Arizona AG Teams Up to Challenge Trump Administration’s Bid to Shrink Education Department

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes has announced legal action against the Trump administration, joining a coalition of 20 states in a lawsuit aimed at halting the dismantling of the Department of Education.

The suit was revealed in a press release from the Arizona AG’s office on Thursday, underscoring significant concerns over the administration’s proposed layoffs. The plan could see over 50% of the department’s workforce lose their jobs as part of an initiative to effectively shut the agency down.

“Let’s not pretend this is about making government more efficient. It is not. It is destruction,” Mayes stated. He emphasized that the move is not a genuine pursuit of better education policy but rather an assault on public education, driven by privatization interests.

Currently, the Department of Education’s programs support nearly 18,200 school districts, serving over 50 million K-12 students across approximately 98,000 public and 32,000 private schools in the United States. The AGs argue that dismantling the department threatens vital educational resources and infrastructure, particularly for Arizona.

Mayes and his counterparts in the lawsuit contend that the administration’s actions are illegal and unconstitutional. They seek a court order to block these policies from moving forward.

The lawsuit includes attorneys general from states such as California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, Wisconsin, Vermont, and the District of Columbia.

As this legal battle unfolds, the coalition aims to protect public education in their states against what they view as a systematic dismantling of federal educational support.