coalition Calls for Urgent State Action to Increase Investment in Immigration Legal Services (Verag.org; 3 Dec 2024)

• Michigan bills seek to expunge eviction records and provide legal aid for tenants (Mid-Michigan Now; 3 Dec 2024)

• Mayor Adams says undocumented New Yorkers aren’t owed due process, defying Constitution (Gothamist; 4 Dec 2024)

• [QC] Tenants rights’ advocates call for better access to justice for renters (Montreal City News; 25 Nov 2024)

• Frederick mayor's plan to use tax dollars for immigrant legal aid fund sparks debate (WBFF Baltimore; 26 Nov 2024)

Access to Justice – Criminal

• Move over progressive prosecutors, pragmatic prosecutors are the new “it” thing (R Street; 6 Dec 2024)

• MD public defender pushing for substantial staff boost as state faces budget deficit (The Maryland Daily Record; 3 Dec 2024)

• Defense attorneys speak about billing issues Wayne County [MI]'s Indigent Defense Services Department (CBS News Detroit; 3 Dec 2024)

• In Wisconsin, justice is getting somewhat speedier as court backlogs ease (Wisconsin Public Radio; 4 Dec 2024)

  • Public Defender's Office has concerns on public defender shortage in Wisconsin (NBC 12; 25 Nov 2024)

• Attorneys talk challenges, next steps at indigent defense symposium (The Maine Monitor; 5 Dec 2024)

• [ID] Supreme Court confirms new public defense office must take over costs of transcripts (Idaho Reports; 5 Dec 2024)

• Fewer NC attorneys signing up to represent people who need public defenders (Carolina’s Own Queen City News; 26 Nov 2024)

• OPINION: Nevadans should demand answers on public defense firing (The Nevada Independent; 26 Nov 2024)

• Backlog at Bexar County [TX] District Attorney’s Office grows as thousands wait for their day in court (Express News; 25 Nov 2024)

Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives

Hello, interested public! The major story this week concerns H.R. 9495, which passed the US House of Representatives after major opposition from many nonprofits. Additional stories involve analyses of potential changes to student debt relief and federal hiring. As always, these stories and more are in the links below.

If you’re interested in the issues we cover in this Digest, consider attending NALP’s Public Service Conference, which will be held virtually via Zoom on December 10th & 11th. Hope to see you there!

Take care,

Sam

Editor’s Choice

• House passes bill that would allow Treasury to target nonprofits it deems to support terrorism (AP; 22 Nov 2024)

  • Nonprofits Oppose Bill That Would Give Treasury Unilateral Power to Revoke Tax-Exempt Status (The Chronicle of Philanthropy; 20 Nov 2024)

  • ACLU Statement on House Passage of Dangerous Civil Society Attack Bill (ACLU; 21 Nov 2024)

Student Loans & Student Debt

• Can President Trump Claw Back Student Loan Forgiveness? (The College Investor; 22 Nov 2024)

• Student Debtors Could See Hopes Vanish Under Trump (The American Prospect; 22 Nov 2024)

• Federal Student Loan Changes Spark Unprecedented Number of Borrower Complaints (Investopedia; 20 Nov 2024)

• Biden needs to push through promised student-loan relief before Trump returns to White House, powerful Democrat warns (MarketWatch; 22 Nov 2024)

• New York Republican proposes to slash student loan interest rates (Fox Business; 22 Nov 2024)

Non-Profit & Government Management & Hiring

• Trump has called for dismantling the Education Department. Here’s what that would mean (AP; 20 Nov 2024)

• Where Did the Funding Go? (The Chronicle of Philanthropy; 20 Nov 2024)

• [FL] Judges may create nonprofits devoted to the improvement of the law, the legal system, and the administration of justice (Florida Bar News; 20 Nov 2024)

• ‘Self-inflicted wound’: Pentagon comptroller warns Trump against mass firings of federal employees (Breaking Defense; 19 Nov 2024)

Access to Justice – Civil & Economic

• Seattle [WA] budget scales back tenant hotlines, legal aid (The Seattle Times; 22 Nov 2024)

• Addressing California’s Access to Justice Crisis by Fundamentally Rethinking Legal Services: A Conversation with Stanford’s David Engstrom and Lucy Ricca (Stanford Law School Blogs; 21 Nov 2024)

Access to Justice – Criminal

• More public defenders coming to Muskegon County [MI] (ABC 13; 19 Nov 2024)

• State Public Defender seeks more funding for 2025 (Coeur d’Alene Post Falls Press; 22 Nov 2024)

• Eastern WA Leaders: Public defender caseload plan brings high costs, but no state funding (Apple Valley News Now; 21 Nov 2024)

• Light at the end of the tunnel: Deschutes DA, C. Oregon attorneys hopeful to see end of defender shortage (KTVZ 21; 18 Nov 2024)

Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives

Hello, interested public! The major story this week concerns a failed US Congressional vote on a bill that would have dramatically impacted nonprofits’ operations. In other news, New York City legal groups say that the city government has delayed contractual payments to a degree that threatens their operations, and the Chief Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court addressed her state’s lawyer shortage in recent remarks. As always, these stories and more are in the links below.

If you’re interested in the issues we cover in this Digest, consider attending NALP’s Public Service Conference, which will be held virtually via Zoom on December 10th & 11th. Hope to see you there!

Take care,

Sam

Editor’s Choice

• House narrowly rejects bill to give U.S. new power to vet nonprofits (The Washington Post; 13 Nov 2024)

Student Loans & Student Debt

• What Will Trump Do With the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program? (NYTimes; 14 Nov 2024)

• With Trump's win, student debt relief is in question. Here's what to know (CBS; 13 Nov 2024)

• 30% of student loan borrowers have gone without essentials, like food and medicine, CFPB finds (CNBC; 13 Nov 2024)

Non-Profit & Government Management & Hiring

• Feds brace for return of Trump personnel policies (Government Executive; 6 Nov 2024)

• What Trump’s win means for the federal workforce (Government Executive; 6 Nov 2024)

• Nonprofits Face Backlash for “Controversial” Work, Report Warns (Nonprofit Quarterly; 12 Nov 2024)

• Legal Aid Groups Accuse NYC Of Payment Delays (Law360; 14 Nov 2024)

  • NYC’s immigrant and tenant legal groups say contract delays put them in financial peril (Gothamist; 13 Nov 2024)

Access to Justice – Civil & Economic

• Alabama legal services contracts stall amid dispute between senator, ABC Board (Alabama Reflector; 11 Nov 2024)

• [FL Supreme] Court approves CLE credit for pro bono service (Jacksonville Daily Record; 13 Nov 2024)

• Amid Trump’s deportation threat, here’s how Colorado immigration lawyers and advocates are working to protect undocumented immigrants (Summit Daily; 14 Nov 2024)

Access to Justice – Criminal

• Wisconsin Chief Justice Challenges Lawmakers to Help Solve Lawyer Shortage (Maciver Institute; 13 Nov 2024)

• Additional Investments [in NL] to Modernize and Enhance the Justice System (Newfoundland & Labrador; 13 Nov 2024)

• [NM] Contracted public defenders are seeking better pay. What does that mean? (Las Cruces News; 15 Nov 2024)