Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives
Photo: Harris and Ewing Collection, Library of Congress
Hi Interested Public,
Welcome to the end of another week. Glad you’re still with us. Events fall fast and thick around us again this week: In Cambridge MA, the Harvard Chapter of the American Association of University Professors has called upon colleagues at sister institutions to assist the University’s international students who face potential immigration problems after the Trump Administration suddenly decertified Harvard’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program (later in the day, a federal court issued a temporary restraining order against the decertification). Also in MA, a federal judge pressed the government to lay out with specificity its rationale against “diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility” in a case against the National Institutes of Health. In California, another judge issued another order preventing ongoing reductions in force at a broad swath of agencies; the Trump Administration has already appealed. In Congress, a bill that would rewrite huge swathes of federal policy, including student loans and non-profit tax status, passed the House of Representatives.
As always, these stories and more are in the links below.
Solidarity,
“When a university’s SEVP certification is revoked, currently enrolled international students must choose between transferring to a different institution, changing their immigration status, or leaving the country, according to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement website…In the letter to Garber, Noem alleged that the records that Harvard submitted on April 30 were “insufficient” and failed to address “simple reporting requirements.” She also accused Harvard of “perpetuating an unsafe campus environment that is hostile to Jewish students, promotes pro-Hamas sympathies, and employs racist ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion policies, you have lost this privilege.”…
Noem gave Harvard 72 hours to turn over a flurry of documents to the DHS to have “the opportunity” to regain its SEVP certification before the upcoming academic year. Those documents include paper records, audio, and video of protest activity by any international student enrolled at any of Harvard’s schools in the last five years. The DHS also asked for the full slate of disciplinary records of international students at Harvard for the last five years. It is unclear whether the Trump administration will restore Harvard’s SEVP certification if it submits the requested documents.”
“[E]ffective immediately, Harvard University's Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification is revoked. The revocation of your Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification means that Harvard is prohibited from having any aliens on F- or J- nonimmigrant status for the 2025-2026 academic school year. This decertification also means that existing aliens on F- or J- nonimmigrant status must transfer to another university in order to maintain their nonimmigrant status.”
“Current international students will need to transfer out of Harvard or risk losing their ability to remain in the United States lawfully if the Department of Homeland Security’s decision to revoke Harvard’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification remains in effect…Despite the sweeping nature of the directive, students that are set to graduate from Harvard during next week’s Commencement ceremony should be eligible to receive their degrees, according to eight immigration lawyers who spoke with The Crimson.
The revocation of Harvard’s SEVP status does not immediately invalidate student visas, according to Vijay. Instead, she said the agency is likely to give students some grace period to determine how they will respond before taking more drastic measures. “They did not say 15 days or 60 days or two days — nothing,” Vijay said. “When we get such clients, we tell them to ‘hurry up,’ and within 15 days at best, try to transfer.” Immigration attorney Dahlia M. French also said there will be a deadline for students to address their immigration status or transfer, though the DHS has not publicly announced one.
Students who transfer to a SEVP-certified university would be able to retain a valid I-20, and thus avoid losing their visas. But the transfer deadline for many schools falls in March, meaning students’ status in the U.S. would be in jeopardy while they wait for applications to open.”
“In an appeal for solidarity across institutions of higher education in this moment of existential threat to academic freedom and core First Amendment rights, we also call upon our fellow institutions of higher education in the United States to declare their willingness to facilitate the immediate co-enrollment of Harvard’s international students, including formal acceptance of transfer for immigration purposes.” [emphasis added]
““With the stroke of a pen, the government has sought to erase a quarter of Harvard’s student body, international students who contribute significantly to the university and its mission,” Harvard said in its suit….”
“When Trump took office in January, 2.4 million people worked for the federal government, making it America’s largest employer. In four months, Trump and a chainsaw-wielding Elon Musk have hacked off chunks of government in the name of efficiency, with tactics rarely seen in public or private industry. The cuts so far represent roughly 6 percent of the federal workforce, but they have effectively wiped out entire departments and agencies, such as AmeriCorps and the U.S. Agency for International Development. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was slashed 85 percent; the Education Department was cut in half.
Some have found themselves fired, rehired, then let go again. Many have been ridiculed as “lazy” and “corrupt.” They’ve been locked out of offices by police, fired for political “disloyalty,” and told to check their email to see if they still draw a paycheck.
In interviews, more than 30 former and current federal workers told The Washington Post that the chaos and mass firings had left them feeling devalued, demoralized and scared for themselves and the country. Many described problems they’d never experienced before: insomnia, panic attacks, suicidal thoughts. Others with a history of mental struggles said they’d found themselves pushed into terrifying territory.”
