Democracy Forward

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]