Welcome back to After the First 100 Days, Inside Higher Ed’s weekly roundup of news from the Hill to the Oval Office. I’m your host, Katherine Knott, IHE’s news editor.
It’s Day 207 of the second Trump administration. For those of us in Washington, D.C., the week was largely defined by the president taking over the local police force to tackle a crime wave that doesn’t currently exist. But in higher ed land, we saw another university targeted by the administration and a victory for UCLA researchers.
But today, I want to talk about the courts. My sometimes co-host Jessica Blake analyzed dozens of lawsuits filed against the Trump administration to see just who was winning. Of the lawsuits in which a judge has ruled, Trump has lost nearly two-thirds and now faces numerous court orders blocking parts of his plans. And appeals courts have generally sided with the lower courts, backing up the idea that Trump’s attack on higher ed isn’t legal.
However, a few cases have reached the Supreme Court, which sided with Trump. That worries some higher education advocates, who fear they could mately lose. And even if the lawsuits ultimately prevail, the damage could already be done. But they are continuing to fight.
Massachusetts attorney general Andrea Joy Campbell is one of several plaintiffs who has sued the administration multiple times over the last seven months.
“State attorneys general have the power to fight back to uphold the rule of law and protect our young people—and that’s exactly what we’re doing,” Campbell told us. “We’ve achieved significant victories in the vast majority of our cases, and we will continue to hold the line because our children and the future of our democracy depend on it.”
Jesica has much more in her story. Plus, we unveiled a bigger and better version of our lawsuit tracker this week. Check it out. We’ll be updating it on Mondays.
In Other News: The thousands of undocumented students who are part of the DACA program are facing much uncertainty as the Trump administration works to methodically roll back their rights, our Sara Weissman reports. That includes targeting financial aid programs for this group and urging them to self-deport.
The administration is “coming at it from different angles in different ways and creating a lot of chaos,” said Gaby Pacheco, president and CEO of TheDream.US, a scholarship provider for undocumented students. “A lot of people are confused and are trying to figure out what’s next and how to protect themselves,” including students and higher ed leaders.
That’s it for Week 30. If you need a break from policy coverage, I recommend watching Superman and/or reading this story from my colleagues Josh Moody and Kathryn Palmer about a string of fake colleges that are fueled by AI. As one commenter said on Bluesky, “As if higher ed needs any more issues to deal with.”
And as always, I want to hear what’s on your mind. What do you want to know about what’s happening in D.C.? I’m at katherine.knott@insidehighered.com.
If, or when, news breaks this afternoon or over the weekend, you can find the latest at InsideHigherEd.com. In the meantime, I’ll be hopefully soaking up some sunshine and counting the days until Taylor Swift’s new album drops. Have a good weekend!
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