L4GG in the News
This week I chatted with Jillian Blanchard, vice president of climate change and environmental justice with Lawyers for Good Government, an organization that has been supporting beneficiaries of the Inflation Reduction Act navigate the uncertainties surrounding tax credits and grant programs under the Trump administration. The reason I wanted to chat with Jillian is simple: the IRA is under threat for the first time under a Republican Congress. I wanted to understand how solar and wind projects could be impacted by the House Republican reconciliation bill and putting IRA tax credits in doubt. I learned a lot.
Every single environmental justice grant made by the Environmental Protection Agency during the Biden Administration could be cancelled if the agency’s new administrator, Lee Zeldin, has his way. This most recent court filing suggests an even broader attack on Biden-era funding, but Ryan Hathaway, the director for climate and environmental justice at Lawyers for Good Government, which has been working with many organizations with EPA funding at risk, says that the number has been inflated.
Some of the grants had not only been awarded, but the money had been paid out too. However, “most money has not been paid out because the IRA grants were much bigger,” Hathaway says. “However, there are lots of grants by volume that are pretty far along in their work.”
On Thursday, thousands of lawyers were expected to protest at federal courthouses in New York, Chicago and San Francisco — roughly 50 cities in all. … It was not exactly an untrammeled street protest. The jurists voiced their disapproval by ceremonially reaffirming their oath to uphold the rule of law and reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. But the fact that lawyers were demonstrating at all, organizers said, underscored the seriousness of the moment. ‘If lawyers are taking to the streets, it means something very serious and bad is happening,’ said Traci Feit Love, the executive director of Lawyers for Good Government, a nonprofit that helped coordinate the events.
Brooklyn’s legal community stood up for the Rule of Law on Thursday, as attorneys and supporters rallied at noon in front of the U.S. District Court in Downtown Brooklyn.
In a moment heavy with symbolism, attorneys retook their Lawyers Oath. A core principle of the oath is supporting the U.S. Constitution.
The activists were part of the nationwide, nonpartisan National Law Day of Action, drawing attention to the current threats to the judiciary. The rallies took place at 60 locations, including Foley Square in Manhattan.
In the Civic Garden, in between Commerce and Main streets in downtown Dallas, about 40 to 50 people gathered at noon Thursday for a “peaceful, nonpartisan rally” as part of the National Law Day of Action. The rally was one of about 50 taking place across the nation, with others planned in Fort Worth, Austin and Houston. The one in Fort Worth was held at the same time at Burnett Park. The event was not related to the May Day protests held across the country. The attendees, many of them lawyers, held signs that read “Defend justice, defend democracy” and “Uphold the Constitution, respect the courts.”
More than 200 lawyers and advocates protested attacks on law firms and the norms of due process by the Trump administration on Boston Common Thursday. In 40 cities across the country, legal professionals and advocates rallied against the administration’s unprecedented orders against law firms and its deportation actions against lawful U.S. residents, including students, at times without due process.
Since 1958, May 1 has been recognized as National Law Day. This year, in response to the Trump administration’s targeting of law firms, the Lawyers for Good Government organization sponsored a nonpartisan “National Law Day of Action.”
Experts have questioned the legality of the Trump administration’s attempt to withhold federal dollars. “Only Congress has the power of the purse,” said Jillian Blanchard, a lawyer and the vice president of climate change and environmental justice at Lawyers for Good Government, a nonprofit that supports pro-bono attorneys. Many grant winners already have a signed legal agreement with the federal government, and in addition to infringing on Congress’ authority, Blanchard said withholding those funds violates the Impoundment Control Act of 1974.
May 1 is Law Day in the United States, traditionally an occasion for staid, noncontroversial speeches about the importance of the rule of law to the country.
A nationwide volunteer group called Lawyers for Good Government organized a noontime rally outside the federal courthouse on Main Street in Hartford that drew an orderly crowd of perhaps three-dozen.
Lawyers are organizing demonstrations at courthouses across the United States on May 1 in protest of the current Trump administration, warning that the judiciary and legal profession "are facing unprecedented challenges."
More than 100 demonstrations are listed on a website dedicated to the "Law Day of Action," organized by nonprofit group Lawyers for Good Government. Dozens of local bar associations and legal groups are listed as sponsors.
More than 600 Maine lawyers signed a declaration urging others in the profession, the government and the public to reject attempts to intimidate or penalize those working in the legal system for representing interests that do not align with the views of the current administration. Barbara Cray from Lawyers for Good Government says the "Law Day" rally on May 1, 2025, in Portland calls back to the day's founding principle to guard the nation's heritage of liberty, justice and equality under the law.
Hundreds of attorneys converged upon Foley Square on National Law Day in what they described as a non-partisan demonstration against President Trump’s attacks against the independence of the legal industry and judiciary.