“In an unsigned two-page order, the court explained that the decision to put the lower courts’ orders on hold “reflects our judgment that the Government faces greater risk of harm from an order allowing a removed officer to continue exercising the executive power than a wrongfully removed officer faces from being unable to perform her statutory duty.” Justice Elena Kagan dissented from the court’s order, in an eight-page opinion joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson. Calling the order “nothing short of extraordinary,” Kagan would have turned down the Trump administration’s request. The dispute stems from Trump’s efforts to remove two federal officials, Gwynne Wilcox of the National Labor Relations Board and Cathy Harris of the Merits Systems Protection Board, earlier this year.”
“Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency initiative sought this week to gain access to the congressional office which fields and manages complaints about discrimination, harassment, accessibility and other workplace issues, according to three congressional employees granted anonymity to describe the sensitive situation. The Office of Congressional Workplace Rights is the third legislative branch agency that the Trump administration has recently attempted to access.”
“The order issued late Thursday granted a preliminary injunction that pauses further reductions in force and “reorganization of the executive branch for the duration of the lawsuit.” The Trump administration on Friday morning appealed the decision to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and is expected to ask that court to block the injunction from taking effect.”
“This injunction shall apply to the following defendant agencies: OMB, OPM, DOGE (USDS), USDA, Commerce, Energy, HHS, HUD, Interior, Labor, State, Treasury, Transportation, VA, AmeriCorps, Peace Corps, EPA, GSA, NLRB, NSF, SBA, and SSA. Plaintiffs have presented evidence that these agencies are implementing, or preparing to soon implement, large-scale RIFs and reorganizations pursuant to the Executive Order and OMB/OPM Memo.”
“Former employees of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) have filed a class action appeal seeking reinstatement after the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) carried out a Reduction in Force (RIF), impacting hundreds of employees around the country. The RIF, which the former employees allege was done without the required Congressional authorization, effectively shuttered several offices in an agency upon which the entire federal government and workforce rely.”
“Changes to the bill are expected in the Senate, but senators’ concerns have mainly centered around issues like reducing the deficit, adjusting cuts to Medicaid and green-energy tax credits, and shifting Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program costs to the states. Therefore, it’s unclear if there are plans to remove any of the provisions affecting nonprofits since they are primarily designed to offset the tax cuts.”
“Tucked within the multitrillion-dollar legislation are dramatic changes to federal student aid: A complete overhaul of income-driven repayment plans, a new Repayment Assistance Plan, new caps on borrowing and more.”
Conflicts Over Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility
““Someone’s got to help me on that,” [Judge] Young added. “I’m not making policy statements. I’m asking for a definition of a policy that squares with what I had always understood were the defining elements of the American experience.”…he pressed Khetarpal for more clarity about the government’s approach to DEI initiatives, which the Trump administration is working to scrub from American education, government, social services, and the workplace.
“Does that mean our policy is homogeneity, inequity, and exclusion? I mean, are you going to stand there and tell me, that now is the policy of the National Institutes of Health?” Young asked.
…“Someone in this administration says DEI, there’s apparently something wrong with that. As neutrally as you can, what does that mean?” Young asked.” [emphasis added]
“Lawyers and advocates this week reported arrests of migrants outside of immigration courthouses across the U.S., saying teams of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers had detained individuals whose cases in front of immigration judges had just been terminated at the request of the government…”
“The Trump administration is moving to dismiss federal oversight agreements in Louisville and Minneapolis reached following the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor and police killing of George Floyd, and dropping investigations into several major US police departments…In court filings Wednesday morning, the Justice Department asked judges in Minnesota and Kentucky to dismiss the consent decrees reached with the police departments in Minneapolis and Louisville…The Civil Rights Division is also closing investigations into local police departments in Phoenix; Trenton, New Jersey; Memphis, Tennessee; Mount Vernon, New York; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; and the Louisiana State Police.”
“This month, the Illinois Senate will consider the Funded Advocacy & Independent Representation Act, a bill to create a statewide, independent public defense system. If passed, the legislation will create an Office of the State Public Defender and a State Public Defender Commission. Together, they would establish workload standards, support training and enhance resources for county public defense systems across the state.”
Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives
Photo: Harris and Ewing Collection, Library of Congress
Hi Interested Public,
Welcome to the end of another week. Glad you’re still with us–and very glad to have had a chance to connect with some of you in person at the ABA/NLADA Conference in San Francisco this week! While we’ve been conferencing, the Trump Administration has been attempting (thus far without success) to install new employees at the Library of Congress and the Government Accountability Office. In Congress itself, the draft version of a new tax bill indicates a number of significant changes to the tax environment for universities and non-profits. CNN has obtained court documents indicating the government’s bold, aggressive strategy for convincing a court to grant them access to Columbia’s campus. And the National Center for Youth Law is hoping to take on some of the former efforts of the Department of Education.
As always, these stories and more are in the links below.
Solidarity,
“in the aftermath of recent Trump administration efforts to upend the leadership at the Library of Congress, officials with the non-department Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) reached out to another legislative support agency — the U.S. Government Accountability Office — wanting to “assign a team” to GAO. Per a staff announcement on Friday, GAO — which describes itself as “an independent, non-partisan agency that works for Congress” — said no[:]
‘As a legislative branch agency, GAO is not subject to Executive Orders and has therefore declined any requests to have a DOGE team assigned to GAO.’”
“President Trump on Monday named the No. 2 official at the Justice Department and his former personal lawyer to serve as the acting librarian of Congress…Staff members at the library balked and called the U.S. Capitol Police as well as their general counsel, Meg Williams, who told the two officials that they were not allowed access to the Copyright Office and asked them to leave…Mr. Perkins and Mr. Nieves then left the building willingly, accompanied to the door by Ms. Williams. The library’s staff is recognizing Robert Newlen, the principal deputy librarian who was Dr. Hayden’s No. 2, as the acting librarian until it gets direction from Congress, one of the people familiar with the situation said.”
“While the takeover has been framed as part of Trump’s broader purge of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) content, it is the latest effort by the president and his team to subsume the role of Congress and ensure it cannot do its job. An expert on the Library of Congress tells Rolling Stone that Trump’s takeover attempt is “dangerous,” given that the Library’s sub-agencies provide confidential legal advice to members of Congress and help police misconduct by lawmakers. The expert says the Trump administration is actively trying to place a landing team at the Library of Congress, noting that when Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has done this elsewhere, the first thing that team does is hoover up and gain control over as much sensitive data as possible…Moreover, they note that the Congressional Research Service (CRS), an agency within the Library of Congress, “provides confidential advice to Congress, including confidential legal advice, and there is a database that has all the questions that every member has asked for the last 50 years and the answers. That cannot be made available.”” (emphasis added)
“Legacy Foundation has committed $600,000 to shore up slashed budgets for nonprofit organizations hit by state and federal budget cuts. Officials announced the new Lake County Resilience Grant program Thursday in Merrillville with several nonprofit leaders sharing the impact of the government funding cuts to their organizations.”
“Increase in Excise Tax on Investment Income of Private Colleges and Universities (Endowment Tax)…
Increase in Excise Tax on Private Foundation Investment Income…Expanded Scope of "Excess Compensation Tax" for Nonprofits…
Suspension of Tax-Exempt Status for Terrorist Supporting Organizations…This provision adopts language from prior proposed legislation, H.R. 9495 (dubbed by some as the "Nonprofit Killer Bill"), with some adjustments. It modifies IRC § 501(p) to grant authority to the Secretary of the Treasury to suspend the tax-exempt status of any organization designated as a "terrorist supporting organization." An organization may be designated a terrorist support organization if the Treasury Secretary determines that within the prior three years the organization provided more than a de minimis amount of material support or resources to a designated terrorist organization.”
“Last year, I warned that this legislation could be used by an administration interested in going after civil society by manipulating the language of national security…This year, we do not need to imagine attacks on NGOs generally and their tax-exempt status specifically as a scary hypothetical. It’s currently happening without this legislation…And lest one, for some reason, soothe oneself by saying that this will only (“only”) impact those engaged on issues related to Israel, Palestine, and antisemitism, the NGO sector itself knows that this is not true: Last month, there were reports that Trump was considering signing an executive order that would strip the tax-exempt status of environmental groups.”
“Court documents, including a newly unsealed search warrant affidavit, reveal authorities went further than previously known in their effort to target the students and the university…The affidavit shows that government officers asked Columbia to allow them into Chung’s university housing but were denied. At the time, Columbia would not permit access without a warrant signed by a judge…The federal agent who wrote the affidavit said he was not aware whether Chung had left her college apartment and that finding her there could be evidence of Columbia “harboring an alien.”
…“Columbia University has refused, and continues to refuse, to permit immigration officers to locate and arrest Ranjani Srinivasan and Yunseo Chung at their student housing and were and are thus concealing, harboring, or shielding from detection removable aliens, Ranjani Srinivasan and Yunseo Chung, or are conspiring to do so.”
Nathan Yaffe, Srinivasan’s former lawyer and part of the team representing Chung, said this made “no sense.”
“It’s incoherent to go to a judge and say, ‘On March 8, we terminated this person’s student status and within 72 hours that person had left the United States (but) we’re going to pursue harboring charges against the institution where she used to reside,” he told CNN. “That one is totally bizarre.”
The search warrants were authorized by a District Court Judge on March 13.”
“according to an internal memo, the agency will be deprioritizing the regulation of certain industries, including student loans and digital payments. While the memo notes that the CFPB is shifting away from supervision and enforcement of areas that can be handled by states, reduced federal support could make state regulatory enforcement more difficult.”
“[A] coalition of 40 attorneys general [sent] a letter to Congressional leaders opposing a proposed 10-year ban on states enforcing any state law or regulation addressing artificial intelligence (AI) and automated decision-making systems. The ban was included in the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s changes to the budget reconciliation bill.”
Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives
Photo: Harris and Ewing Collection, Library of Congress
Hi Interested Public,
Welcome to the end of another week. Glad you’re still with us. This week, the Trump Administration summarily fired the Librarian of Congress while former DOJ attorneys launched a new DC firm to contest the Administration’s ongoing reductions in force across the federal civil service. The specific effects of last week’s widespread grant terminations across DOJ’s grant portfolio are starting to come into focus. The Department of Education announced that people with student loans in default would be notified of their options soon and could lose federal benefits or see their wages garnished beginning this summer; the Department also sent a letter to Harvard University announcing that “Harvard should no longer seek GRANTS from the federal government since none will be provided.” In Louisville Kentucky, Black students from across the city were honored in an “Ascension Citywide Black Graduation Ceremony” unaffiliated with any of the local universities that had conferred on them their degrees.
As always, these stories and more are in the links below.
Solidarity,
“I enjoy my job and do not want to leave — but the administration’s hostility towards federal workers is seemingly increasing, and I know there is a decent likelihood I will have to begin a job search soon. I used to have a 5- and 10-year career plan, and now I’m not even sure what things will look like in five months.”
“Two former U. S. Department of Justice attorneys who recently left their government positions have launched a Washington D.C. -based firm they say will fight the Trump administration’s efforts to ‘dismantle the federal workforce.’ ”
“Hayden was formally notified of her termination in an email from the White House’s presidential personnel department just before 7 p.m. Thursday, according to a copy of the email reviewed by CQ Roll Call…The Library of Congress is the largest library in the world, with buildings located on the Capitol campus. While it is a legislative branch agency, the president has statutory authority to appoint the head of the Library of Congress, with Senate confirmation.” [emphasis added]
“Amy Solomon, former assistant attorney general who oversaw the Office of Justice Programs and now a senior fellow at the Council on Criminal Justice, said the cuts touched on every aspect of the department’s portfolio.”
“Among programs cut as the Trump administration slashed funding to AmeriCorps was Illinois JusticeCorps, a program that embedded volunteers in courthouses around the state to provide assistance and guidance through a variety of legal processes. One such volunteer is Jack Popovich, who is set to attend law school this fall but first planned to spend a year with JusticeCorps, operating the self-help desk at the Champaign County Courthouse.”
“Trump’s proposal calls for a $980 million reduction in funding for the program, which was appropriated $1.2 billion in fiscal year 2024. In his budget plan, the president called for Federal Work-Study to be run by the states and the colleges “that financially benefit from it.” “Reform of this poorly targeted program should redistribute remaining funding to institutions that serve the most low-income students and provide a wage subsidy to gain career-oriented opportunities to improve long-term employment outcomes of students,” it says.”
“In a three-page letter sent to Harvard University on Monday evening, the Department of Education said federal agencies will no longer provide the wealthy institution with any grant funding, alleging that Harvard has engaged in a “systemic pattern of violating federal law” and calling it a “mockery of this country’s higher education system.”…Some conservative policy experts see Monday’s move as an aggressive step to break Harvard’s silo from accountability…But Lynn Pasquerella, president of the American Association of Colleges and Universities, described Monday’s letter as a “particularly disturbing” and “unwarranted escalation of threats.””
“The U.S. Department of Education announced on Monday, May 5 that by the end of summer, 5.3 million defaulted student loan borrowers will receive a 30-day notice from the U.S. Department of Treasury, notifying them that they could lose federal benefits. About 195,000 defaulted student loan borrowers received this notice on Monday, and the first federal monthly benefit checks to be impacted are those scheduled for early June, a statement reads.”
“the Department will soon notify defaulted borrowers, requiring them to make payments, enroll in an income-driven repayment plan, or seek loan rehabilitation. The government plans to initiate collections this summer through tax refund offsets, federal pension garnishments, and wage garnishments if payments are not made. To ease the transition, the Department of Education is enhancing borrower support with extended call center hours, a new AI assistant, and an updated loan simulator.” [various emphasis removed]
“This means that, for students entering college or graduate school for the first time, the financial aid landscape could be grim. The Republican plan puts new limits on how much students in high-cost areas or in high-cost programs can borrow for tuition, books, room and board, even as moderate-income students will no longer be eligible for federal grants. Borrowing for graduate and professional school could be capped in a way that would make it much more difficult for lower-income students to pursue careers in medicine and law.” [emphasis added]
Conflicts Over Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility
“for every employee, student, faculty member, or administrator who formerly occupied a position with any DEI responsibilities, ‘mandate,’ duties, or title whatsoever, identify whether that individual’s position and title have been eliminated, whether the individual is still associated with the University in any official or unofficial, paid or unpaid capacity and, if so, the name and nature of that individual’s current title or position.”
“Gov. Patrick Morrisey praised the passage of bills codifying his executive order banning diversity, equity and inclusion programs in state government and education programs; and a bill closing remaining loopholes that allowed for medication gender-affirming care.”
“Roughly 20 Black students from Louisville universities walked the stage at St. Stephen Baptist Church May 8 for the inaugural "Ascension Citywide Black Graduation Ceremony," hosted in resistance to recent state and federal crackdowns on anti-diversity, equity and inclusion practices in higher education. The event — unaffiliated with any local universities — welcomed students from the University of Louisville, Bellarmine University, Spalding University and Simmons College of Kentucky, who had their names called over a microphone and received certificates and roses to mark the occasion.”
“As Delaware implements its new right to representation law for tenants facing eviction, Wilmington City Council heard from legal aid leaders on Wednesday, who outlined progress made under the law and requested city support for a $786,000 settlement assistance fund to prevent further displacement.”
“For the first time in more than a decade, the San Francisco public defender’s office is so overloaded with cases that it has closed up shop. The office will decline new clients on one business day each week.”
Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives
Photo: Harris and Ewing Collection, Library of Congress
Hi Interested Public,
Welcome to May. The first of the month saw widespread protests by members of the legal profession, set to coincide with “Law Day”. In an Executive Order, President Trump directed AG Bondi to secure “private-sector pro bono assistance” for law enforcement officers subjected to litigation “for actions taken during the performance of their official duties to enforce the law.” At the Department of Justice, dramatic changes in government priorities have led to significant staff turnover, while elsewhere the agency indicated it intends to itself assume responsibility for advising families separated at the border during the first Trump administration. Federal workers subject to reductions in force are discovering that their health benefits may have been affected even during periods when they were employed. The Department of Government Efficiency turned its attention to AmeriCorps, cutting off a wide variety of grants including (apparently) some grants for legal services; multiple states have sued in response. In Congress, recently-revealed legislation does not propose to cut PSLF entirely. In civil society, the Wall St. Journal reported that a private collective of prominent university leaders are discussing how to assert their institutions’ independence from the Trump Administration.
As always, these stories and more are in the links below.
“The division changed mission statements across its sections to focus less on racial discrimination and more on fighting diversity initiatives. And department officials reassigned more than a dozen career staffers — including section chiefs overseeing police brutality, disability and voting rights cases — to areas outside their legal expertise…The division had about 380 attorneys when Trump began his second term in the White House. Approximately half have left or said they will leave, according to people familiar with the division…Dhillon, in her appearance on Beck’s podcast, acknowledged that recent departures had — for the moment — affected the resources her division could bring to bear on its newly established priorities. “We’re going to run out of attorneys to work on these things at some point,” she quipped. Still, she added, the civil rights division was looking to hire new lawyers. “I care that they’re willing to take direction and zealously enforce the civil rights of the United States, according to their [sic] priorities of the president,” Dhillon said.”
“In interviews, attendees in New York pointed to actions such as Mr. Trump’s targeting of law firms, wrongful deportations and the arrest of a Wisconsin judge on charges of obstructing immigration enforcement.”
“ Across the nation, judges are facing increased threats of not only physical violence, but also professional retaliation just for doing our jobs,” said Justice Jackson, speaking at a conference for judges held in Puerto Rico. “And the attacks are not random. They seem designed to intimidate those of us who serve in this critical capacity.”
“An attorney recruited to the Commerce Department’s CHIPS for America program in 2023, Waterfield had felt she was part of something monumental, something that would move the country forward: rebuilding America’s semiconductor industry. Instead, nearly two months after being fired in the Trump administration’s purge of newer — or “probationary” — federal employees, Waterfield is enmeshed in a bureaucratic mess over her health care coverage. It’s a mess that’s left her fearing her entire family may now be uninsured.”
“The preliminary injunction from Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin allows the funding for legal representation for minor children to continue while the case proceeds.”
“U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration has so far withheld at least $436.87 billion of congressionally approved funding, the top Democrats on the U.S. Congress’ appropriation committees said on Tuesday…These findings will be publicly posted in a tracker tallying the minimum the committees believe the administration is freezing or fighting in court to block, a committee aide said.”
“Many grants funded under a decades-old anti-poverty program, Volunteers in Service to America, or VISTA, were also cut, the nonprofit said, including all but two that run through the states.”
[Ed. Note: The complaint in the suit details which grants have been cut, including legal services grants such as the “AmeriCorps Holistic Advocate Program”]
“a bipartisan coalition of 40 attorneys general [urged] Congressional leaders to fully fund the Legal Services Corporation (LSC), according to a recent press release.”
“After abruptly declining to renew a contract with a nonprofit to provide court-ordered legal assistance to families separated at the border under the first Trump administration, the U.S. Department of Justice has proposed providing that service itself. Experts worry that’s a conflict of interest that could put those families at risk of deportation and being separated again.”
