Washington state’s attorney general has joined 20 other Democrat states in a lawsuit seeking to block President Donald Trump’s executive order that calls to dismantle the Department of Education.
The state’s Attorney General Nick Brown announced Monday that he joined 20 other attorneys general in filing a motion for a preliminary injunction against the Trump administration. A preliminary injunction would temporarily pause the president’s March 20 executive order to eliminate the DOE.
The other 20 states filed lawsuits on March 13 attempting to block efforts to close the DOE after plans were announced to eliminate half of the department’s workforce.
DEM AGS SUE OVER TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION LAYOFFS
The latest lawsuit seeks to stop the layoffs and the move by the administration to transfer student loan and special education services outside the department, as Trump works to shift responsibilities away from the DOE.
For example, Trump announced last week that the Small Business Administration would handle student loans as part of this plan.
“The devastating cuts and layoffs at the Department of Education will directly harm Washington’s youth and their families,” Brown said in a statement. “Our office will fight to defend the education and health of our students from President Trump’s illegal order.”
Layoffs at the department have already led to the closure of the Office of Civil Rights outreach services across the country, which investigated students’ claims of discrimination and sexual assault. Federal funding and approvals for state schools have also been delayed, Brown’s office said.
The lawsuit argues that the Trump administration’s executive order is illegal and that efforts to dismantle the DOE can only be authorized by Congress. GOP lawmakers have introduced legislation to eliminate the department, but the effort has not yet been approved by either chamber on Capitol Hill.
The lawsuit from the attorneys general also claims that the mass layoffs violate the Administrative Procedures Act, which establishes procedures for how administrative agencies of the federal government may propose and issue regulations.
