Arizona AG Kris Mayes joins lawsuit opposing Department of Education layoffs

PHOENIX – Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes signed on to yet another multistate lawsuit targeting the actions of the Trump administration.

This time, a coalition of 21 attorneys general is suing to stop the dismantling of the Department of Education.

“Let’s not pretend this is about making government more efficient. It is not. It is destruction,” Mayes, a Democrat, said in a press release Thursday. “It isn’t about better education policy. It is about tearing down public education by those who want to privatize it for profit.”

The lawsuit was filed after the Department of Education announced plans Tuesday to lay off more than 1,300 employees.

It argues that the layoffs violate the Administrative Procedure Act and will incapacitate the department to the point where it won’t be able to perform essential functions, including upholding Civil Rights laws.

Mayes is involved in multiple lawsuits challenging the legality of policies implemented since President Donald Trump returned to the White House in January, including other mass layoffs and an effort to end birthright citizenship.

She also launched a webpage where the public can report issues related to federal funding freezes that might violate court orders.

Why does Trump administration want to cut Department of Education?

Trump campaigned on a promise to close the Department of Education, saying it had been overtaken by “radicals, zealots and Marxists.”

At her confirmation hearing earlier this year, Education Secretary Linda McMahon acknowledged only Congress has the power to abolish the agency but said it might be due for cuts and a reorganization.

The administration has said it wants states to have control over federal education funding.

“So many of the programs are really excellent, so we need to make sure the money goes to the states,” McMahon told Fox News on Tuesday.

What does the Department of Education do?

Even before the layoffs, McMahon’s department was among the smallest Cabinet-level agencies. Its workforce included 3,100 people in Washington and an additional 1,100 at regional offices across the country, according to a department website.

Much of what the department does, like investigating civil rights complaints and helping families apply for financial aid, is labor intensive, said Roxanne Garza, who was chief of staff in the Office of Postsecondary Education under President Joe Biden.

“How those things will not be impacted with far fewer staff … I just don’t see it,” said Garza, who is now director of higher education policy at Education Trust, a research and advocacy organization.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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