Attorney General Nick Brown announced Thursday that Washington has joined a multistate lawsuit aimed at preventing the “illegal” dismantling of the U.S. Department of Education by President Donald Trump’s administration.
Twenty other attorneys general are also teaming up on the matter.
Brown said in a news release that Trump’s move would decimate a federal agency that clinches critical resources and quality education for tens of millions of students.
Trump’s administration revealed on Tuesday that the federal agency would shed nearly 50% of its workforce.
“Knowledge is power, and these cuts are intended to take invaluable learning opportunities away from millions of students,” Brown said in a March 13 statement. “As many of Trump’s illegal cuts do, these impacts will fall hardest on young people and families that can least afford it.”
Brown’s office believes that the department’s layoffs will hamper it from carrying out essential functions, including when it comes to providing support for low-income students and children with disabilities.
Washington is also leading or participating in several other lawsuits challenging the Trump administration. Examples include complaints related to Trump’s push to end birthright citizenship, plus the expansive powers enjoyed by X owner Elon Musk and the new federal Department of Government Efficiency.
Opposition to Education Department’s ‘entire existence’
Washington’s latest Trump-related lawsuit was filed March 13 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.
In addition to Trump, Education Secretary Linda McMahon and the U.S. Department of Education are named as defendants.
“This massive RIF (reduction in force) is not supported by any actual reasoning or specific determinations about how to eliminate purported waste in the Department — rather, the RIF is part and parcel of President Trump’s and Secretary McMahon’s opposition to the Department of Education’s entire existence,” the lawsuit says.
One of Trump’s key presidential-campaign promises was to dissolve the federal education agency altogether.
In addition to supporting low-income kids and students with disabilities, the department helps rural students by providing programs aimed at assisting rural districts, according to Brown’s office. Those districts often lack the resources and personnel necessary to vie for competitive grants.
The cuts could also interfere with financial-aid processing, leading to higher costs for university and college students needing access to Pell grants, loans and work study programs, per Brown.
Other attorneys general who joined the complaint were from Arizona, Colorado, California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Massachusetts, Nevada, Minnesota, New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Oregon, Vermont, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia.
The legal coalition is asking for a court order to halt the federal administration’s efforts. They assert that the executive branch lacks the legal authority to decide to undo or incapacitate the department without an act of Congress.
White House, Department of Education respond
Reached for comment, the White House and U.S. Department of Education supplied McClatchy with the same statement, attributed to Madi Biedermann, the education agency’s deputy assistant secretary for communications.
Trump was “elected with a mandate from the American public to return education authority to the states,” Biedermann said. The department’s reduction in force was done in compliance with applicable laws and regulations, and was implemented carefully.
“They are strategic, internal-facing cuts that will not directly impact students and families,” Biedermann continued. “No employees working on the FAFSA, student loan servicing, and Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) Title funds – including formula and discretionary grants programs – were impacted.”
No employees in the Rehabilitation Services Administration or Office of Special Education Programs serving students with disabilities were affected, Biedermann said. The civil rights office will still probe complaints and “vigorously enforce federal civil rights laws.”
Also, the reduction in force is being carried out in accordance with federal regulations and the most recent collective bargaining agreement for covered department workers, she added.