Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison has joined a coalition of 21 attorneys general in a lawsuit against the Trump administration. The legal action aims to halt the dismantling of the Department of Education (ED), which was announced by the administration on March 11, with plans to reduce its workforce by approximately 50 percent.
Ellison stated, "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." He emphasized the importance of protecting students and educators who depend on ED for essential educational resources.
The Department serves over 50 million K-12 students across nearly 18,200 school districts, as well as more than 12 million postsecondary students annually. Its programs are crucial for students with disabilities and those from low-income families, providing support such as assistive technology, teacher salaries, transportation, therapy services, and social work assistance.
The lawsuit claims that dismantling ED would incapacitate its ability to perform vital functions. It argues that this move would deprive students with special needs of critical resources and weaken ED's Office of Civil Rights. Additionally, it could complicate financial aid processing, affecting access to loans and grants for college students.
Attorney General Ellison remarked on Trump's policies: "When our children succeed, we all succeed. The fact that Donald Trump has launched yet another attack on our children is another proof point that the only people in America he’s delivering for are billionaires."
The coalition asserts that the administration's actions are both illegal and unconstitutional since ED is an executive agency established by Congress through various laws creating its programs and funding streams. They argue that only Congress can authorize such significant changes.
Joining Ellison in this legal effort are attorneys general from Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington state and Wisconsin.