“Leaders of some of the nation’s most prestigious universities have assembled a private collective to counter the Trump administration’s attacks on research funding and academic independence across higher education, according to people familiar with the effort. The informal group currently includes about 10 schools, including Ivies and leading private research universities, mostly in blue states. Strategy discussions gained momentum after the administration’s recent list of demands for sweeping cultural change at Harvard, viewed by many universities as an assault on independence.”
“Hours after Harvard University faced the Trump administration in court for the first time in its push to restore more than $2 billion in blocked federal funding, the nation’s oldest and wealthiest college made a symbolic bow to White House demands, renaming its diversity, equity and inclusion office.”
“President Donald Trump has directed the U.S. Justice Department to mobilize law firms to defend police officers unjustly accused of misconduct free of charge, marking the latest effort to steer the work of private lawyers to his administration’s ends.”
“Cortese said creating the public law school would lower barriers to entry, as cost and location can turn people away from entering careers in public service — including first generation students and other underrepresented demographics.”
“The good news for PSLF borrowers is that the House Republican draft reconciliation bill would not make other significant changes to the program, such as by capping loan forgiveness or cutting off borrowers at certain income levels. Some advocates had been concerned that additional restrictions on student loan forgiveness under the program would be included in the GOP bill. But that’s not the end of the story. This week, the Department of Education held its first public hearing as part of negotiated rulemaking, a lengthy process that allows the department to update, change, or repeal regulations governing federal student loan programs. And PSLF is explicitly a topic for negotiated rulemaking this year. The department is considering enacting new rules to implement President Donald Trump’s executive order in March that would cut off student loan forgiveness eligibility under PSLF for organizations that engage in certain “illegal” activities.”
“Beginning in March, as many as 20 Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, aided by contractors, ran 1.3 million names of foreign students through a federal database that tracks criminal histories, missing persons and other brushes with the law…But many of those hits flagged students who had minor interactions with police — arrests for reckless driving, DUIs and misdemeanors, with charges often dropped or never brought at all — far short of the legal standard required to revoke a student’s legal ability to study in the U.S. Nevertheless, ICE officials used that data to “terminate” the students’ records in an online database schools and ICE use to track student visa holders in the U.S. Those terminations led schools to bar students from attending classes — some just weeks from graduation — and warn that they could be at risk of immediate deportation.”
Conflicts Over Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility
“Federal election officials are suggesting states must pledge to follow President Donald Trump’s directive curbing diversity, equity and inclusion programs as a condition for receiving $15 million in election security funding. The new requirement for the grants has sent Democratic secretaries of state around the nation scrambling to assess the financial, legal and operational implications of accepting the money from the independent, bipartisan U.S. Election Assistance Commission. The dispute is complicated by the vagueness of the revised federal grant agreement, which some state officials fear could be turned against them. The grant’s terms tell states they must promise to follow federal antidiscrimination laws but cite an executive order from Trump on DEI that Democrats oppose.”
Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives
Photo: Harris and Ewing Collection, Library of Congress
Hi Interested Public,
Here we are, at the end of another eventful week. Harvard’s opposition to the Trump administration’s various policy demands matured into a lawsuit this week, while hundreds of university leaders “sp[oke] with one voice against the unprecedented government overreach and political interference” in an open statement. Meanwhile, the Department of Justice terminated hundreds of grants on a variety of topics, including legal services, a district judge blocked (again) the administration’s efforts to terminate CFPB employees en masse, and the Attorney General of New York announced a webinar to help nonprofits navigate “evolving issues in the sector” (registration link below). Finally, the Department of Education announced it will begin involuntary collections (wage garnishment) next month.
As always, these stories and more are in the links below.
Solidarity,
“Beginning May 5, the Education Department will begin involuntary collections through the Treasury Department's offset program, which claws back delinquent debts by withholding payments such as tax refunds, federal salaries and Social Security benefits.”
“In its letter earlier this month, the administration told Harvard to impose tougher discipline on protesters and to screen international students for those who are "hostile to the American values." It also called for broad leadership reforms at the university, admissions policy changes and the end of college recognition for some student clubs. The government also demanded Harvard audit its faculty and student body to ensure wide viewpoints in every department and, if necessary, diversify by admitting additional students and hiring new faculty.” [Read Harvard’s complaint here.]
“Last week, administration officials reached out to Harvard representatives three times in an effort to restart talks, a person familiar with the outreach told CNN. The nation’s oldest university indicated it was not interested in negotiating, the person said.”
“As we have seen over the last several days, standing up for our values and independence as an institution comes with significant sacrifices…In addition, we are pursuing immediate interventions to build additional financial capacity for the FAS. First, the FAS is pausing all non-essential capital projects and spending. Second, we will continue the staff and faculty hiring pause through the summer, at which point we will again reassess. And third, there will be no annual pay increases for exempt staff and faculty for the 2025-2026 fiscal year. These are difficult but necessary steps that aid our efforts to preserve resources, while investing in our academic mission and strategic priorities.
