A group of advocacy organizations and those invested in schools sued the Trump administration on Monday over his executive order to dismantle the Department of Education.
The new lawsuit alleges the president exceeded his constitutional authority in trying to dismantle the department and violated the Administrative Procedure Act.
“Taken together, Defendants’ steps since January 20, 2025, constitute a de facto dismantling of the Department by executive fiat…,” the lawsuit reads.
“But the Constitution gives power over ‘the establishment of offices [and] the determination of their functions and jurisdiction’ to Congress—not to the President or any officer working under him,” it added.
The coalition is made up of National Education Association, the country’s largest union, NAACP and other advocacy groups, along with public school parents.
Its lawsuit came days after Trump signed an executive order telling Education Secretary Linda McMahon to dismantle the federal agency as far as she legally can.
The next day, the president said he would be moving student loans to the Small Business Administration and programs for students with disabilities and nutrition programs to the Health and Human Services Department.
McMahon has already reduced the department workforce to 50 percent of its original size, leaving the agency with only a little over 2,000 workers.
“The Trump Administration’s effort to dismantle the Department of Education is not only illegal; it inflicts great harm on students, schools, and communities across the country,” said Robert Kim, Education Law Center’s executive director, another group on the lawsuit.
The Hill has reached out to the Education Department for comment.
