Constitutional Law
Education funding freeze violates ‘multiple statutory and regulatory commands,’ says suit by Democratic states
Education Secretary Linda McMahon during a June 2025 Senate Appropriations hearing. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)
A lawsuit filed Monday by Democratic officials in 24 states and the District of Columbia seeks the release of billions of dollars in federal education funding that has been frozen by the U.S. Department of Education and the Office of Management and Budget.
The decision to withhold $6.8 billion for a review of consistency with presidential priorities “is contrary to law, arbitrary and capricious, and unconstitutional,” according to the July 14 lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island. A motion for a preliminary injunction was filed the same day.
The freeze affects adult education and students through the 12th grade. The frozen funds include money for immigrant children and English learners, after-school care, teacher recruitment and training, and bullying and suicide prevention.
States are in “chaos” after making plans for the upcoming academic year in reliance on the money, the suit says.
The Washington Post, the Associated Press and NPR are among the publications with coverage, while the attorneys general of California, New York, Colorado and North Carolina are among those issuing press releases.
Withholding the funds violates “multiple statutory and regulatory commands,” the suit says. They include the Impoundment Control Act, which limits agencies’ ability to withhold appropriated funds; and the Administrative Procedure Act, which prohibits arbitrary and capricious agency conduct.
Freezing the funds also violates the separation of powers doctrine and the presentment clause, which outlines the process for bills to become law, according to the suit.
“It is Congress, not the executive branch, that possesses the power of the purse,” the suit says. “The Constitution does not empower the executive branch to unilaterally refuse to spend funds appropriated by Congress and enacted into law.”
The Trump administration plans to test the Impoundment Control Act by refusing to spend mandated funds, the Washington Post has previously reported.
Joining the lawsuit are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia, as well as the governors of Pennsylvania and Kentucky.
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