On Monday afternoon, more than 20 Democratic-led states sued the Trump administration on Monday for withholding more than $6 billion in federal funds for several education programs nationwide. Led by California, the lawsuit alleges withholding the money violates the Constitution and several federal laws.
Many low-income families will lose access to after-school programs if the money isn’t released soon, according to the suit. In some states, school restarts in late July and early August.
“This is plainly against the law,” North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson told ABC News in an exclusive interview ahead of the lawsuit.
The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court of Rhode Island. It includes the attorney general of the District of Columbia, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear.
“It’s against the Constitution,” Jackson explained, adding, “It’s against the Impoundment Act. From a legal standpoint, this is not a hard case.”
The Impoundment Control Act of 1974 says Congress must consider and review executive branch withholdings of budget authority, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office. The law requires the president to report any withholdings promptly to Congress.
Federal aid for schools is typically allocated each year on July 1, but aid was paused on June 30 in an ongoing programmatic review of education funding, according to a Department of Education memo sent to Congress obtained by ABC News.
“If the courts don’t act promptly, the consequences will be dire,” Jackson warned, arguing that districts face immediate harm as the school year approaches.
Jackson said the funding review also broke the constitutional separation of powers as the executive branch unilaterally halted congressionally authorized money for programs that serve millions of America’s students.
The Department of Education referred questions to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), which told ABC News many of the programs “grossly misused” government funds to promote a “radical leftwing agenda.” The Impoundment Control Act specifically states OMB should specify the duration of proposed partial-year deferrals. However, in a statement to ABC News, an OMB spokesman said no decisions have yet been made.
Even though no funding has been cut, Jackson condemned the administration, contending the effect of the pause is going to be massive and could result in North Carolina firing about 1,000 educators. He said workforce training, teacher preparation, suicide prevention and after-school programs could all be shuttered.
“Everybody knows when it comes to juvenile crime, you want a safe place for teenagers to be able to go, to be able to keep them out of trouble,” Jackson told ABC News. “Nobody thinks that eliminating after-school programs across the entire country is a good idea.”
The pause has so far included Title II-A grants for effective educator instruction, Title IV-B grants for after-school programming, Title IV-A grants for student support, Title III-A funding for English Language Acquisition, Title I-C funding for Migrant Education and grants for adult education, according to the department’s memo to Congress.
Parents groups, nonprofits, and education advocates decrying the review are also expected to mount lawsuits against the administration, according to sources familiar.
“This is one of those moments where something really big and potentially really damaging could be getting ready to occur,” Jackson said.
“I’m going to do everything that I can to stop it,” he added. “It would be great if parents across the country lent their voices to this cause. I think everybody needs to hear from them.”
The funding pause comes as the administration has threatened to dismantle the Department of Education, reduced nearly half the agency’s staff and made cuts to grants and programs that run afoul of its priorities.
Jackson and state education leaders around the country believe vulnerable students will bear the brunt of any delayed funding. Alabama, California, and Washington state’s education chiefs slammed the review, saying they haven’t been given a timetable on when it might be completed. OMB has not said when it will make a decision.
Alabama State Superintendent of Education Eric Mackey said this will affect students with the “greatest need” as the stalled funding meets his state’s ongoing educator shortage.
“The loss of funding for those rural, poor, high poverty school districts, is just going to be, you know, more fuel for the fire that makes it more difficult to educate children in those communities,” Mackey told ABC News.
The National Education Association, the country’s largest labor union that represents teachers and other education professionals, estimates Alabama could lose about $100 million if the funds aren’t reinstated, Washington would be out $150 million, and more than $900 million in funding remains halted in California by the administration.
“It is a huge threat to our districts, many of whom don’t have the reserves to cover the balance here,” California State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond told ABC News.
“They built their budgets based on the expectation that federal funds would flow, as they have for many years, and so it creates threats for local districts that they may have to lay staff off. It raises threats for us as a state agency that provides technical assistance to many districts. You know, how will we continue to fund these positions?” he said.
Both California and Washington state’s attorneys general joined the lawsuit. The education programs likely can’t withstand a review that stretches into the school year, state education leaders say.
“If we don’t have assurances that the money is going to be there [by September], school districts will have already started cutting programs,” Washington State Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal told ABC News. “We will start our school year under the belief that we’re going to go at least a year without these funds,” he said.
Meanwhile, as districts in Alabama return to school within three weeks, Mackey warned some programs may be eliminated for years to come.
“Let’s say we get eight, nine months down the road, and we’re still in this pause situation and the funds haven’t come. Then, I think as we begin to budget for the 2026-2027 school year then you’re going to see a lot of programs cut,” Mackey said.
“People, as long as they can, will hold out. But if they see that this is kind of a permanent thing, that that funding is just not going to be consistent, then they are going to have to go with the more conservative approach,” he added.
