Aug. 14, 2020 – Note: As we were hitting send on this release, the Government Accountability Office separately concluded that both Ken Cuccinelli and Chad Wolf, who are serving as the Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security and Acting Secretary of Homeland Security, respectively, were appointed illegally and are […]
Democracy Forward
Amid Lawsuit, DeVos Contradicts Kraninger on Oversight of Federal Student Loan Servicers
Washington, D.C. August 13, 2020 — Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ recent response to a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee reveals that, contrary to the CFPB’s claims to Congress and a federal court, the CFPB and Department of Education are not currently conducting joint examinations of large federal student loan servicers, nor do the two agencies have a […]
Group Files Lawsuit Challenging Trump Administration’s Refusal to Open COVID-19 Special Enrollment Period for ACA
Washington, D.C. June 15, 2020 — Today, Democracy Forward sued the Trump administration on behalf of the City of Chicago for unlawfully refusing to open a special enrollment period to allow millions of uninsured Americans affected by a once-in-a-century pandemic to enroll in health insurance offered on Affordable Care Act (ACA) exchanges. Despite over two […]
Coalition of Groups File Brief in Support of Lawsuit Challenging Sec. Pompeo’s Commission on Unalienable Rights
New York, N.Y. June 11, 2020 — Six human rights organizations submitted a “friend of the court” brief in support of the plaintiffs in a lawsuit challenging Secretary of State Pompeo’s unlawful formation and operation of the State Department’s Commission on Unalienable Rights. Chartered by Sec. Pompeo to conduct a “profound reexamination” of the human […]
National Security Experts Sue to Compel White House to Release War Powers Transparency Report Required by Law
Washington, D.C. June 9, 2020 — Today, on behalf of national security law experts Benjamin Wittes and Scott R. Anderson and advocacy group Protect Democracy, Democracy Forward filed a complaint and petition for a writ of mandamus seeking to require President Trump to release a legally mandated annual “report on the legal and policy frameworks […]
Trump Administration Sued for Illegally Seizing Millions of Dollars in Tax Refunds from Thousands of Student Borrowers in Violation of CARES Act
Washington, D.C. May 29, 2020— Today, Student Defense and Democracy Forward filed a class-action lawsuit against Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos for their departments’ illegal seizures of thousands of student borrowers’ tax refunds. The CARES Act suspended all involuntary collection of federal student loans — including through a Treasury Department program that garnishes […]
State Department Denies President Trump Seized Putin Meeting Interpreter Notes
Washington, D.C. Jan. 13, 2020 — The State Department told a federal court that, contrary to The Washington Post’s January 2019 reporting, President Trump did not seize interpreter notes documenting a 2017 private meeting with Russian Federation President Valdimir Putin. The State Department further appears to claim that it has taken measures to recover the […]
State Dept. Sued for Withholding Records of Possible Coordination with Right Wing Conspiracist Cited in Impeachment Testimony
Washington, D.C. November 21, 2019 – Today, Democracy Forward sued the Trump administration for withholding communications between State Department officials and John Solomon — a Fox News commentator whose columns in The Hill fueled a false Ukrainian corruption narrative involving the Biden family that is a key element of the ongoing impeachment inquiry. Among many grave concerns is the possibility […]
Immigrant Advocates Fight for Nationwide Injunction Halting Trump Administration’s Illegal Attacks on Asylum Process
Washington, D.C. November 1, 2019 – Monday, a group of asylum seekers and the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES), represented by Democracy Forward and the Catholic Legal Immigration Network (CLINIC), pushed back against the Trump administration’s opposition to their request for a nationwide preliminary injunction in a case challenging several […]
Groups Seek Nationwide Injunction Against The Administration’s Unlawful Asylum Directives
Washington, D.C. Sept. 30, 2019 – Last week, on behalf of seven asylum seekers and the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES), Democracy Forward, RAICES and Catholic Legal Immigration Network (CLINIC) moved for a nationwide preliminary injunction to stop the Trump administration from continuing to implement several unlawful asylum directives in […]
Federal Court Rejects Trump Administration’s Attempt to Dismiss Lawsuit Against Unlawful “Public Charge” Policy
Baltimore, MD, Sept. 24, 2019 – A federal court yesterday rejected the Trump administration’s attempt to dismiss the City of Baltimore’s lawsuit challenging the State Department’s efforts to make it harder for immigrants to show that they are not likely to become a “public charge.” The administration’s policy change made it easier to deny visas, leading to […]
Democracy Forward Sues For Records on Trump Administration’s Politicization of NOAA
WASHINGTON, D.C. Sept. 16, 2019—Today, Democracy Forward filed suit against the Trump administration for refusing to release documents regarding efforts to politicize the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The suit was filed after reports that Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross threatened to fire NOAA officials if they did not support President Trump’s false claims about […]
Groups Sue Trump Admin., Cuccinelli For Ignoring the Human Toll on Asylum Seekers With New Directives
WASHINGTON, D.C. Sept. 6, 2019 – Today, on behalf of RAICES and seven asylum seekers, Democracy Forward, the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. and Proskauer Rose LLP sued the Trump administration to challenge several unlawful immigration directives issued by Trump appointee Ken Cuccinelli that eviscerate protections for asylum seekers fleeing persecution. The unlawful directives violate […]
Rules Trump Administration Broke Law to Form Public Lands Committee Stacked With Fossil Fuel Reps
Missoula, MT, Aug. 14, 2019— Late yesterday, a federal court ruled that the Trump administration violated the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) by unlawfully forming the Royalty Policy Committee (RPC), an advisory body stacked with fossil fuel lobbyists. As formed by the Trump administration, the Committee put fossil fuel lobbyists in a position to drive […]
Immigration, Legal Groups Charge Cuccinelli’s Appointment Illegal, Demand Removal
Washington D.C. July 23, 2019—Democracy Forward led a coalition of immigration and civil rights groups to send a letter to the Department of Justice explaining why President Trump’s appointment of Ken Cuccinelli as the acting head of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is illegal and demanding that he be removed immediately. As the groups […]