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President Donald Trump\u2019s executive order dismantling the Department of Education violated the Constitution and federal law, school districts, education advocacy groups and unions alleged in multiple lawsuits Monday.<\/p>\n
The lawsuits are the latest to hit the Trump administration over its wider effort to dismember the federal government.<\/p>\n
Last week, Trump ordered<\/a> Education Secretary Linda McMahon to effectively shutter the Education Department and transfer its core functions, like distributing Pell Grants and managing student loans, to other federal agencies and departments.<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s order specifically called for the department to be closed to \u201cthe maximum extent appropriate and permitted by law,\u201d because officially closing the department would require an act of Congress, which is the only branch that can create federal offices.<\/p>\n The NAACP, the National Education Association public school parents and a union group in Maryland alleged in a lawsuit<\/a> Monday that Trump\u2019s order violates Congress\u2019s authority to create offices and the Administrative Procedure Act<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause it is a Congressionally-created federal agency, legally eliminating the Department of Education, or its constituent offices, or transferring them to other federal agencies, requires Congressional approval,\u201d the lawsuit reads.<\/p>\n In a separate lawsuit<\/a>, a large coalition of educators, school districts, and unions represented by Democracy Forward* asked a court to prevent the Education Department\u2019s dismantling, as Trump\u2019s order also threatens Congress\u2019s constitutional authority to appropriate funds.<\/p>\n \u201cTrying to abolish the department as one of the president\u2019s first acts \u2014 whether through an executive order, a \u2018reduction in force\u2019 or concepts of a plan to shift services elsewhere \u2014 is not only illegal, it sends a message that the president doesn\u2019t care about broad-based opportunity, doesn\u2019t care about knowledge, and doesn\u2019t care about this country\u2019s future,\u201d American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten said in a statement.<\/p>\n Weeks before the executive order, the Trump administration cut the Education Department\u2019s staff by 50% \u2014 around 2,000 workers.\u00a0<\/p>\n A total of 21 Democratic state attorneys general sued<\/a> over those cuts earlier this month, alleging that gutting the Education Department would violate Congress\u2019 authority by destroying the department\u2019s ability to fulfill its legally-required functions while causing \u201cimmense\u201d damage to education systems.<\/p>\n Members of Congress have said<\/a> they plan to introduce legislation to officially eliminate the department.<\/p>\n