Greater than 175 Democratic members of Congress are submitting an amicus temporary on Thursday opposing the Trump administration’s overhaul of the U.S. Division of Schooling.
“The legislation could not be clearer: the president doesn’t have the authority to unilaterally abolish the Division of Schooling,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren wrote in a press release first obtained by ABC Information, including, “Donald Trump isn’t a king, and he can not single-handedly minimize off entry to schooling for college kids throughout this nation.”
Warren and rating committee members Jamie Raskin on Judiciary, Bobby Scott on Schooling, and Rosa DeLauro on Appropriations lead the 15-page authorized doc. They’re joined by Senate Minority Chief Chuck Schumer, greater than 20 Senate Democrats, and greater than 150 different members of the Home Democratic caucus.
The lawmakers’ temporary making an attempt to dam the administration from abolishing the Division of Schooling is in help of the NAACP’s swimsuit in opposition to the federal government this previous spring. In March, that case argued that downsizing the division by a workforce discount that slashed practically half the company’s employees — amongst different measures like terminating statutory grant applications — violates the separation of powers and lacks constitutional authority.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren conducts a particular discussion board on the rising price of schooling on the Dirksen Senate Workplace Constructing, on Could 14, 2025, in Washington, D.C.
Jemal Countess/Getty Pictures for Scholar Borrower Safety Heart, FILE
The NAACP, the Nationwide Schooling Affiliation (NEA), and a coalition of teams filed a preliminary injunction with the U.S. District Court docket within the District of Maryland this week, arguing the decide’s consideration of this case is required after the administration’s current determination to pause more than $6 billion in congressionally appropriated education schemes forward of the varsity yr.
“The movement seeks a treatment for the intense hurt that the Trump Administration has inflicted on college students, educators, colleges, and schools and universities, and asks the Court docket to direct the Division to satisfy its statutory obligations to college students nationwide,” in accordance with a press release launched by the NEA, which represents greater than 3 million educators.
Raskin condemned the administration’s efforts to curb public schooling, contending President Donald Trump and Schooling Secretary Linda McMahon can’t abolish the company with out congressional approval.
“Congress created the Division of Schooling to make sure that each scholar in America might acquire a high-quality, free public faculty schooling,” Raskin wrote in a press release. “That is the correct of each citizen and a necessary democratic safeguard in opposition to political tyranny,” he stated.
“No president has the authority to dismantle a federal company created by legislation. We’ll courtroom to defend not solely congressional energy however the division’s nationwide instructional mission, itself a pillar of American democracy,” Raskin added.
The ability to reorganize the manager department belongs to Congress and is underscored by the truth that when presidents have reorganized the manager department, they’ve executed so “by laws and topic to applicable restraints,” in accordance with the temporary by the lawmakers.
Their temporary argues that solely Congress has the authority to create, restructure, and abolish federal businesses, it must be executed by laws, and the Division of Schooling can’t be unilaterally abolished as a result of it’s statutorily mandated.
Rep. Jamie Raskin seems on as he speaks through the “No Kings” protest in opposition to President Donald Trump’s insurance policies in Philadelphia, June 14, 2025.
Rachel Wisniewski/Reuters
Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Colorado, advised ABC Information closing the division would strip “important help” from tens of tens of millions of scholars and academics.
“I’m proud to face with my colleagues within the Home and Senate to uphold Congress’ accountability to make sure each scholar has entry to a high quality schooling and to defend the important work of the Division of Schooling,” Neguse stated.
Efforts to dismantle the division have been blocked by decrease courts this spring. The Supreme Court docket is anticipated to weigh in on a Massachusetts case that would resolve whether or not the firing of practically 2,000 staff on the company stands. McMahon has harassed the vital features of the division stay and that providers like college students with disabilities, for instance, might finally be moved to different businesses.
The temporary is a part of Warren’s bigger Save Our Faculties marketing campaign that she began after Trump signed an government order to decrease the Division of Schooling.
“The federal authorities has invested in our public colleges,” Warren advised ABC Information in April. “Taking that away from our youngsters so {that a} handful of billionaires will be even richer is simply plain ugly, and I’ll struggle it with the whole lot I’ve obtained.”
The senator has beforehand requested the company’s Workplace of Inspector Normal overview the Division of Authorities Effectivity’s alleged “infiltration” of the company’s inner federal scholar mortgage database. Previous to the Save Our Faculties marketing campaign, she investigated the firing of federal scholar assist staff and the way a discount in employees on the company might have “dire penalties” for debtors.
The temporary additionally comes after Raskin and a number of other different Home Democrats met with McMahon about the way forward for the company. That assembly appeared to go away many with unanswered questions, like Rep. Frederica Wilson, a senior member of the Home Schooling and Workforce Committee, who additionally signed on to the amicus temporary.
“For the Division of Schooling to be dismantled, it will convey a shock to this nation,” stated Wilson, a former principal and lifelong educator. “Faculties are the bedrock of this nation. When colleges are working, our nation is, too.”
