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’t single-handedly reduce 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 trying to dam the administration from abolishing the Division of Schooling is in assist of the NAACP’s swimsuit towards the federal government this previous spring. In March, that case argued that downsizing the division by way of a workforce discount that slashed almost half the company’s workers — 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 value of schooling on the Dirksen Senate Workplace Constructing, on Could 14, 2025, in Washington, D.C.
Jemal Countess/Getty Pictures for Scholar Borrower Safety Middle, 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 latest determination to pause more than $6 billion in congressionally appropriated teaching programs forward of the college 12 months.
“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 response to 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 receive a high-quality, free public college schooling,” Raskin wrote in a press release. “That is the appropriate of each citizen and a vital democratic safeguard towards political tyranny,” he mentioned.
“No president has the authority to dismantle a federal company created by legislation. We will court docket to defend not solely congressional energy however the division’s nationwide instructional mission, itself a pillar of American democracy,” Raskin added.
The facility to reorganize the chief department belongs to Congress and is underscored by the truth that when presidents have reorganized the chief department, they’ve executed so “by way of laws and topic to acceptable restraints,” in response to 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 way of laws, and the Division of Schooling can’t be unilaterally abolished as a result of it’s statutorily mandated.
Rep. Jamie Raskin seems to be on as he speaks throughout the “No Kings” protest towards 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 assist” from tens of thousands and thousands 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 top quality schooling and to defend the important work of the Division of Schooling,” Neguse mentioned.
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 determine whether or not the firing of almost 2,000 workers on the company stands. McMahon has careworn the important features of the division stay and that providers like college students with disabilities, for instance, might in the end be moved to different businesses.
The temporary is a part of Warren’s bigger Save Our Colleges marketing campaign that she began after Trump signed an govt 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 children so {that a} handful of billionaires could be even richer is simply plain ugly, and I’ll struggle it with all the pieces I’ve received.”
The senator has beforehand requested the company’s Workplace of Inspector Basic evaluate the Division of Authorities Effectivity’s alleged “infiltration” of the company’s inner federal scholar mortgage database. Previous to the Save Our Colleges marketing campaign, she investigated the firing of federal scholar help workers and the way a discount in workers on the company might have “dire penalties” for debtors.
The temporary additionally comes after Raskin and several 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’s going to convey a shock to this nation,” mentioned Wilson, a former principal and lifelong educator. “Colleges are the bedrock of this nation. When colleges are working, our nation is, too.”
