‘Right not to cooperate in the President’s schemes’: States can’t be forced to help Donald Trump’s plans for mass deportations, Illinois argues in court filing

President Donald Trump speaks before Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is sworn in as HHS Secretary in the Oval Office, Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025, in Washington (Photo/Alex Brandon).

President Donald Trump speaks before Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is sworn in as HHS Secretary in the Oval Office, Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025, in Washington (Photo/Alex Brandon).

The Trump administration has pushed through an “effective dismantling” of the Department of Education through massive layoffs, a lawsuit filed Thursday in Massachusetts federal court alleges.

On March 11, the agency announced a “nearly 50%” reduction in force (RIF) with a press release. Later that same day, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon told The Hill those planned terminations were the “first step” toward the “total shutdown” of her entire department.

The plaintiffs, in their 53-page lawsuit, say the agency’s plans are “equivalent to incapacitating key, statutorily-mandated functions” that cause “immense damage” to the educational systems of several states. The complaint alleges the would-be federal firing spree is illegal — in violation of both the U.S. Constitution and federal law.

Moreover, the filing argues, the ongoing and upcoming reductions in staffing amount to an unlawful end-run around congressional authority in order to advance President Donald Trump’s stated goal of shuttering the department in de facto if not de jure terms.

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