Social Movements & the Law

The administration’s research funding and DEI cuts present an existential threat to regional public universities like Southern Illinois University, the economic backbone of the conservative rural region it serves.

President Trump signed an executive order “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History” on March 27 directing action at the Smithsonian Institution and public monuments, including Independence Hall, to reverse and remove public scholarship and activity related to race and gender in particular, characterized in the order as “divisive narratives” and “improper ideology.”

Data losses have impacted professors’ research and led to concerns about the future of federal data.

The "Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History" order removes "divisive, race-centered ideology" from Smithsonian museums, educational and research centers, and the National Zoo.

On Friday night, March 14, President Trump issued an Executive Order that called for the elimination of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and six other agencies. In FY24, the IMLS budget was $294.8 million, of which more than $211 million was dedicated to library services through the Library Services Technology Act (LSTA), the leading source of federal funding for America’s libraries. According to a statement from the American Library Association (ALA), “Libraries translate .003 percent of the federal budget into programs and services used by more than 1.2 billion people each year.”

We will continue to update this roundup as we learn of additional statements.  Latest Additions (Last Update: 9:00am; March 27, 2025) Most Recent Addition Bolded Asian Pacific American Librarians Association (APALA) iFederation Lyrasis Sen. Jack Reed Leads Bipartisan Effort to Preserve Support for Public Libraries & Museums ALA Applauds Bipartisan Opposition To Attempt To Eliminate […]

Nearly 60 days into his second term in office, Trump followed through on his campaign promise to dismantle the Department of Education. Now it’s up to Congress to decide if the agency will be abolished entirely.

On the heels of removing two diversity-related websites this week, the University of Arizona has deleted the phrase “committed to diversity and inclusion” from its widely used “land acknowledgement” statement.

Earlier this month, the U of A removed references to DEI from its website. Now more than 1,500 students, faculty, and staff have signed a petition questioning the elimination of the DEI language.

Arizona's legislature is set to vote on legislation to pay police $2,500 for every illegal immigrant they help deport, marking it the latest U.S. state to consider bounties to support President Donald Trump's hardline immigration policies.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit issued an order lifting the nationwide injunction on President Donald Trump's executive orders targeting (DEI) programs.

In one of his latest executive orders, President Trump ordered big cuts to the Institute of Museum and Library Services, which is the only federal agency that provides funds to libraries.

President Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 against Tren de Aragua members, provoking a legal fight. Here's what to know about the controversial law, which was last used during World War II.

A federal judge has blocked enforcement of President Donald Trump’s executive order banning transgender people from serving in the U.S. military.

And then they came for the libraries. On March 14, the Trump Administration promulgated an executive order that, as the American Library Association (ALA) describes it, “calls for the el…

An executive order issued by the Trump administration on Friday night, March 14, calls for the elimination of the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the nation’s only federal agency for America’s libraries.

The president's contention that birthright citizenship is unconstitutional is considered a fringe view because the Supreme Court ruled to the contrary 127 years ago.

Columbia University had $400 million in federal grants canceled after the Trump administration said the school failed to protect Jewish students.

Our new data tool, Tracking Major Rules in the Courts, compiles more up-to-date case results that can be easily compared across presidential administrations, and offers additional research findings. Between 2017 and 2021, the Institute for Policy Integrity[[The Institute for Policy Integrity has filed amicus briefs in several of the cases discussed in this Roundup. Policy Integrity did not represent any of the parties.]]documented the outcomes of litigation over the Trump administration's use of federal agencies to implement its policies.[[The Roundup does not include litigation over self-implementing presidential memoranda or executive orders or over project-level decisions.]] We tracked litigation over agency actions such as regulations, guidance documents, and agency memoranda.[[At times, advocates have brought lawsuits over a single agency action in multiple different courts. The Roundup combines decisions from different courts regarding the same agency action in a single entry. ]] The win-loss rate below reflects all decisions through January 20, 2021, when the Biden administration took office. [[A new administration’s litigation strategy may differ from the previous administration’s litigation strategy due to differences in policy objectives. See Bethany A. Davis Noll, “Tired of Winning”: Judicial Review of Regulatory Policy in the Trump Era, 73 Admin L. Rev. 353, 389 (2021) (noting ways in which Biden administration’s strategy changed in light of substantive goals). Accordingly, changes after President Biden took office are not clearly attributable to the Trump administration, and we did not recategorize reversals that occurred after this transition.]] Any reversals or modifications on appeal that occurred during the remainder of 2021 are noted in the case descriptions. [[The Roundup reflects wins and losses as they stood on January 20, 2021 when President Biden was inaugurated and his administration took over the defense of cases. Subsequent reversals on appeal or any other subsequent modifications that occurred prior to April 1, 2022 are noted in the relevant entry, but are not reflected in "win" or "loss" categorizations. If cases in the tracker were instead categorized as wins or losses based on subsequent substantive reversals on appeal or other subsequent modifications that occurred, 57 cases (23%) would have been successful for the administration and 188 (77%) of cases would have been unsuccessful for the administration.]] As of April 25, 2022, those updates are no longer being added.

The executive orders published by the Trump Administration cut across dozens of industries. This searchable tool, helps clients break down the orders and their impacts on specific industries. Akin will provide in-depth analysis of specific orders.

President Donald Trump on Thursday suspended security clearances for Perkins Coie and ordered investigations of at least 15 law firms over diversity programs.

The White House has ordered thousands of government web pages to be taken down over the past month, leaving virtually no trace of some federal agencies’ policies regarding critical topics such as sexual orientation, January 6 cases and discrimination.

Tougher Canadian border measures in response to Donald Trump’s threats may make crossings more dangerous for migrants.

Environmentalists are braced for new construction on the president’s signature border wall – and the damage that would wreak

By Andrew Hay (Reuters) - Arizona's legislature is set to vote on legislation to pay police $2,500 for every illegal immigrant they help deport, marking it the latest U.S. state to consider bounties to support President Donald Trump's hardline immigration policies. Arizona's so-called bounty bill would be paid for by taxing international money transfers and has a good chance of passing the

A series of bills targeting diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in state agencies, colleges and universities are circulating through the Legislature as Republican lawmakers look to align with President Donald Trump’s executive order ending DEI programs.

The AHA has sent a letter to President Trump regarding his dismissal of the Archivist of the United States, Dr. Colleen J. Shogan.

The Trump administration is facing a new legal challenge to President Donald Trump’s executive orders (EOs) to eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs and initiatives after a group of diversity officers, professors, and restaurant worker advocates filed a lawsuit in a federal court in Maryland on February 3, 2025, alleging the orders are vague and unconstitutional. Meanwhile, the U.S. Attorney General and the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued memoranda on February 5, 2025, to implement the orders and guide federal agencies on their scope.