“All of President Trump’s executive actions are lawful, constitutional and intended to deliver on the promises he made to the American people,” a White House spokesman, Harrison Fields, said. “Partisan elected officials and judicial activists who seek to legally obstruct President Trump’s agenda are defying the will of 77 million Americans who overwhelmingly re-elected President Trump, and their efforts will fail.”
Linda McMahon, the education secretary, has said that the layoffs will help the department deliver services more efficiently and that the changes will not affect student loans, Pell grants or funding for special-needs students.
Thursday’s move was made in concert with the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, Wisconsin, Vermont and the District of Columbia.
“President Trump is not a king, and he cannot unilaterally decide to close a cabinet agency,” said Matthew J. Platkin, New Jersey’s attorney general.
The suit is the most recent legal challenge to Mr. Trump’s fast-moving agenda. At the core of his goals has been a push to slash jobs, programs and funding across the government. To lead the push, Mr. Trump appointed Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, to run a program called the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. Staffed by Mr. Musk’s young aides, DOGE has bulldozed through federal agencies.