Across the country, lawyers organized demonstrations at courthouses in protest of the current Trump administration’s overreach. A website dedicated to the “Law Day of Action,” organized by the nonprofit group Lawyers for Good Government, listed more than 100 such demonstrations.
Policing experts say that discipline is the responsibility of school administrators, not law enforcement. Many California school districts’ contracts for policing services do not prohibit officers from involvement in routine student disciplinary matters, despite the federal government’s guidance that administrators are responsible for handling those issues, an EdSource investigation found.
“It’s basically saying, anytime a kid acts up, you’re free to go violate their civil rights and interrogate them off of the school’s premises and all of that,” Silver said. “It’s unconstitutionally overbroad language that fails to define or delineate any bounds of appropriate police behavior whatsoever.”
Hundreds of lawyers, activists and allies gathered in front of the U.S. Supreme Court building Thursday afternoon in support of the rule of law, democracy and an independent judiciary during the annual Law Day event in Washington, D.C.
“We will not be silent in the face of these attacks,” said Traci Feit Love, founder and executive
director of Lawyers for Good Government. L4GG sponsored the flagship National Law Day of Action, which featured several members of Congress as guest speakers, including U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Maryland, and U.S. Sen. Christopher Coons, D-Delaware.
Thousands of attorneys gathered at rallies across the country on Thursday to oppose what they called the Trump administration's "assault" on the rule of law — a rare public demonstration for the normally buttoned-down and risk-averse professionals that they said "sounds the alarm of a looming constitutional crisis."
Addressing a crowd of several hundred gathered on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court in D.C., Traci Feit Love, the founder and executive director of the nonprofit Lawyers for Good Government, said the "rule of law is being tested in ways we haven't seen in generations, and lawyers cannot afford to stand on the sidelines."
The National Law Day of Action, which drew roughly 1,500 people in New York City, was organized to resist the president’s threats against judges and the nation’s jurisprudence.
“If lawyers are taking to the streets, it means something very serious and bad is happening,” said Traci Feit Love, the executive director of Lawyers for Good Government, a nonprofit that helped coordinate the events.
Charlottesville will join cities across the country on May 1 to celebrate the National Law Day of Action, an initiative encouraging attorneys to reaffirm their oath to uphold the U.S. and Virginia Constitutions.
Traditionally observed with community-focused events, this year’s Law Day carries national significance amid heightened attention to constitutional principles.“This year is a little different… Lawyers for Good Government, they decided to do this national thing in light of what’s happening in DC, for lawyers to basically reaffirm their oath across the country.”
Last week, the US Department of the Interior announced that it would speed up the approval process for certain fossil fuel projects, proclaiming that environmental analyses that previously would have taken years must now be taken down to, at maximum, a month. While the new procedures are seemingly a gift to the industry, this may actually be terrible news for pipeline developers, drillers, and miners.
“Lawyers are going to have a field day with this,” says Hathaway, who now works as a director at Lawyers for Good Government, a legal nonprofit dedicated to progressive advocacy.
The American promise rests on a profound yet simple idea: We are governed by laws, not by the whims of individuals. This bedrock principle—that impartial rules apply equally to all—faces an unprecedented assault. On May 1, state and local bar associations, civil rights organizations, and lawyers nationwide will unite in an unprecedented mobilization to defend this cornerstone of American justice.
The Environmental Protection Agency plans to cancel a total of 781 grants issued under President Joe Biden, EPA lawyers wrote in a little-noticed court filing last week, nearly twice the number previously reported. Before canceling any grants, the EPA is required to conduct a detailed review of each grant award. Yet several lawyers and experts raised concerns that the EPA has not, in fact, conducted such a review and that the agency has misled the court.
“I can tell you from working with many, many of those grantees that the review has never happened,” said Jillian Blanchard, vice president of climate change and environmental justice at Lawyers for Good Government, a nonprofit group that has provided free legal assistance to several grant recipients.
“We sincerely thank Congressman Deluzio and his office for their steadfast advocacy in helping to secure the release of frozen federal funds,” said Lucy de Barbaro, E3 Director. “We are also deeply grateful to the many lawyers and organizations who swiftly mobilized and worked tirelessly to challenge the funding freezes in courts. In particular, we are thankful for the invaluable insight and groundwork provided by Lawyers for Good Government and the Environmental Protection Network.
When the Trump administration froze nearly $3 trillion in federal assistance funds in January, including those provided by the IRA and the bipartisan infrastructure law, 23 attorneys general (including those in Republican-led Vermont and Nevada) sued, and a judge ordered the money released.
