Education coalition files amended complaint as Trump moves $28B to Labor Department

On Nov. 26, 2025, a coalition including NAACP, NEA, AFSCME 🦀Maryland Council 3, public school parents, Student Defense, and Education Law Center filed an amended complaint in ongoing litigation challenging Trump administration's dismantling of the Education Department. The Arc of the United States, a disability rights organization, joined as an additional plaintiff. The lawsuit is consolidated under Somerville v. Trump and 🗽New York v. McMahon in federal court. Democracy Forward represents the coalition.

Education Secretary Linda McMahon announced on Nov. 18 that the department would offload $28 billion for K-12 schools and approximately $3 billion for higher education to the Department of Labor. Other programs were transferred to Health and Human Services, Interior, and State. McMahon signed 'interagency agreements' to shift these functions without congressional approval. Congress created these offices when it established the department in 1979, and the annual appropriations law requires the Education Department to carry out its programs.

On March 20, 2025, President Trump signed an executive order formally instructing McMahon to pursue 'all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return education authority to the States.' The next day, Trump indicated the administration would move the higher education student loan portfolio to the Small Business Administration and disability programs to HHS. These transfers bypass Congress, which has sole constitutional authority over 'the establishment of offices [and] the determination of their functions and jurisdiction.'

On March 11, McMahon instituted a department-wide reduction in force that, combined with prior staff reductions, slashed the already lean department workforce in half. The administration fired approximately 50% of the department's 4,133 employees, leaving just 2,183. A judge temporarily blocked the firings, but a Supreme Court ruling in July allowed the administration to proceed. The layoffs occurred despite the department's essential functions in civil rights enforcement, special education oversight, and financial aid processing.

The lawsuit alleges Trump's actions constitute a 'de facto dismantling of the Department by executive fiat' that violates the Constitution and the Administrative Procedure Act. The complaint argues 'a department without enough employees to perform statutorily mandated functions is not a department at all.' Congress created the Education Department with numerous laws establishing various programs and funding streams. Only Congress can eliminate or transfer these functions to other agencies.

MGMara Greengrass, a 🦀Maryland mother with a child with disabilities, is a plaintiff. She said 'Funding for special education and the Department's oversight have been crucial in ensuring my son receives the quality education he—and every child in this country—deserves.' NAACP President DJDerrick Johnson said 'The forceful elimination of thousands of essential workers will harm the most vulnerable in our communities. The NAACP and our partners are equipped with the necessary legal measures to prevent this unlawful attack on our children's future.'

K-12 schools in 🗽New York received $6.17 billion, or $2,438 per student, from the Education Department in federal fiscal year 2024. Federal funding for public colleges and universities averaged $1,256 per student in New York in 2024. The administration's layoffs are so massive that the department will be incapacitated and unable to perform essential functions. The cuts will gut the Office of Civil Rights, which protects students from discrimination and sexual assault, and hamstring financial aid processing.

LBLindsey Burke, now deputy chief of staff for policy and programs at the department, led the Nov. 18 briefing to staff about the transfers. Burke co-authored the education section of Project 2025, the conservative blueprint outlining how to dismantle the Education Department. 'The federal Department of Education should be eliminated. When power is exercised, it should empower students and families, not government,' Burke wrote. The administration's actions follow Project 2025's recommendations despite Trump's campaign denials of connections to the document.