Attorney General Ellison sues to stop dismantling the Department of Education

Monday, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison joined a coalition of 21 total attorneys general in suing the Trump administration to stop the dismantling of the Department of Education (ED).

This is in response to an announcement made on Tuesday by the Trump administration that ED would be firing firing approximately 50 percent of its workforce as part of its goal of a “total shutdown” of the Department.

According to a release from Attorney General Ellison’s office, The Attorney General and the coalition filed a lawsuit Monday seeking to stop the dismantling of the federal agency that they say ensures tens of millions of students receive a high-quality education and critical resources.

“I’ll say it as often as I have to: Donald Trump is not a king and I will not let him be a dictator. He does not have the authority to effectively shut down an entire federal department that is authorized by Congress, and his attempt to do so is illegal and unconstitutional,” Attorney General Ellison said.

“I’m joining my fellow attorneys general to hold him accountable and to protect the tens of millions of American students — not to mention their families and their teachers, administrators, and paraprofessionals — who rely on the Department for high-quality education and the support they need to succeed in school.”

According to his office, with this lawsuit, Attorney General Ellison and the coalition are seeking a court order to stop the administration’s policies to dismantle ED by drastically cutting its workforce and programs. Attorney General Ellison and the coalition argue that the administration’s actions to dismantle ED are illegal and unconstitutional. The Department is an executive agency authorized by Congress, with numerous different 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 Ellison in filing the lawsuit are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin.