Are the President's Actions About Public Schools Legal?

Since Inauguration Day, the Trump administration has attacked public education and inclusive policies, often in direct conflict with existing law.

Here is a deeper look at the legality of the Trump administration’s actions.

View past legal updates:

December 12, 2025
November 21, 2025
November 7, 2025
October 24, 2025
October 10, 2025

Legal Rundown PDF archive to March 27, 2025

December 12, 2025

Recent Executive Actions Impacting Education

Rescinding Title VI Disparate Impact Regulations

On December 10, the Department of Justice (DOJ) published a final rule that eliminates regulations providing for disparate-impact liability under Title VI. This move ends longstanding civil-rights protections that prohibit DOJ funding recipients from maintaining policies that disproportionately harm people of color. DOJ claims its new policy is consistent with Trump’s April executive order (EO) directing the Attorney General to repeal disparate-impact regulations and the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. President & Fellows of Harvard College (“SFFA”). The rule takes immediate effect and was issued without prior notice or opportunity for public comment. While the rescission formally applies only to DOJ programs, DOJ’s role in coordinating Title VI enforcement across the federal government means that other agencies are likely to follow.

Directing RIF’d OCR Employees to Return to Work Amidst Complaint Backlog

On December 5, the Department of Education (ED) ordered approximately 250 Office for Civil Rights (OCR) employees currently on administrative leave to return to work to help tackle a backlog of over 25,000 discrimination complaints. ED laid off the impacted workers in March and subsequently reinstated them pursuant to a court order. After an appellate court stayed that order, on October 14, ED issued new reduction-in-force (RIF) notices to the employees, which are subject to renewed legal challenges. ED did not specify how many of the 250 workers will return to duty starting December 15th, but indicated that it still intends to proceed with the RIFs moving forward.

Proposing New Federal Student Loans Caps

On November 6, ED announced a proposed rule that would implement changes to Federal Student Aid as required by the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” including a new Repayment Assistance Plan that would lower the federal student loan cap for most graduate students. The law subjects new borrowers to annual federal lending limits of $20,500 for graduate programs starting in July 2026 and requires ED to identify “professional degree” programs eligible for a higher federal loan cap of $50,000 per year. ED’s proposed rule would comply with this requirement by classifying teaching, nursing, and social work degree programs, among others, as “non-professional” degree programs and therefore ineligible for the higher borrowing limits. The proposed rule will be published in the Federal Register and open for public comment in early 2026.

Litigation Updates

SCOTUS Will Hear Birthright Citizenship Challenge

On December 5, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari in Trump v. Barbara, one of several cases challenging Trump’s EO purporting to eliminate birthright citizenship. A New Hampshire district court partially enjoined the EO in July, barring the Administration from enforcing the EO against children born on or after February 20, 2025.

Courts Weigh Trump’s Authority to Fire Independent Agency Leaders

On December 5, the D.C. Circuit held in a 2-1 decision that the President can remove members of the National Labor Relations Board and Merit Systems Protection Board at will. The majority reasoned that these independent agencies exercise executive rather than quasi-legislative or quasi-judicial authority, and Congress therefore cannot restrict the President’s power to fire their members. On December 8th, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in a third removal case, Trump v. Slaughter, which challenges Trump’s firing of a Federal Trade Commissioner. The decision in Slaughter will likely be issued by June 2026 and is expected to overturn decades-old precedent holding that the President can remove independent agency officials only for cause, and instead hold that the President has unlimited power to remove independent and quasi-independent agency officials.

SCOTUS Orders Appeals Court to Reconsider Exemptions to School Vaccine Policies

On December 8, the U.S. Supreme Court directed the Second Circuit to rehear Miller v. McDonald — a case upholding New York’s 2019 decision to eliminate religious exemptions from school vaccine mandates following a severe measles outbreak — in light of Mahmoud v. Taylor, which held that schools must allow parents to opt their children out of curricular activities and materials that conflict with their religious beliefs. The instruction suggests that the Court may be disposed to find that the First Amendment requires states to permit religious exemptions from otherwise-universal vaccine mandates.

Appeals Court Upholds Block on ED's Termination of School Mental Health Grants

On December 4, the Ninth Circuit denied ED’s motion to stay a preliminary injunction that blocks the agency from discontinuing 49 school-based mental health grants in 15 states pending the government’s appeal on the merits of the order. A Washington state district court enjoined the discontinuations in October, finding them to be arbitrary and capricious in violation of the APA and likely to inflict concrete, irreparable harm on the plaintiff states, students, parents, and educators.

