AGs sue over Education Dept. layoffs, citing illlegality

The Associated Press//March 13, 2025//

Flags decorate a space outside the office of the education secretary at the Education Department in Washington. (AP file photo)

The Associated Press//March 13, 2025//

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WASHINGTON — Twenty-one Democratic state attorneys general, including Minnesota’s Keith Ellison, are challenging the Trump administration’s sweeping layoffs across the Education Department, saying it amounts to an illegal dismantling of an agency created by Congress.

In a federal lawsuit filed Thursday in Massachusetts, 20 states and Washington, D.C., say the layoffs are so severe that the department “can no longer function, and cannot comply with its statutory requirements.”

The lawsuit alleges the cuts will result in a loss or delay of federal money for public schools, and will leave the agency unable to administer college financial aid or enforce civil rights laws at schools, among other disruptions.

Ellison, in a news release Thursday, said, “I’ll say it as often as I have to: Donald Trump is not a king and I will not let him be a dictator. He does not have the authority to effectively shut down an entire federal department that is authorized by Congress, and his attempt to do so is illegal and unconstitutional.”

An Education Department spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The department has insisted previously it will continue to deliver on its statutory obligations, despite the cuts.

Some Education Department employees have left through buyout offers and the termination of probationary employees. After a layoff of 1,300 people announced Tuesday, the department will sit at roughly half the 4,100 it had when President Donald Trump took office.

Trump has repeatedly said he wants the agency shut down, calling it wasteful and overly influenced by liberal thinking.

The suit says only Congress has the power close the department or dismantle its core work.

New York Attorney General Letitia James said the cuts will impair necessary services for students and families.

“This outrageous effort to leave students behind and deprive them of a quality education is reckless and illegal. Today I am taking action to stop the madness and protect our schools and the students who depend on them,” James said.