Newsletter: Sorting through Executive Orders for casework
There’s lots of relevant agency news for casework as we enter the first few days of the Trump Administration. As always, we’ll try to sort through the noise to help you keep track of agency policy updates that will directly impact your caseloads — immediately or down the road.
If you have questions about our work or suggestions for how we can be helpful, please feel free to reach out by replying to this email, or shoot me a note at anne@popvox.org.
Anne Meeker
Deputy Director
POPVOX Foundation
New Substack on constituent engagement
Want even more newsletters from our team? We’re launching a new Substack focused on constituent engagement! This newsletter came from our interviews last summer with outreach staff from across the country, and will focus on the big picture of how constituents and legislators interact with each other today — including casework, obviously. We’d love to see you there!
Voice/Mail
This newsletter documents the current state of engagement between constituents and their elected representatives, and explores how the landscape of democratic engagement is changing in light of rapidly-evolving technology and politics.
Agency News
Confirmations hearings
If your boss is on the Senate side on a relevant committee, a quick reminder that confirmation hearings and 1:1 meetings are always a great opportunity to sneak in a question putting common casework issues on a new agency head’s radar. Remaining nominees for casework-relevant agencies and sub-agencies include:
Department of Veterans Affairs, Doug Collins
Department of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem
Department of Defense, Pete Hegseth
Department of the Treasury, Scott Bessent
Executive order roundup
So much happening that will impact casework in the flurry of Executive Orders signed by President Trump on the 20th and 21st — although we note that many of these orders will likely be challenged in court. We’re likely missing some, but here’s what will likely have a direct casework impact:
Immigration
Immigration was a key issue area of many Executive Orders issued on January 20. In particular, some areas that will likely lead to immediate casework demand include:
Ending CBP One: the CBP One app used to schedule interviews for migrants seeking asylum in the US was shut down on January 20, and all pending interviews canceled. The Administration also reinstated its Remain in Mexico policy for asylum-seekers.
Suspending refugee resettlement: the Trump Administration issued an Executive Order halting all refugee resettlement programs. Among other groups affected are Afghans at risk of Taliban violence, and minors awaiting reunification with their families.
Military COVID vaccine reinstatements
President Trump issued an Executive Order reinstating military service members discharged over refusing the COVID-19 vaccine with full back pay. This change will impact roughly 8,000 discharged service members, although timeframes and mechanisms for establishing back pay are not yet clear.
Gender identity
The Trump administration issued an Executive Order declaring that the United States recognizes only two genders that are “not changeable.” We expect this to show up in casework in several ways:
Federal ID documents: the EO directs the Departments of State and Homeland Security to ensure that identity documents issued by the federal government reflect this language. It is unclear how previously-issued documents for trans people will be handled, especially as the deadline for REAL ID for air travel comes up in May.
Homeless shelter access: the order directs the Department of Housing and Urban Development to finalize a 2019-era rule that allows single-sex homeless shelters to turn away transgender people.
Military trans ban: President Trump also revoked an Executive Order from President Biden allowing transgender people to serve in the military. It is not yet clear how this will impact the estimated 14,000 currently-serving transgender servicemembers.
Other Agency News
LA Fires
Our hearts go out to the folks in Southern California continuing to handle firefighting and recovery efforts from the wildfires. A couple of resources you may have missed include the LA Times’ list of free and discounted resources/services for disaster victims, NAMI California’s great roundup of info and resources, including the Disaster Distress hotline, SNAP changes to allow people impacted to buy hot food and extend the timeframe to claim replacement benefits for food lost, and guidance on replacing documents including your passport. We’re also watching what happens to the FAIR insurance system, and CA Reps might get some state-referral casework around these claims.
Working with Whistleblowers Dos and Don’ts
The House Office of the Whistleblower Ombuds has a great new resource on the “do’s and don’ts” of working with whistleblowers. A helpful reminder for your spring intern class who might take these calls first!
SSA WEP/GPO repeal impact
GovExec’s retirement and benefits columnist Tammy Flanagan has a nice FAQ for federal employees on how SSA’s rollback of WEP/GPO will affect them, especially about how the change will impact people with different CSRS/FERS benefits.
Immigration policy tracker
Professor Lucas Guttentag of Stanford has an Immigration Policy Tracker compiling all changes to US immigration law by the incoming Trump Administration. This is a great resource. H/t Neesha for the flag!
Review casework guidelines for your agencies
A quick reminder that now is a great time to review agency guidance on submitting constituent service inquiries, especially for agencies that handle casework through central OCLA/OLA offices where there may be some staff turnover. CPB has a great example, including tips on titling your email and using appropriate levels of urgency.
New Secretary of State calls out Congressional casework in his remarks to staff
In his first remarks to State Department staff, Secretary of State Marco Rubio called out the grace with which State Department personnel handle urgent requests from Members of Congress on behalf of constituents needing passports or in crisis situations overseas.
Speaking of passports…don’t write in yours
A US citizen was prevented from entering Poland with a valid passport because she had added handwritten notes to the visa pages.
Case study on text messaging for gov services
GSA’s TTS team has a case study of using notify.gov to send text messages about benefit deadlines to constituents on Medicaid. The study shows some promise, but notes that a significant barrier to uptake is reversing years of messaging that government programs will never contact you by text message.
Fixing SSA white paper from Niskanen
The Niskanen Center has a short paper with recommendations on improving SSA function, especially around state-run DDS processes.
And two final end-of-year casework roundups we missed
Congratulations to the Edwards [R, NC] and Griffith [R, VA] teams on very successful years!