DOJ Sues California Over In-State Tuition for Undocumented Students

On November 20, DOJ sued the state of California, claiming that its policy allowing undocumented students to pay in-state tuition at public colleges and universities is preempted by federal immigration laws. This is DOJ’s sixth such challenge: Texas and Oklahoma agreed in consent judgments to end their policies, while cases in Minnesota, Illinois, and Kentucky (where a third-party intervenor is defending the state’s policy) are still pending.

On November 18, the Department of Education (ED) announced six agreements to transfer core statutory responsibilities — and billions of dollars in congressional appropriations — to four other federal agencies. Although only disclosed this week, the agreements were signed and took effect on September 30th. Two of the agreements shift roughly $31 billion in programs to the Employment and Training Administration unit of the Department of Labor, including nearly all Elementary and Secondary Education Act programs (such as Title I-A aid) and many Higher Education Act programs (including HBCU, MSI, and TRIO grants). The other agreements transfer programs from ED’s Office of Indian Education (including ESEA Title VI and impact aid programs) to the Department of the Interior; move childcare access grants and foreign medical school accreditation to the Department of Health and Human Services; and shift postsecondary foreign language programs to the Department of State. For now, no functions have been transferred from the Office for Civil Rights, Federal Student Aid, or the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services.

Signing Bill to End Government Shutdown

On November 12, Trump signed into law the continuing resolution passed by the House and Senate to end the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. The temporary spending plan — which keeps the government open through January 30, 2026 — funds federal education programs at FY 2025 levels. It also rescinds the Administration’s mass RIFs of federal workers (including ED employees) during the shutdown, prohibits further RIFs through the end of January, and affirms the Administration’s obligation under a 2019 law to provide back pay to all federal employees. However, it remains unclear whether all ED employees RIF’d in October have received recall notices, and there are concerns that recalled employees may be placed on administrative leave and not returned to active duty.

Redirecting Higher Education Grant Funds to Trump Priorities

On November 10, the Department of Education (ED) announced a series of new “Special Projects” grants under the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) that will align with Administration priorities around promoting artificial intelligence, “foster[ing] respectful deliberation and debate” on campuses, encouraging colleges and universities to launch new accrediting agencies, and building short-term postsecondary programs. To fund this competition, ED is reallocating nearly all of the $170 million Congress appropriated to fund grants that further the statutory priorities for grantmaking under FIPSE. The decision discontinues seven such grant programs, including a scholarship program for veterans mandated by statute and grants aimed at reducing food and housing insecurity among college students.

Litigation Updates

District Court Finds Partisan Out of Office Emails Unlawful

On November 7, a D.C. district judge granted summary judgment for the American Federation of Government Employees in a case challenging ED’s addition of language to furloughed employees’ out-of-office messages blaming “Democrats” and the “Radical Left” for the government shutdown. The court found that the altered out-of-office messages violated the First Amendment, and entered a permanent injunction requiring the Trump Administration to remove “all partisan political language” from employees’ messages and prohibiting them from including such speech in any future messages.

District Court Blocks Trump’s Threats to Fine and Defund U. California System

On November 14, a California district judge issued a preliminary injunction blocking the Trump Administration from cutting grant funding or imposing fines against the University of California system over the Administration’s allegations of antisemitism and other discrimination. The unions representing UC employees brought the case after the Administration suspended research funding at UCLA and conditioned its restoration on the University agreeing to review its DEI programs, limit student anonymity during protests, and restrict transgender students’ access to bathrooms and sports teams, among other demands. The judge found that the Administration’s actions violated the First and Tenth Amendments, Title VI and Title IX, and the Administrative Procedure Act.

District Court to Decide Whether Teacher Prep Grant Terminations Were Unlawful

On November 13, a Massachusetts district judge allowed a lawsuit brought by eight states challenging ED’s termination of $65 million in teacher preparation grants to move forward. An April shadow docket decision by the U.S. Supreme Court stayed a temporary restraining order blocking the terminations, finding that the district court likely lacked jurisdiction to direct ED to make payments under the grants. Relying on a more recent shadow docket order which held that district courts can hear claims challenging agency guidance that results in grant terminations but not challenges to the terminations themselves, the judge determined that the states’ claims regarding ED’s directives and actions leading to the terminations can proceed, but dismissed their claims seeking to recover under the awards.

November 7, 2025

Litigation Updates

District Court Blocks the Department of Education from Terminating School Mental Health Services Grants

On October 27, a Washington State district judge issued a preliminary injunction blocking the Department of Education (ED) from terminating $1 billion in funding for School-Based Mental Health Services (SBMH) grants in 15 states. The judge held that the Administration’s decision to cancel the grants was likely arbitrary and capricious in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). The judge also noted the concrete and imminent harm of the loss of critical mental health funding to schools, students, staff, parents, teachers, and graduate students hoping to enter various mental health professions. The injunction ensures continued SBMH funding to grantees in all plaintiff states except Nevada, where grant funding was set to expire before the effective date of the terminations.

