States sue Trump administration over Department of Education layoffs

A coalition of 20 states and the District of Columbia filed a federal lawsuit on Thursday objecting to the Trump administration’s push to lay off almost half of the Department of Education’s workforce. The filing came days after the administration announced that it will let go of more than 1,300 DOE workers. This sweeping worker reduction could hinder the department from its mandated functions and harm educational systems, according to the lawsuit.

Why does the lawsuit claim the layoffs are illegal? States insisted that the administration had no cause for the layoffs beyond President Donald Trump’s frequently stated desire to abolish the entire department. Only Congress has the power to severely limit or dissolve executive agencies, not the executive branch itself, the lawsuit argued. The layoffs should not be enacted as they are considered arbitrary or capricious under the Administrative Procedure Act.

WORLD reached out to the Department of Education for comment, and as of Thursday afternoon, had not received a reply.