Unions, public school districts, and other advocacy groups have filed lawsuits in two states against the Trump administration, seeking to prevent it from dismantling the Department of Education. 

On Monday, the American Federation of Teachers, the American Association of University Professors, and a pair of public school districts in Massachusetts filed a lawsuit alleging that President Donald Trump’s executive order beginning the process of eliminating the Education Department unlawfully bypassed Congress’s role as the only entity that can abolish the agency.

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While Trump’s March 20 order stopped short of outright abolishing the Education Department, he directed Education Secretary Linda McMahon to “take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure” of the agency “to the maximum extent appropriate and permitted by law.” 

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, argued that the president overstepped his constitutional authority and that McMahon’s move to reduce her department’s workforce by nearly 50% was unlawful. The lawsuit argued that all fired employees should be reinstated. 

A similar lawsuit in Maryland seeks to block the Trump administration’s efforts to eliminate the Education Department and shift control of education to states and local communities.

The National Education Association, the country’s largest labor union; the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People; the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Maryland Council 3; the Prince George’s County Educators Association; and two parents with students enrolled in Montgomery County Public Schools filed the lawsuit in federal court on Monday.

“Because 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,” the lawsuit reads. “Taken together, Defendants’ steps since January 20, 2025, constitute a de facto dismantling of the Department by executive fiat.”

McMahon has acknowledged that Congress has final authority over whether to abolish the department completely but argues that the administration’s actions fall under legally protected authorities. 

Trump told her from “the very beginning” that “he would like for me to move as quickly as we can,” McMahon said during a Fox News Special Report interview last week. “But clearly he wanted to state and let Congress know that he intends to work with them. I want Congress to be a partner in this, and I believe they will be because both sides of the aisle know that what is happening to education in our country cannot be allowed to stand because we are failing our students.”

“The President believes, as do I, that the best education is … closest to the student. And we can accomplish that by having it operate out of the state and not trying to manage it from Washington, D.C.,” she added.

MCMAHON ACKNOWLEDGES NECESSITY OF CONGRESS IN EFFORT TO ELIMINATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

A senior spokeswoman for the Education Department previously pushed back against claims that the steep workforce cuts were unlawful in comments to the Washington Examiner.

“President Trump was elected with a mandate from the American public to return education authority to the states,” spokeswoman Madi Biedermann said. “The Department of Education’s reduction in force (RIF) was implemented carefully and in compliance with all applicable regulations and laws. The RIF is being undertaken in accordance with Title 5, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Part 351 and the most recent collective bargaining agreement (CBA) for covered Department employees which went into effect on January 17, 2025.”