District Court Blocks the Department of Health and Human Services from Removing “Gender Ideology” from Program Materials

On October 27, an Oregon district judge issued a preliminary injunction preventing the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) from requiring that 16 plaintiff states and D.C. remove all references to gender identity from federally-funded sex education program materials in order for them to remain eligible for grants. The court found that the new condition likely violated the U.S. Constitution’s Spending and Appropriations Clauses and separation of powers principles, the APA, and state and federal civil rights laws. The judge characterized HHS’s claim that the requirement was meant to facilitate “medical accuracy” as “absurd,” “unavailing,” and a pretext for discrimination against transgender and gender nonconforming individuals.

District Court Blocks Trump Administration from Shutdown-Related Layoffs

On October 28, a California district judge issued a preliminary injunction, further blocking the Trump Administration from laying off federal employees amid the ongoing government shutdown. The court found that shutdown-related RIFs at ED and other agencies were arbitrary and capricious, contrary to law, in violation of the APA, and in excess of executive authority. The judge had previously granted a temporary restraining order against the RIFs on similar grounds.

District Court Orders Trump Administration to Fund SNAP During Government Shutdown

On October 31, a district judge in Rhode Island issued a temporary restraining order requiring the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to use contingency funds to support the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) during the government shutdown, finding that the program’s statutes obligate the federal government to do so. That same day, a Massachusetts district judge also found that a coalition of states was likely to succeed on similar claims but held their TRO motion under advisement, directing the Trump Administration to reconsider authorizing at least partial November SNAP benefits. In response, USDA released some, but not all, of the contingency funds and authorized SNAP benefits for this month at reduced levels. The Rhode Island district judge has now ordered the Administration to release full SNAP benefits by November 7.

SCOTUS Allows Trump to End Policy of Self-Identifying Gender on Passports

On November 6, in a 6-3 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) issued a brief, unsigned order permitting the Trump Administration to reverse a Biden policy that allowed transgender passport applicants to choose male, female, or "X" as gender markers and instead restrict sex designations based on sex assigned at birth. In the order, SCOTUS argued that the reversal “no more offends equal protection principles than displaying their country of birth,” as “the Government is merely attesting to a historical fact without subjecting anyone to differential treatment.” The passport case marks the 22nd time that SCOTUS has granted an emergency request filed by the Administration via the shadow docket.

Recent Executive Actions Impacting Education

Narrowing Employer Eligibility for Public Student Loan Forgiveness

On October 31, ED published its final rule that narrows employer eligibility for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program in response to a March executive order. Employers could be disqualified if they engage in a broad range of activities that the Secretary of Education deems to have a “substantial illegal purpose,” such as providing gender-affirming care, running DEI programs, supporting “terrorists,” or assisting undocumented immigrants. Schools and universities are among those at risk of having their eligibility jeopardized. The new rule takes effect on July 1, 2026.

Discontinuing Teacher Pre-Service Training Grants

On November 4, it came to light that the Department of Education recently sent non-continuation notices to 10 universities participating in the Augustus F. Hawkins Centers of Excellence grant program, canceling at least $20 million in funding that those institutions were slated to receive between now and September 2029. The Hawkins Program, authorized under the Higher Education Act of 1965, supports teacher-preparation initiatives at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), and other Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs). ED justified the cancelations by saying that the universities’ grant applications promoted disfavored “DEI activities” that the Administration considers unlawful.

October 24, 2025

Litigation Updates

SCOTUS Term Starting — What's on the Table for Education

The new U.S. Supreme Court term began on October 6. The Court is set to decide cases impacting presidential power, voting rights, and other issues affecting educators and students. These include three cases affecting LGBTQIA+ rights, in which the Court will determine (1) whether banning transgender girls from participating on public school sports teams violates Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause (Hecox v. Little and West Virginia v. B.P.J.) and (2) whether banning conversion therapy for minors violates the First Amendment rights of counselors (Chiles v. Salazar). The Court has declined to hear a case brought by parents challenging a Colorado school district’s policies that allegedly discourage staff from disclosing students’ gender identity or sexual orientation to parents. The Supreme Court is still considering other petitions for certiorari (requests for the high court to hear cases decided by the lower courts), including in two cases where the government is seeking review of decisions by the Ninth Circuit and the District of New Hampshire that found Trump’s executive orders purporting to endbirthright citizenship for children of undocumented immigrants unlawful.

