Rep. Juan Vargas, Democratic Colleagues Defend Department of Education in Court
WASHINGTON – U.S. Representative Juan Vargas (D-CA) joined nearly 200 House Democrats in filing an amicus brief challenging the Trump Administration’s efforts to close the Department of Education in State of New York v. Linda McMahon. Twenty states, including California, have moved to sue the Administration for its plans to place fifty percent of the Department’s workforce on administrative leave, effectively shuttering a congressionally authorized agency.
In their filing, the lawmakers argued that the Trump Administration cannot unilaterally create, dismantle, or reorganize the Education Department, nor can executive officials make solitary decisions regarding the agency’s organization and assignment of functions. The lawmakers also cited executive overreach, noting that efforts to strip support for the federal agency violate Congress’s power of the purse.
“The U.S. Department of Education—the federal agency representing the U.S. government’s commitment to improving educational opportunity—administers and coordinates most federal education activities, ensuring that federal funding reaches its intended recipients and serves Congress’s legally mandated goals,” the lawmakers wrote in their amicus brief. “Defying Congress’s clear mandate, President Trump and other Defendants have begun dismantling the Department part by part—not through legislation, but through executive fiat.”
“By taking steps to restructure, defund, and ultimately dismantle a federal agency that Congress created, the Trump administration has unlawfully overstepped the bounds of executive power. The administration’s actions not only contravene congressional will, they strike at the heart of the separation of powers which serve as the foundation of our constitutional American democracy,” the lawmakers continued.
Read the full brief HERE.
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