Disbursing these sorts of funds isn’t optional — it is required, because Congress passed legislation allocating them. To stop the flow of money, Congress would have to change the laws. “It’s just costing the taxpayers millions of dollars to address these lawsuits for congressionally authorized funds that were critical to addressing the climate crisis,” said Jillian Blanchard, vice president of climate change and environmental justice at Lawyers for Good Government, a coalition of 125,000 attorneys, students, and activists.
The White House denied reports that it is considering revoking the tax-exempt status of environmental nonprofits, E&E News reported. Despite rumors that the administration would issue an executive order as soon as Tuesday, an official confirmed to the publication that “no such orders are being drafted or considered at this time.”
I spoke to Jillian Blanchard, the vice president of climate change and environmental justice at Lawyers for Good Government, earlier on Tuesday about such a hypothetical move by the administration. “The president doesn’t have that authority,” she told me, noting that “there’s an actual law against them directing Treasury to pull tax status.” But Blanchard said that while it isn’t accurate that an executive order could, with the stroke of a pen, take away environmental groups’ tax-exempt status, “part of the process here is trying to fear-monger and get people afraid to give money to 501(c)(3)s.” She suggested nonprofit groups prepare for whatever may be ahead by staying informed, potentially seeking pro bono assistance from groups like Lawyers for Good Government, and getting their tax documentation in order — just in case.
Asheville will join cities across the country standing for the Rule of Law including New York,
Philadelphia, Washington, DC, Austin, TX, San Francisco, and elsewhere. For a full listing of
participating cities and to learn more about the national event sponsored by Lawyers for Good
Government (L4GG) and others, see https://lawdayofaction.org/.
Lawyers can reaffirm their oath during a national webinar or National Law Day of Action event on May 1.
National Law Day of Action, which is organized by Lawyers for Good Government, calls on lawyers to support the independence of the judiciary and legal profession and the rule of law during in-person rallies. They are happening in several cities, including Washington, D.C.; Austin, Texas; and San Francisco.
Trump administration attorneys knew they were on uncertain legal ground as they strategized ways to keep eight nonprofit groups from spending $20 billion in Biden-era climate grants that had already left the federal coffers, according to internal government emails obtained by POLITICO.
To say the legal industry is under an unprecedented attack right now is almost a quaint understatement. Judges are being threatened with impeachment for doing their jobs. Biglaw firms are being hit with likely unconstitutional executive orders designed to extract a financial penalty for displeasing the president. And the federal government has taken to treating Supreme Court decisions as advisory at best. It ain’t pretty out there for lawyers.
So there’s some organizing to be done. On May 1st, Lawyers for Good Government (L4GG) and a wide variety of organizations are sponsoring a National Law Day of Action.
On top of changes to foreign trade, the Trump administration’s freezing of federal grant programs has squeezed groups of farmers that were counting on USDA assistance to support or expand their operations.
Several federal agencies have suspended or terminated grants, but “USDA has been one of the most aggressive,” said Jillian Blanchard, vice president of climate change and environmental justice at nonprofit Lawyers for Good Government.
Attorneys and judges nationwide are organizing to advocate for protecting the rule of law on
May 1, National Law Day.
The National Law Day of Action rally in Austin will be held at noon at Republic Square, 422
Guadalupe St., downtown. Registration is available online.
Other events are scheduled to co-occur in Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, San Francisco,
Detroit, and Asheville, North Carolina. Lawyers for Good Government and Checks and
Balances, an outgrowth of the ABA Task Force for American Democracy, sponsor the events.
Newsweek has reported on some of the other projects affected by the GGRF freeze include solar arrays for homes on the Navajo Nation, energy efficiency improvements for affordable housing in New Mexico and Texas, and a geothermal heating project at a community health clinic in Minneapolis.
Jillian Blanchard, Climate Change and Environmental Justice Program lead for the nonprofit group Lawyers for Good Government, told Newsweek that losing the GGRF funding would lead to losses of jobs and revenue in each of the host communities.
ABOUT L4GG
Lawyers for Good Government (L4GG) is a community of more than 125,000 attorneys and advocates seeking to ensure that all levels of government — federal, state, and local— promote equal justice under the law and uphold civil and human rights, including the right to health and the right to live in a healthy environment.
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Please reach out to Jordan Wilhelmi at jordan@unbendablemedia.com.
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The Trump administration has enough time to explain how it may facilitate the release of a mistakenly deported Marylander jailed in El Salvador now that a federal judge has given the government another week to respond to the plaintiff's discovery request, say legal experts following the case.
“I really hope these seven days are sufficient for them to get a record that is meaningfully responsive to the judge’s request and in the meantime politicians are successful in persuading the government in getting him out, whether it be our government or El Salvador’s government,” said Khadijah Silver, a civil rights supervising attorney at Lawyers for Good Government.