MPS teacher Jenny Aicher receives an immunization from City of Milwaukee health worker Steve Ohly at a mobile vaccination clinic, March 4, 2021 at All Saints Catholic Church, in Milwaukee. A $6.6 million grant awarded to the Milwaukee Health Department, used to expand COVID-19 vaccination, has been cancelled by President Donald Trump's administration.
Sacramento, California – California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced Thursday that the state, alongside 14 others and the District of Columbia, has filed a federal lawsuit seeking to block the Trump administration’s abrupt decision to rescind hundreds of millions of dollars in pandemic-era education funding. More than $200 million allocated to California alone is now at risk.
The lawsuit, filed in New York federal court, argues that the U.S. Department of Education’s move violates federal law, specifically the Administrative Procedure Act. The funds in question were originally designated under the American Rescue Plan Act and the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act to support academic recovery from COVID-19 disruptions.
Bonta said the funding is still urgently needed and currently used for student mental health services, after-school and summer learning programs, classroom technology, and infrastructure. “It’s a complete fallacy and a red herring to suggest that, since the state of emergency is over, the funding should end too,” Bonta told the Los Angeles Times.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon announced the rescinding of funds in a March 28 letter to school districts, arguing that deadlines to spend the money had long passed and that the pandemic no longer justified continued use. McMahon said any further extensions would be considered on a case-by-case basis. “Extending deadlines for COVID-related grants, which are in fact taxpayer funds, years after the COVID pandemic ended is not consistent with the Department’s priorities,” she wrote.
Democratic lawmakers, including Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), criticized the move in an April 7 letter, calling it an “abrupt and chaotic revision of policy.” They cited ongoing challenges such as learning loss and chronic absenteeism, warning that withdrawing funding now would harm students nationwide.
The lawsuit marks the 13th legal challenge filed by Bonta’s office against the Trump administration. He said Thursday’s case is another example of federal overreach. “We believe he has broken the law again here and in the process deprived children of critical funding,” Bonta said. “We’re not going to stand for it.”
The legal battle comes amid broader pushback against Trump’s efforts to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education, including mass layoffs and efforts to shut the agency down entirely—moves opponents call reckless and illegal.
