On Thursday, Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha and 20 other attorneys general filed a lawsuit to block the Trump administration from laying off over 1,300 U.S. Department of Education employees.
The suit comes two days after the Department of Education released a statement saying that it had “initiated a reduction in force impacting nearly 50% of the Department’s workforce.”
In a March 11 interview with Fox News, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon confirmed that the RIF is a first step in Trump’s mandate “to shut down the Department of Education.”
In their suit, the plaintiffs argued that “the layoffs are an effective dismantling of the Department.”
The Department of Education’s elementary and secondary programs serve over 50 million students and close to 18,200 school districts nationwide. Its programs also “provide grant, loan, and work-study assistance to more than 12 million postsecondary students,” according to the Department’s website.
In their suit, the plaintiffs argued that the RIF would incapacitate “key, statutorily-mandated functions of the Department, causing immense damage to plaintiff states and their educational systems.”
According to Neronha’s press release, layoffs would affect a variety of services including the availability of speech therapy for school-aged children with special needs, federal support for children in rural communities and services for children from underserved communities.
The elimination of the Department of Education “will severely hobble Rhode Island’s ability to enforce civil rights laws in this state,” wrote Timothy Rondeau, director of communications for Neronha’s office, in an email to The Herald.
Although the layoffs are not set to take effect until March 21, Rondeau explained that RIF has resulted in the closure of the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights branch in Boston, which covered Rhode Island. These closures have affected “half of the Offices of Civil Rights across the country,” he added.
The Department of Education also oversees the college financial aid process, facilitates Pell Grants and manages federal work study programs. In its statement, the Department said it “will continue to deliver on all statutory programs that fall under the agency’s purview.”
But with the recent layoffs, the Department’s administration of these programs would be “at risk” and will result in “higher costs to attend institutions of higher education,” the attorneys general argued in the suit.
The plaintiffs also alleged that the Trump administration’s layoffs are “an unlawful violation of the separation of powers” as only Congress can “abolish executive agencies.” They added that “the executive has no authority to incapacitate a congressionally created agency.”
“This is thoughtless, it is reckless and it must be stopped,” Neronha said in the press release.
The White House did not respond to The Herald’s request for comment.
Avani Ghosh is a Metro editor covering city and state politics. She is a junior from Ohio studying Health and Human Biology and International and Public Affairs. She is an avid earl grey enthusiast and can be found making tea in her free time.
