States file federal lawsuit over unlawful education grant freeze

New York Attorney General Letitia James and coalitions of state attorneys general filed suit in federal court challenging the Trump administration's freeze of billions in education grants as a violation of the Impoundment Control Act, the Administrative Procedure Act, and the Constitution. The lawsuits argued that OMB had no legal authority to withhold funds Congress had appropriated without following the rescission procedures required by the 1974 ICA, including submitting a formal request to Congress and receiving affirmative approval within 45 days. Brookings Institution researchers tracking the litigation documented the pattern as the broadest legal challenge to executive impoundment power since the Nixon era. Courts had previously issued injunctions against some earlier 2025 education funding freezes, setting precedent for judicial intervention in impoundment disputes.