Responses to the Trump Administration

Venezuelan migrants, who were ordered to be removed from the country and held in ICE detention for over nine months, sued the Trump administration for violation of their right to due process as they had no clear date for deportation. The lawsuit seeks their release from ICE detention.

Thirteen universities and three university associations filed suit against the National Science Foundation (NSF) and its Acting Director, challenging cuts to “indirect cost rates” for NSF-funded research grants. NSF implemented a policy capping indirect cost rates at 15% for all eligible universities, replacing the prior system in which rates were negotiated individually to reflect actual research costs. Plaintiffs argued that the policy unlawfully limited funding and eliminated the negotiated process. The plaintiffs brought claims under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), asserting that the Rate Cap Policy exceeded NSF’s authority, contradicted existing regulations, and was arbitrary and capricious. They sought to have the policy vacated, declared unlawful, and prevented from being implemented. The court held that the plaintiffs had standing, that the policy was reviewable under the APA, and that NSF exceeded its statutory authority by imposing a uniform 15% cap. The court also found the policy arbitrary and capricious, as NSF failed to explain how the cap would achieve its stated goals. As a result, the court vacated the Rate Cap Policy and issued a declaratory judgment that it was unlawful. The court declined to issue a permanent injunction, concluding that vacatur and the declaratory judgment provided adequate relief. 

PFLAG, the American Association of Physicians for Human Rights, and a group of transgender individuals have filed a lawsuit challenging President Trump's Executive Order 14187. On January 28, 2025, President Trump issued an executive order titled "Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation," which requires that all institutions receiving federal funding cease providing gender-affirming care for patients under the age of 19. The transgender plaintiffs in this case are minors who have been denied access to gender-affirming healthcare as a result of this executive order. The plaintiffs argue that this executive order oversteps the authority of the Executive Branch by performing a function delegated to the Legislative Branch, as well as violating the Affordable Care Act and the Public Health Service Act by engaging in gender-based discrimination. The plaintiffs request that the court declare Executive Order 14187 unlawful and unenforceable.

Parker Tirrell and Iris Turmelle, two teenage transgender girls, were denied the right to participate in girls' sports at their public high schools in New Hampshire due to a state law, HB 1205, which banned transgender girls from all school sports. In August 2024, Tirelle and Turmelle sued their state and local school boards, challenging the New Hampshire law, and have since expanded their suit to challenge the Trump administration's two executive orders banning transgender women and girls from participating in sports.

A coalition of municipal governments, led by the City and County of San Francisco, have filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration challenging his executive orders targeting sanctuary cities. President Trump has issued Executive Order 14159, which orders fines and penalties against cities that resist his immigration agenda. The plaintiffs argue that President Trump's targeting of sanctuary cities encroaches upon the powers granted to them under the Tenth Amendment of the Constitution. The plaintiffs further argue that Executive order 14159 violates the Administrative Procedure Act and the plaintiffs' Fifth Amendment Right to Due Process.

Nonprofit focused on international work have sued the Trump administration challenging the suspension of foreign aid. These organizations were all recipients of USAID funding that was cut by President Trump's Executive Order 14169, which indefinitely suspended all foreign aid. The plaintiffs argued that Executive Order 14169 violates the separation of powers and take care clauses of the Constitution, as well as the Administrative Procedure Act.

A coalition of refugee-serving non profits and nine individuals have filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration challenging Executive Order 14163, which suspended the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP), a longstanding pathway for those seeking refugee status in the U.S. The plaintiffs argue that Executive Order 14163 violates the Refugee Act, the Immigration and Nationality Act, and the Administrative Procedure Act. The plaintiffs further argue that Executive Order 14163 violates the separation of powers enumerated in the U.S. Constitution by defying statutes made by the Legislative Branch.

The Government Accountability Project and the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Associaiton has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration challenging Trump's Executive Order 14171, titled "Restoring Accountability to Policy-Influencing Positions Within the Federal Workforce." This executive order removes employment protections for civil servants, allowing them to be fired arbitrarily without consideration of merit or performance. The plaintiffs argue that this order was an overreach by the executive branch that violates the Administrative Procedure Act, as well as the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution. The plaintiff requests that the court declare the executive order unlawful, and therefore null and void.