Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin Continues the Fight to Stop Trump from Shutting Down the U.S. Department of Education

AG Platkin Joins Coalition Seeking Preliminary Injunction to Block Mass Layoffs and the Elimination of Core Services at the U.S. Department of Education

Motion for Preliminary Injunction

TRENTON – Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin today joined a coalition of 21 attorneys general in filing a motion for a preliminary injunction as part of their lawsuit to stop the dismantling of the U.S. Department of Education.

On March 13, Attorney General Platkin and the coalition filed their lawsuit after the Trump Administration announced plans to eliminate 50 percent of the Department’s workforce. Following a March 20 Executive Order directing the closure of the U.S. Department of Education and President Trump’s March 21 announcement that the Department must “immediately” transfer student loan management and special education services outside of the Department, Attorney General Platkin and the coalition are seeking a court order to immediately stop the mass layoffs and transfer of services.

“Shuttering the Department of Education will result in extraordinary harm to students, teachers, and families in our state,” said Attorney General Platkin. “President Trump cannot unilaterally eliminate a Cabinet agency, and our motion today seeks to put an immediate end to this clear violation of the law. While this Administration may be fine with gutting services for special needs students, slashing critical programs, and hurting college students, we will never be. We will continue to stand up for our state’s students, teachers, and families.”

As Attorney General Platkin and the coalition assert, the Trump Administration’s attacks on the U.S. Department of Education have already had serious consequences for families and students throughout the country. Mass layoffs of Department staff have led to the closure of the Department’s Office of Civil Rights locations throughout the country. Critical funding for state school systems has also been delayed. As the attorneys general argue, states rely on billions of dollars every year in funding for elementary and secondary education, services for children with disabilities, vocational education, adult education, and other crucial services. All of these programs will be severely disrupted if the administration’s incapacitation of the Department is not stopped.

Attorney General Platkin and the coalition argue in their lawsuit and motion for a preliminary injunction that the Trump Administration’s attacks on the U.S. Department of Education are illegal and unconstitutional. The Department is an executive agency authorized by Congress, with statutes creating its various programs and funding streams. The coalition’s lawsuit asserts that the Executive Branch does not have the legal authority to unilaterally dismantle it without an act of Congress. In addition, the attorneys general argue that the U.S. Department of Education’s mass layoffs violate the Administrative Procedure Act.

Joining Attorney General Platkin in filing the lawsuit and today’s motion are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia.