Trump sued by US states over withholding $6.8 billion for schools

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By Nate Raymond and Daniel Wiessner

(Reuters) -A coalition of mostly Democratic-led states filed a lawsuit on Monday challenging a move by U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration to withhold about $6.8 billion in congressionally approved federal funding for K-12 schools.

Attorneys general or governors from 24 states and the District of Columbia sued in federal court in Providence, Rhode Island, arguing that the U.S. Department of Education and the Office of Management and Budget threw schools nationwide into chaos by unconstitutionally freezing funding for six programs approved by Congress.

The freeze extended to funding used to support the education of migrant farm workers and their children; recruitment and training of teachers; English proficiency learning; academic enrichment; and after-school and summer programs.

The administration also froze funding used to support adult literacy and job-readiness skills.

The government was legally required to release the money to the states by July 1, the lawsuit said. Instead, the Education Department notified states on June 30 that it would not be issuing grant awards under those programs by that deadline. It cited the change in administration as its reason. 

An OMB spokesperson at the time cited an “ongoing programmatic review” of education funding and said initial findings showed what he termed as a misuse of grant funds to “subsidize a radical leftwing agenda.” 

OMB also raised objections to the use of the grant money to support scholarships for immigrant students and lessons that involved LGBTQ themes.

The Democratic-led states said the sweeping funding freeze has disrupted school systems, resulting in summer school and after-school programs being canceled or put at risk and the halting of other initiatives with little time for school districts to fill in the holes left in their budgets.

The states say the administration violated the U.S. Constitution by disregarding Congress’ sole authority over spending and ran afoul of federal administrative law by freezing the funds without any reasoned explanation.

The states also say the administration failed to abide by procedures of the Impoundment Control Act, which bars the executive branch from unilaterally refusing to spend funds appropriated by Congress unless certain steps are followed.

The lawsuit follows a series of other cases Democratic-led states and others have filed challenging the administration’s sweeping efforts to freeze or terminate federal funding for programs out of line with Trump’s agenda.

(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston and Daniel Wiessner in Albany, New York, Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and David Gregorio)