Attorney General Charity Clark has joined a coalition of 20 attorneys general in filing a lawsuit against the Trump administration. The legal action seeks to prevent the dismantling of the U.S. Department of Education, following an announcement on March 11 by the administration to lay off approximately half of the department's workforce as part of a plan for its "total shutdown."
"The U.S. Department of Education’s impact on Vermont’s children and young adults is tremendous," stated Attorney General Clark. She criticized the administration's actions, describing them as a "reckless disregard" for students and emphasized that it is wrong to violate constitutional or federal law under the guise of efficiency.
The Department of Education serves nearly 18,200 school districts and over 50 million K-12 students across public and private schools nationwide. Its programs also support more than 12 million postsecondary students each year. Services provided include funding for special education, assistive technology, teacher salaries, transportation, therapy services, and social work support.
The lawsuit argues that dismantling the department will severely affect its ability to perform essential functions, particularly harming students with special needs by depriving them of critical resources. It also claims that these actions would weaken the Office of Civil Rights and hinder financial aid processing.
Attorney General Clark and her colleagues seek a court order to halt these policies, arguing they are illegal and unconstitutional without Congressional approval. The lawsuit contends that only Congress can authorize such significant changes to an executive agency like the Department of Education.
Joining Attorney General Clark in this legal effort are attorneys general from Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawai‘i, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington State, Wisconsin as well as the District of Columbia.
This marks Attorney General Clark's seventh lawsuit against the Trump administration since President Trump assumed office in January.
For further details on actions taken by Attorney General Clark on behalf of Vermonters visit ago.vermont.gov/ago-actions.