Impact Docket – 11/26/2025

Written By Shaeleigh Severino

This week demands action. Here are five ways you can push back right now:

Whether you have 2 minutes or 2 days, join the fight. Keep reading for more context.

📌 If you’d rather not receive the bi-weekly Impact Docket but still want to get other L4GG emails, you can opt out of just this newsletter here.

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🔴 The Moment We’re In: Eyes Open, Even Before a Holiday

With many people stepping away for the holiday tomorrow, it’s easy to think the work can pause for a moment. But the stakes this week don’t slow down — and neither can we.

We have a series of critical actions in front of us, including one with a hard deadline today at 6:30 PM ET for the Native Village of Kipnuk, where federal failures have had devastating real-world consequences. Others — from protecting healthcare in New York to defending environmental justice funding and constitutional rights — will shape the months ahead.

At the same time, we’ve seen real wins. Our community is providing critical legal support to asylum seekers and pushing back in the courts, statehouses, and public comment records, with an impact that can’t be ignored.

So take a breath if you can, then keep reading. The fight doesn’t stop, and neither do we.

⚡ L4GG ACTIONS

🌊 Help Protect Kipnuk, Alaska After Devastating Flooding

📍L4GG.org/Kipnuk | DEADLINE: TODAY AT 6:30 ET

Five months ago, the EPA unlawfully terminated environmental justice grants explicitly designed to protect frontline communities from climate disasters. One of those communities—the Native Village of Kipnuk, Alaska—is now living the nightmare those grants would have helped prevent.

Last month, Typhoon Halong triggered catastrophic flooding across Kipnuk and neighboring Kwigillingok. Homes were washed away. Entire neighborhoods were displaced. And in a stunning reversal, FEMA has now announced plans to rebuild homes in the exact same flood-prone location—without presenting evidence and despite previously indicating they were open to relocation necessary to save lives.

To make matters worse, FEMA set a 15-day comment period ending on Thanksgiving Day, effectively excluding many Tribal residents, elders, and community leaders from participating.

L4GG has drafted a comment letter urging FEMA to:

  • Reject rebuilding in the same dangerous location

  • Meaningfully consult Tribal leadership

  • Extend the comment deadline to allow affected communities and interested stakeholders to be heard

Kipnuk’s story is the real-world impact of unlawful grant terminations: a community denied the means of protecting their community—then told their only option was to rebuild in harm’s way. Sign our letter in the next few hours; our deadline is today at 6:30pm ET.

🏥 Protect Healthcare in New York

📍 L4GG.org/ProtectNYCare | 2 min

If you live in New York, work in New York, or know someone who does, now is the moment to act. Federal healthcare protections are collapsing fast. This past summer, EMTALA abortion guidance was rescinded, leaving hospitals unsure whether they can treat pregnant patients in crisis. New CMS rules will end guaranteed coverage for gender-affirming care in 2026, and CMS expanded patient-data sharing without meaningful privacy safeguards.

The result? New York’s healthcare system is about to become less secure and more confusing, with sensitive medical data flowing through vulnerable federal systems. Gov. Hochul must immediately sign three critical bills already on her desk: S929/A2141 (Health Information Privacy Act), S4914A/A5480B (Shield Law Expansion), and S3486/A3862 (Hospital Transparency Act).

New York cannot wait for more federal chaos. Tell Gov. Hochul to strengthen statewide protections—now.

🛠️ LONG-TERM ENGAGEMENT

🎥 Spread the Word: Rights in Reel Time Challenge

📍 L4GG.org/ReelTime | Deadline: Jan 5, 2026

We’re excited to share that Lawyers for Good Government (L4GG) has launched the Rights in Reel Time Challenge — a national, nonpartisan video competition inviting law students to explain constitutional rights through short, powerful storytelling.

Students create a 60–90 second video that brings the First or Fourth Amendment to life. Top entries win prizes of $3,000, $1,250, and $750. Deadline: January 5, 2026! 

Your action: Please share the challenge widely with law students, professors, clinics, and student orgs. Visibility is everything — and this contest is a powerful way to help students reach millions with clear, accessible constitutional education!

⚖️ Volunteer with L4GG’s Court of Federal Claims Clinic

📍 L4GG.org/COFC | 30–50 hours over 3–6 months

After the federal government unlawfully terminated billions in climate and environmental justice grants this year, affected communities were pushed toward the U.S. Court of Federal Claims (COFC) — a venue that requires individual filings, significant documentation, and legal expertise many nonprofits simply cannot access.

L4GG created the Court of Federal Claims (COFC) Clinic to close that gap.

What Volunteer Attorneys Do (Remote, Limited Scope)

Help grantees prepare everything needed to bring a COFC claim, including:

  • Reviewing grant contracts and federal documents

  • Assessing breach-of-contract claims and damages

  • Preparing the administrative record

  • Drafting or refining complaints

  • Guiding clients through federal procedures

This is pre-litigation work only — no court appearances required.

Requirements

  • Licensed attorneys (no COFC or litigation background required)

  • 30–50 hours over 3–6 months

  • Full training + supervision provided

Communities are already facing the fallout of terminated grants: cancelled clean-energy projects, paused resilience upgrades, wildfire and flood vulnerability, and worsening public health risks. Many cannot file claims at all without pro bono support. By volunteering with the COFC Clinic, you can help ensure vulnerable communities aren’t abandoned because filing a claim is too expensive, too confusing, or too burdensome!

🛡️ 12/9: Why the Fight for Bodily Autonomy Is the Fight for Democracy

📍L4GG.org/BodilyAutonomy | December 9 at 2 PM ET

Since beginning his second term, Donald Trump has made restricting healthcare access and the civil rights of marginalized groups a centerpiece of federal policy. This event traces those actions back to an authoritarian blueprint first tested in Poland and Hungary — and examines how lawyers and judges there pushed back!

This webinar explores:

  • How the administration is reshaping healthcare and civil rights

  • The links between bodily autonomy and democratic erosion

  • What international case studies teach the U.S. legal community

  • How lawyers can act now to defend rights and prevent further authoritarian drift

A recording will be shared with all registrants. RSVP today!

🎉 Community Impact: Work Permits Approved, Lives Transformed

In recent months, we’ve been recruiting volunteers through this Impact Docket to support L4GG’s work permit clinics. And the results are already extraordinary.

So far, 120 asylum seekers have had their work permits approved — including 40 approvals in just the last month.

To put this into perspective: according to our calculations, these approvals have increased the cumulative average salaries of our clients by nearly $1.2 million. That’s not theoretical impact. That’s food on the table, rent paid on time, kids supported, and families finally able to build stability after years of uncertainty.

This is what happens when our community shows up — lawyers, interpreters, organizers, and volunteers using their skills to deliver life-changing results.

Thank you for making this possible. And we’re just getting started.

We’ll be back in two weeks with more ways to take action—but the work doesn’t stop here. 

  • Know someone else who would be interested in this newsletter? Share this link so they can sign up too.

  • Join our rapid-response SMS group by texting “community” to 771-203-4895.

Shaeleigh Severino
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Impact Docket – 12/10/2025
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Impact Docket – 11/13/2025