District Judge Declares DODEA Book Ban Unlawful

On October 20, a Virginia district court judge granted a preliminary injunction ordering the Department of Defense (DOD) to return nearly 600 censored books about gender and race back on the shelves of five Department of Defense Education Activity (DODEA) school libraries. The preliminary injunction also prohibits DOD from enforcing Trump's “Ending Radical Indoctrination” EO and related DOD memoranda in the five schools by ordering teachers to cancel lesson plans and events that highlight the experiences of underrepresented groups (such as Black History Month, Women's History Month, and Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month celebrations). NEA and FEA filed an amicus brief in support of the preliminary injunction motion. The Trump Administration is expected to appeal.

Department of Education to Resume Student Loan Forgiveness Following AFT Lawsuit

On October 17, the Department of Education (ED) agreed to resolve a class action lawsuit by the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and individuals with student debt, which argued that ED unlawfully refused to grant eligible student loan borrowers relief under loan forgiveness programs. Under the agreement, ED will resume processing loan cancellation requests from borrowers enrolled in certain Income-Driven Repayment plans and take steps to shield borrowers from looming tax liability associated with having their student loans discharged. On October 23, the court accepted the settlement agreement.

NYC Board of Education Sues ED Over Grant Discontinuations

On October 15, the New York City Board of Education filed a lawsuit challenging ED’s decision to discontinue over $47 million in multiyear grant funding for 19 magnet schools. The decision was based on the Board’s trans-inclusive bathroom and athletics policies, which ED claims violate Title IX. The lawsuit argues that ED did not follow the proper procedures for discontinuing grants under Title IX and ED statutes and regulations, impermissibly adopted a new and incorrect interpretation of Title IX, and acted arbitrarily and capriciously. The Board’s motion for a preliminary injunction is pending.

U.S. Chamber of Commerce Sues Trump Administration Over H-1B Visa Fee

On October 16, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce filed a lawsuit challenging Trump’s Presidential Proclamation that places a $100,000 fee on all new H-1B employment visa applications. The lawsuit alleges that the fee requirement violates the Immigration and Nationality Act.

Recent Executive Actions Impacting Education

Cutting Hundreds of Education Department Staff Amid Government Shutdown

On October 10, amid the ongoing government shutdown, ED sent reduction-in-force (RIF) notices to 465 employees, including staff in statutorily created offices such as the Office for Civil Rights (OCR), the Office of Postsecondary Education, the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, and the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services. The RIFs affect nearly all staff assigned to major formula grant programs, including grants awarded to states under Title I and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), and higher education grant programs that support college access (like GEAR UP and TRIO) and provide institutional aid. Four days later, ED informed 250 OCR employees — who had been laid off as part of an earlier mass RIF, which a federal appeals court recently permitted ED to resume — that they would be fired once again. The combined effect of the OCR RIFs is to eliminate 10 of OCR’s 12 regional offices. In all, ED stands to lose an additional 30% of its remaining staff by the end of the year, leaving it with fewer than 2,000 employees.

Continuing to Pressure Universities to Adopt Administration-Aligned Policies

The October 20 deadline for nine universities to sign the Trump Administration’s “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education” — offering preferential treatment for federal grant selection in exchange for adopting policies that align with the Administration’s views — has passed. No university has signed the agreement, with seven of the nine rejecting the proposal outright. Trump has since extended the offer to sign the Compact to all higher education institutions. Meanwhile, the Administration has continued to extract concessions similar to the Compact’s terms in exchange for settling pending civil rights investigations. For instance, despite rejecting the Compact, the University of Virginia (UVA) entered a settlement with the Department of Justice (DOJ) on October 22 that will pause five pending Title VI investigations into UVA’s DEI programs, admissions policies, and alleged failure to address antisemitism. In return, UVA agreed to comply with a nonbinding DOJ memorandum (which incorrectly claims the use of federal funding for lawful DEI initiatives violates federal civil rights laws) and to “not engage in unlawful racial discrimination in its university programming, admissions, hiring, or other activities.”

October 10, 2025

Recent Executive Actions Impacting Education

Suspending ED Operations and Legal Proceedings Amid Government Shutdown

On October 1, the U.S. government shut down as Congress failed to appropriate funds for the new fiscal year. Consequently, thousands of federal workers have been furloughed, including nearly 2,500 employees at the Department of Education (ED) — or about 87% of ED’s remaining workforce. While many core ED functions remain in operation (including the disbursement of student financial aid and Title I and IDEA funds), civil rights investigations and new grantmaking are on hold. Many of the lawsuits against ED have also been stayed pending appropriations, as most Department of Justice attorneys have been furloughed. Amid the shutdown, the Trump Administration has threatened the mass firing of federal workers and claims that furloughed employees are not entitled to backpay.