We will also undertake a formal review of the FAS’s administrative operations and footprint…The Task Force on Workforce Planning will conduct a comprehensive analysis of staffing across the FAS and all its units, and will develop a set of recommendations for actions. These recommendations may include proposals for staff reorganizations and reductions.”
“Hundreds of college presidents and other officials have signed a letter protesting the “unprecedented government overreach and political interference” that higher education is facing under the Trump administration.”
“The Partnership for Public Service, a nonprofit organization that studies the federal work force, has used budget figures to produce a rough estimate that firings, re-hirings, lost productivity and paid leave of thousands of workers will cost upward of $135 billion this fiscal year.”
“Three advocacy groups are suing the Department of Homeland Security and Secretary Kristi Noem, seeking to restore staff jobs at three gutted offices that oversee civil rights protections across the department's broad mission.”
“The Trump administration has quietly transformed the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, forcing out a majority of career managers and implementing new priorities that current and former officials say abandon a decadeslong mission of enforcing laws that prohibit discrimination in hiring, housing and voting rights. More than a dozen senior lawyers — many with decades of experience working under presidents of both parties — have been reassigned, the current and former officials say. Some have resigned in frustration after they were moved to less desirable roles unrelated to their expertise, according to the sources.”
“Judge Amy Berman Jackson of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia last week barred the CFPB from dramatically reducing its staffing, saying she is concerned that CFPB officials are ignoring her earlier order, as modified by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, that keeps the agency in existence until she rules on the merits of a lawsuit filed by the National Treasury Employees Union and others challenging plans to dismantle the agency.”
“The canceled awards were identified through a review process that determined they did not align with the Trump administration’s priorities, Maureen Henneberg, acting head of the Office of Justice Programs, told staff in an email obtained by The Washington Post.”
“The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a motion in federal court to stop the Department of Justice from cutting off legal services for families who were forcibly separated at the U.S.-Mexico border during the first Trump administration.”
“The Trump administration on March 21 terminated part of a $200 million contract that funds attorneys and other legal services for unaccompanied children. Those are children who arrive without parents or legal guardians — and typically instead come with aunts, uncles or older siblings, according to immigration attorneys. While the contract termination is being challenged in court, immigrant advocates say the impact is already being felt, as lawyer groups pull back on services – leaving some children on their own.”
“Groups are on high alert as rumors fly about the administration possibly revoking their tax-exempt status or investigating them for illegal actions or noncompliance with executive orders. Attorney General Letitia James’ office is hosting a webinar next Monday to offer guidance and equip nonprofits ahead of any federal moves. So far, over 1,000 groups have signed up for the event.” [emphasis added]
“Republicans in Congress are investigating the Chinese-American Planning Council for sponsoring a seminar to educate immigrants about their rights when dealing with ICE.”
“Dozens of international students across the United States reported Thursday that their legal status — abruptly terminated by the federal government in recent weeks — had been quietly restored without warning or explanation…According to an organizer of F-1 Termination Watch, a group of international students, some affected by status changes, tracking student visa and SEVIS terminations across the country, the reinstatements have appeared “arbitrary.”…”
Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives
Photo: Harris and Ewing Collection, Library of Congress
Hi Interested Public,
We’ve made it to the end of another week. The Department of Government Efficiency met with the Legal Services Corporation this week, and also explored the idea of assigning a DOGE team member to the Vera Institute of Justice (an independent nonprofit). The IRS is planning to rescind Harvard University’s tax exempt status after the school refused to comply with a second list of demands issued to it by multiple federal agencies–including audit-based enforcement of a “viewpoint diversity in admissions & hiring” policy. The Department of Justice argued in court that the Trump Administration’s recent pattern of unilaterally deleting foreign students’ SEVIS records did not equate to a revocation of their legal status; some advocates say their clients have been told the opposite. Leadership at the CFPB have shrunk the agency to a staff of around 200; a federal judge held a hearing earlier today to examine whether those reductions failed to comply with a preliminary injunction she had issued against en masse RIFs.
As always, these stories and more are in the links below.
Solidarity,
“"Increasingly, I'm hearing about political considerations being an issue in firms deciding whether they're going to be able to assist," said Dustin Rynders, the legal director of the Texas Civil Rights Project.
"I have been turned down on some recent requests where people have expressed concern about political ramifications, about being involved in immigrant rights work in this time, about being involved in civil rights, voting rights cases, in challenges against the administration," he said.”
“The mass reduction in force, or RIF, comes nearly a month after a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order barring the Trump administration from removing probationary employees at the CFPB and other agencies. On Friday, an appeals court ruled that the CFPB could begin terminations again so long as “individual assessments” were conducted for each terminated employee. Around 200 employees will be left at the CFPB, effectively gutting the agency Elon Musk has previously said should be ‘deleted.’”
