This week’s policy round-up breaks down the latest federal actions reshaping education, labor, civil rights, and more. From stalled student debt relief to sweeping changes in AI policy, these developments carry deep implications for equity, transparency, and community power.
Education & Equity
- Trump Executive Order Threatens Housing Rights, Expands Policing of Homelessness: On July 24, 2025, President Trump issued an Executive Order, titled “Ending Crime and Disorder on America’s Streets,” marking a shift away from housing-first strategies towards punitive approaches to homelessness. The order directs federal agencies to prioritize public safety, expands the use of civil commitment for individuals with mental illness, and urges states to adopt more flexible standards for institutionalization. It also conditions federal grants to local law enforcement targeting urban camping, drug use, and loitering—effectively criminalizing poverty. The order prohibits federal support for drug injection site, promotes homeless shelters that exclude sex offenders and prioritizes program serving women and children exclusively. These changes are not yet in effect, but if implemented, this order could dramatically increase the surveillance, policing, and institutionalization of unhoused communities, while stripping away critical protections for housing justice.
- Federal Funding for Local Schools Released Four Weeks Late: On July 1, 2025, the Trump administration froze about $7 billion in federal education grants, including funding for after-school and summer programs, adult literacy, and English language instruction. In response, ten Republican senators highlighted the bipartisan importance of these programs, while more than 20 states filed lawsuits arguing the freeze was unconstitutional. Following a review of the 21st Century Community Learning Centers initiative, the Department of Education released $1.3 billion to support after-school programs last Friday. And the Department announced today that the remaining approximately $6 billion—covering adult literacy, ESL services, and other programs—will be released. The freeze has disrupted essential services; immigrant communities are disproportionately affected by the continued hold on adult education grants, which are critical for employment, civic engagement, and supporting children’s learning
- Borrowers Face Growing Debt as Loan Relief Is Delayed: The Department of Education has paused student loan forgiveness for borrowers in Income-Based Repayment (IBR) plans while updating systems to comply with court rulings. Nearly 2 million long-term borrowers who qualify for cancellation after 20–25 years of payments are now in limbo. This follows a previously shared update that interest will resume on August 1 for borrowers in the SAVE plan. Together, these delays risk increasing debt burdens and forcing unnecessary payments—especially for those in public service and low-income borrowers relying on promised relief.
Legal Wins & Challenges
- Court Blocks Attack on Birthright Citizenship: On July 23, 2025, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a nationwide injunction against the administration’s executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship. The court ruled the order unconstitutional, affirming that the 14th Amendment guarantees citizenship to anyone born in the U.S., regardless of their parents’ immigration status. This decision aligns with previous lower court rulings and reinforces the judiciary’s role in checking executive overreach.
The ruling also reflects broader developments in the courts, where multiple executive orders from the current administration are under legal scrutiny. While the Supreme Court has narrowed the use of nationwide injunctions, it continues to allow them in class-action and state-led cases—like this one. As these cases move forward, the courts remain in a critical line of defense against policies that threaten constitutional rights and community protections.
- Court Protects Legal Work on Palestine and Global War Crimes: On July 18, a federal court in Maine temporarily blocked the administration’s executive order imposing sanctions on legal advocates working with the International Criminal Court (ICC). The order was issued in response to the ICC’s investigation into alleged war crimes by U.S. allies, especially in Palestine. The court found the sanctions likely violate the First Amendment by restricting advocates’ ability to share legal advice and evidence. This ruling protects international justice work and sets an important precedent for defending free speech against politically motivated sanctions.
- Judge Rules Trump Admin Broke Law by Hiding Federal Spending Tracker: On July 21, 2025, a U.S. District Judge ruled that the Trump administration violated federal law by taking down a public website that tracked how federal funds are distributed across agencies. The site was mandated by Congress to promote transparency and accountability. While the judge ordered the site’s reinstatement, the administration appealed, and a federal court temporarily blocked the order.
Without public access to this data, communities lose a vital tool to monitor how taxpayer dollars are spent. The lack of transparency could allow the administration to redirect funds without oversight, potentially harming programs that serve low-income families, schools, and local governments.
Campus & Free Speech
- Federal Deal with Columbia Targets Student Voices for Palestine On July 23, the administration finalized a $220 million settlement with Columbia University, restoring federal research funding in exchange for harsh disciplinary actions against students protesting the genocide in Palestine. Over 70 students have faced suspension, expulsion, or degree revocation for participating in a peaceful sit-in. The agreement also forces Columbia to ban face coverings at protests, centralize oversight of Middle East studies, and adopt a federal definition of antisemitism that critics say equates criticism of Israel with hate speech.
In a related move, Harvard’s Educational Review canceled a special issue on Palestinian education, raising concerns about political pressure and censorship.
These developments reflect a growing federal effort to suppress dissent, punish student activism, and expand control over university governance. By tying funding to speech restrictions, the administration is setting a dangerous precedent that threatens academic freedom, targets pro-Palestine voices, and chills protest across campuses.
Labor & Consumer Protections
- Trump’s Labor Dept. Pushes 60+ Rule Changes, Threatening Worker Protection: The Department of Labor, under Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, is advancing over 60 proposed rule changes as part of a Trump executive order to cut regulations. While framed as reducing “burdens,” the proposals include repealing wage protections for home care workers and safety standards like lighting at construction sites. These changes could lower care quality, endanger workers, and deepen labor inequities—especially for low-wage and frontline workers.
- Supreme Court Clears Path for Trump to Reshape Consumer Safety Commission: On July 23, 2025, the Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to remove three Democratic members of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), overturning a lower court’s block on the firings. The CPSC, a five-member independent agency created to protect consumers from hazardous products, is legally structured to maintain bipartisan balance and limit removals to cases of “neglect of duty or malfeasance.
The ruling may open the door for the administration to pursue deregulatory measures that could weaken consumer protections. It also signals broader implications for executive power, potentially allowing the administration to reshape other bipartisan commissions.
Tech & Civil Rights:
- Sweeping AI Orders Undermine Equity and Community Protections: On July 23, 2025, the Trump administration issued three executive orders as part of a sweeping national AI strategy. One order mandates that federal agencies use only AI models deemed free of “ideological bias,” specifically targeting systems that include diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI), climate, or other inclusive content. Another order removes environmental and zoning restrictions to fast-track the construction of AI infrastructure, such as data centers and chip manufacturing facilities. The third promotes global exports of U.S.-developed AI models and blocks federal funding to states that adopt conflicting AI regulations. These executive actions repeal Biden’s Executive Order 14110, which had established civil rights safeguards in federal AI use, and reaffirm a January 2025 Trump executive order that preempts most state-level AI laws.
Alongside these orders, the administration released a 90-page “Winning the Race” AI Action Plan, which emphasizes rapid innovation and private-sector leadership over regulatory oversight. The implications of this shift are significant. Requiring “bias-free” AI in federal contracts may suppress content related to racism, gender identity, and inequality, narrowing the scope of acceptable speech in systems used across education, employment, and public services. The rollback of equity-focused oversight removes protections against algorithmic discrimination in critical areas such as housing, healthcare, education, and criminal justice. Additionally, the threat of losing federal funding may discourage states from pursuing stronger civil rights or privacy protections in their own AI laws. Finally, the fast-tracking of data center construction without environmental review could disproportionately impact low-income and rural communities, limiting their ability to oppose large-scale developments.
Overall, this new federal approach centralizes control over AI regulation, weakens civil rights protections, and reshapes the AI ecosystem in ways that may limit both free expression and community self-determination.