Twenty-one Democratic attorneys general have filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration to stop the dismantling of the Department of Education, arguing that firing approximately 50 percent of the department’s workforce significantly impairs its ability to fulfill its legal duties.
“This administration may claim to be stopping waste and fraud, but it is clear that their only mission is to take away the necessary services, resources, and funding that students and their families need,” said New York Attorney General Letitia James in a statement.
The Department of Education supports nearly 18,200 school districts and over 50 million K-12 students enrolled in about 98,000 public schools and 32,000 private schools nationwide. It also assists more than 12 million postsecondary students annually through its higher education initiatives. Many of the department’s resources specifically benefit students with disabilities and those from low-income backgrounds.
“Cutting the Department of Education isn’t just a policy change, it’s a direct hit to our kids and their futures,” said Oregon Attorney General Rayfield. “If the president gets his way, the most vulnerable students will suffer the most, and that’s something we can’t let happen.”
On March 11, the Trump administration announced plans to lay off roughly half of the department’s employees as part of its goal of a “total shutdown” of the agency.
“Neither President Trump nor his Secretary have the power to demolish a congressionally-created department, and as Attorney General but most importantly as a mom, I will continue to hold this Administration accountable for illegal actions that harm our residents and economy,” Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell stated.
Approximately 1,300 Education Department employees were informed that they would lose their jobs, including all Office for Civil Rights staff in seven of its 12 regional offices. The Office for Civil Rights is essential for protecting students from discrimination and sexual assault and ensuring equal access to public education.
This has prompted a separate class-action lawsuit by two parents and the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, a national disability rights organization that argues that weakening the Office for Civil Rights will prevent it from adequately addressing discrimination complaints, violating the Fifth Amendment’s equal protection clause.
“The Office for Civil Rights and its complaint and investigation processing functions have fallen under attack,” the complaint states. “This lawsuit seeks to hold the Department accountable for ensuring that schools are places where all students can learn and thrive.”
In a related development, a federal judge ruled late Thursday night that the Trump administration must reinstate thousands of terminated federal employees, including those from the Department of Education.
“We’ve secured a court order pausing the Trump Admin’s unlawful termination of federal probationary employees and ordering the reinstatement of fired employees,” said California Attorney General Rob Bonta on X. Bonta is part of a coalition of attorneys general who sued the Trump administration over these firings. “We’re pleased with the court’s decision to restrain the Trump Admin’s reckless directive and we’ll continue to monitor and ensure compliance.”
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We’ve borne witness to a chaotic first few months in Trump’s presidency.
Over the last months, each executive order has delivered shock and bewilderment — a core part of a strategy to make the right-wing turn feel inevitable and overwhelming. But, as organizer Sandra Avalos implored us to remember in Truthout last November, “Together, we are more powerful than Trump.”
Indeed, the Trump administration is pushing through executive orders, but — as we’ve reported at Truthout — many are in legal limbo and face court challenges from unions and civil rights groups. Efforts to quash anti-racist teaching and DEI programs are stalled by education faculty, staff, and students refusing to comply. And communities across the country are coming together to raise the alarm on ICE raids, inform neighbors of their civil rights, and protect each other in moving shows of solidarity.
It will be a long fight ahead. And as nonprofit movement media, Truthout plans to be there documenting and uplifting resistance.
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