Coercing Universities to Accept Education Compact or Risk Losing Federal Benefits

On October 1, the Trump Administration sent letters to nine universities demanding that they enter into a “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education” to, among other things, receive preferential treatment in federal grants and avoid losing access to federal student financial aid and tax-exempt status. The Compact requires institutions to ban race- or sex-based considerations in admissions and hiring; eliminate “buildings, spaces, scholarships, programming, and other university resources” restricted to members of certain racial or ethnic groups; cap international undergraduate enrollment at 15%; and adopt restrictive definitions of gender. It also demands that colleges restrict employee speech on societal and political events, change governance structures to prohibit anything that would “punish, belittle,” or “spark violence against conservative ideas,” and “commit to using lawful force . . . to prevent these violations and to swift, serious, and consistent sanctions for those who commit them.” Today, MIT became the first university to reject the proposed Compact.

Increasing Grant Funding for Civics Programs Promoting a “Patriotic Education”

On September 29, the Department of Education awarded $153 million in new “American history and civics seminars” grants to 85 institutions — more than triple the previous cycle — by shifting millions in appropriated funds for teacher training grants that it terminated last February. The awards align with ED’s proposed priority to preference projects that advance the “American political tradition” (which emphasizes “the influence of Western Civilization” and “the role of faith”) via a “patriotic education” — or one that presents a “unifying, inspiring, and ennobling characterization of the American founding and foundational principles.”

Removing Hotspots and School Bus Wi-Fi from E-Rate Eligibility

On September 30th, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted 2-1 to issue a declaratory ruling removing internet hotspots and school bus Wi-Fi from eligibility for the federal E-Rate program. This decision reverses a Biden-era expansion that allowed schools to receive E- Rate discounts on these services. The E-Rate program has provided billions of dollars in discounts to more than 106,000 schools since 2022, expanding access to broadband products and services for students nationwide.

Litigation Updates

District Judge Affirms that First Amendment Protections Apply to Noncitizens

On September 30, a Massachusetts district court judge ruled that the Trump Administration’s efforts to detain and deport international students, who joined pro-Palestinian protests, violated their constitutional rights. The court affirmed that lawfully present noncitizens are unequivocally entitled to the same First Amendment protections as citizens. The court found that the Departments of State and Homeland Security violated the First Amendment by “deliberately and with purposeful aforethought” coordinating to “intentionally chill the rights to freedom of speech and peacefully to assemble” of the plaintiffs. The court also held that the Administration’s reversal of the agencies’ prior enforcement policy was arbitrary and capricious under the APA.

Appeals Court Allows ED OCR Cuts to Proceed

On September 30, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals permitted ED to proceed with firing half of its Office for Civil Rights (OCR). The ruling came in response to a motion by the Trump Administration for an emergency stay pending appeal of a district court’s preliminary injunction blocking ED from carrying out the RIF. The appeals court said it could not “conclude that this case differs enough” from New York v. McMahon (in which the U.S. Supreme Court blocked a preliminary injunction directing ED to restore all laid-off staff across the agency) to allow the district court’s injunction to take effect.

Federal Union Sues ED Over Partisan Out of Office Messages

On October 3, the American Federation of Government Employees filed suit against ED for altering furloughed employees’ out-of-office email messages without their consent to include partisan language blaming “Democrats” and the “Radical Left” for the government shutdown. Plaintiffs allege that this violates the First Amendment’s prohibition on government-compelled speech as well as the Hatch Act, which prohibits federal employees from engaging in partisan speech while on duty.

Union Coalition Sues Trump Administration Over H-1B Fee

On October 3, a coalition of unions, higher education professionals, and religious organizations filed a lawsuit challenging Trump’s Presidential Proclamation that requires a $100,000 payment for any new H-1B employment visa. Plaintiffs allege the action exceeds executive authority under the Immigration and Nationality Act and violates the APA.

States Sue HHS Over Removal of “Gender Ideology” from Sex Education Materials

On September 26th, 16 states and D.C. filed a lawsuit against the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for demanding that the states remove all references to “gender ideology” from applications for sex education grants, or else risk losing federal funding. Plaintiffs allege that HHS’s actions violate statutory requirements that federally funded sexual health education be “medically accurate and complete,” "culturally appropriate,” and “provided in the appropriate ‘cultural context.’” The complaint raises claims under the APA, the Spending Clause, and separation of powers principles.