Attorney Phil Weiser joined a coalition of 20 other attorneys general in suing the Trump administration to stop the illegal dismantling of the U.S. Department of Education (PDF download).
On March 11, the administration announced it would be firing approximately 50 percent of its workforce as part of its goal of a “total shutdown” of the department. Attorney General Weiser and the coalition today filed a lawsuit seeking to stop the targeted destruction of this federal agency that ensures tens of millions of students receive a quality education and critical resources.
“Coloradans rely on funding and support from the Department of Education for a range of programs, including for special education, student loan services, and rural teacher training,” said Weiser. “This evisceration of the agency will harm Coloradans, undermine our education system, and create chaos. And it is plainly unconstitutional, as only Congress can lawfully dismantle the department that it created or shut down services it has required the federal government to fund.”
The department’s programs serve nearly 18,200 school districts and over 50 million K-12 students attending roughly 98,000 public schools and 32,000 private schools throughout the country. This includes federal funding for K-12 education, special education, charter schools, and student assessment programs. The department also supports students in rural communities by offering programs designed to help rural school districts that often lack the personnel and resources needed to compete for competitive grants. Additionally, its higher education programs provide services and support to more than 12 million postsecondary students annually.
As Attorney General Weiser and the coalition assert in the lawsuit, dismantling the department will have devastating effects for Colorado, which received over $1.2 billion from the federal government in the 2024 fiscal year for school programs. The administration’s layoff is so massive that the department will be incapacitated and unable to perform essential functions. They will gut the department’s Office of Civil Rights, which protects students from discrimination and sexual assault. They would additionally hamstring the processing of financial aid, raising costs for college and university students who will have a harder time accessing loans, Pell Grants, and work study programs.
With this lawsuit, Attorney General Weiser and the coalition are seeking a court order to stop the administration from dismantling the department by drastically cutting its workforce and programs, arguing that the administration’s actions are illegal and unconstitutional. The department is an executive agency authorized by Congress, with numerous laws creating its various programs and funding streams. The coalition’s lawsuit asserts that the Executive Branch does not have the legal authority to unilaterally incapacitate or dismantle it without an act of Congress.
Joining Attorney General Weiser in filing the lawsuit are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, Wisconsin, Vermont, and the District of Columbia.
Original source can be found here.