“U.S. DOGE Service representatives told leaders of a nonprofit group Tuesday that it wants to assign members of its team to work at all institutes or agencies that receive federal funds, highlighting its aggressiveness as it attempts to reshape the federal government, according to several people familiar with the matter.
…A member of DOGE last week emailed the Vera Institute of Justice — an independent nonprofit organization that advocates for lower incarceration rates — to schedule a meeting about “getting a DOGE team assigned to the organization,” according to a copy of the email that was reviewed by The Washington Post.”
“The president’s remarks, during an event at the White House, began to confirm what advocacy groups have been quietly warning: Trump’s campaign of retribution is coming next for them.”
“In his statement to the Harvard community, Garber expressed why the university could not morally—or legally—comply with the demands of the federal government by linking to a letter he and Penny Pritzker, the leading member of the Harvard Corporation, had received just days prior from US Commissioner of the Federal Acquisition Service Josh Gruenbaum; US Department of Education Action General Counsel Thomas E. Wheeler; and US Department of Health and Human Services Acting General Counsel Sean R. Keveney.
…Harvard was not the first university to be targeted by the Trump administration, but it is the first to definitively resist stipulated demands and give the indication that it would be willing to fight the federal funds drain in court. “A very big shift from what we’ve seen from other universities, but if anyone could do it, it’s Harvard,” wrote Patty Culhane Al Jazeera’s Washington Correspondent.”
“Viewpoint Diversity in Admissions and Hiring. By August 2025, the University shall commission an external party, which shall satisfy the federal government as to its competence and good faith, to audit the student body, faculty, staff, and leadership for viewpoint diversity, such that each department, field, or teaching unit must be individually viewpoint diverse. This audit shall begin no later than the summer of 2025 and shall proceed on a department-by-department, field-by-field, or teaching-unit-by-teaching-unit basis as appropriate. The report of the external party shall be submitted to University leadership and the federal government no later than the end of 2025. Harvard must abolish all criteria, preferences, and practices, whether mandatory or optional, throughout its admissions and hiring practices, that function as ideological litmus tests. Every department or field found to lack viewpoint diversity must be reformed by hiring a critical mass of new faculty within that department or field who will provide viewpoint diversity; every teaching unit found to lack viewpoint diversity must be reformed by admitting a critical mass of students who will provide viewpoint diversity. If the review finds that the existing faculty in the relevant department or field are not capable of hiring for viewpoint diversity, or that the relevant teaching unit is not capable of admitting a critical mass of students with diverse viewpoints, hiring or admissions within that department, field, or teaching unit shall be transferred to the closest cognate department, field, or teaching unit that is capable of achieving viewpoint diversity. This audit shall be performed and the same steps taken to establish viewpoint diversity every year during the period in which reforms are being implemented, which shall be at least until the end of 2028.”
“The Internal Revenue Service is making plans to rescind the tax-exempt status of Harvard University, according to two sources familiar with the matter, which would be an extraordinary step of retaliation as the Trump administration seeks to turn up pressure on the university that has defied its demands to change its hiring and other practices.”
“A recent letter from the American Bar Association (ABA) has revealed that all grant funding from the Department of Justice’s Office on Violence Against Women has been terminated, effective immediately. The abrupt announcement has left organizations scrambling to assess the potential impact on their operations and services. The ABA's letter states, "As we consider our next steps, we must pause all work related to these grants."”
“Among the Trump administration’s sweeping changes to our immigration system are new policies that threaten to limit pro-bono legal services in immigration court.
…Atkinson helps oversee the Attorney of the Day program, and said their team of volunteer attorneys are not respondents’ official legal representatives, but appear as “friends of the court,” to help proceedings run smoothly and ensure immigrants know their rights and understand the daunting legal path ahead. They also help connect immigrants with local -bono legal services who might be able to take on their cases.
…The memo reinstates a policy enacted at the end of President Trump’s first term but later rescinded by President Biden. It says anyone appearing as a friend of the court can’t engage in legal advocacy unless they’re the respondent’s official attorney.
…Since the DOJ’s memo went out in February, Atkinson said they’ve continued to send lawyers with the Attorney of the Day program to immigration court. So far, she said, San Francisco Immigration Court judges and government attorneys haven’t objected to their presence.”
“In court filings [an] assistant U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Michigan…argued that deleting a student’s records from the Student Exchange and Visitor Information System, a database that holds international students’ information, did not equate to a revocation of their status.
…[S]ome immigration lawyers working closely with affected students and institutions say their clients have been told the very opposite regarding their legal status in the country.
The filing appears to be the first time the government has responded in writing to lawsuits that have been filed against the Trump administration for its attacks on international students, excluding high-profile cases where the students were also detained. This particular response was to a lawsuit brought by four students from the University of Michigan and Wayne State University who lost their F-1 student statuses. So far, at least 50 students have sued across 16 lawsuits, according to an Inside Higher Ed review of court records.”
Conflicts Over Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility
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.”
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