A coalition of Democratic state attorneys general filed a lawsuit on Thursday to prevent President Donald Trump’s administration from dismantling the U.S. Department of Education. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Boston, aims to block the planned layoffs of over 1,300 department employees.
Attorneys general from 20 states and the District of Columbia are challenging the Trump administration’s move to reduce the department’s workforce as part of its broader effort to shrink the government.
The Education Department’s announcement on Tuesday revealed plans to cut nearly half of its staff, leaving only 2,183 workers, down from 4,133 when Trump took office.
Trump has long sought to eliminate the Education Department, which oversees $1.6 trillion in college loans, enforces civil rights laws in schools, and allocates federal funding to underprivileged districts.
These job cuts are in addition to previous reductions through employee buyouts and firings, part of Trump’s initiative to downsize the government with the help of figures like billionaire Elon Musk.
The lawsuit argues that these cuts will cripple the department’s ability to fulfill its essential functions, including upholding civil rights laws. The plaintiffs claim this undermines Congress’s authority and violates the U.S. Constitution.
Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell, a lead figure in the lawsuit, emphasized that neither Trump nor Education Secretary Linda McMahon has the power to eliminate a statutorily-mandated government agency.
“Neither President Trump nor his secretary have the power to demolish a congressionally-created department,” Campbell said.
In response, Education Department spokesperson Madi Biedermann defended the layoffs, saying that Trump was elected to return education authority to the states.
She added that the job cuts were in compliance with regulations and would not directly affect students or families, calling them “strategic, internal-facing cuts.”
The layoffs, officially known as a “reduction in force,” are set to take effect starting March 21. They come just a week after the U.S. Senate confirmed McMahon, the former pro-wrestling mogul, as the head of the department. Trump has publicly expressed a desire for McMahon to “put herself out of a job” and close the department, which was created by Congress in 1979.
In a recent interview with Fox News, McMahon confirmed Trump’s directive to shut down the department. She acknowledged that Congress would need to act to formally close it but said the layoffs represented the “first step” in eliminating what she called bureaucratic bloat.
However, New York Attorney General Letitia James, another lead figure in the lawsuit, warned that such drastic cuts would harm students, particularly low-income students and those with disabilities who depend on federal funding.
“This outrageous effort to leave students behind and deprive them of a quality education is reckless and illegal,” James said.
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