Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul has once again joined a coalition of other attorneys general in suing the Trump administration, this time for blocking education funding as the school year is set to begin across the country.
The suit, announced Monday, seeks to release state education funds that pay for after-school and summer programming at Boys & Girls Clubs, the YMCA or public schools attended by 1.4 million children and teenagers nationwide. The 25 attorneys general say the move is unconstitutional and violates multiple federal statutes.
The attorneys general said an expected $219 million in federal education funding could be frozen. Generally, states receive about a quarter of this by July 1 to prepare for the start of the academic year, though Illinois and other states received notice this year that the funds wouldn’t be disbursed.
Congress set aside money for the programs to provide academic support, enrichment and child care to mostly low-income families. But the Trump administration recently froze the funding, saying it wants to ensure programs align with the Republican president’s priorities.
“With the start of the school year only a month away for many Illinois students, the Trump administration’s illegal funding freeze is wreaking havoc on school budgets, suspending programs and causing stress and anxiety for families who depend on them,” Raoul said. “I will continue to stand with other attorneys general against the president’s unlawful and arbitrary actions that threaten the separation of powers as well as the rule of law.”
The Department of Education did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Also part of the suit are Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin, as well as the governors of Kentucky and Pennsylvania.
It’s a coalition of attorneys general slightly larger than the 19 Raoul has routinely joined in more than 20 other cases, including for suits over triggers that can make semiautomatic rifles fire faster, attempts to change election law, and cuts to public health and medical research funding, and federal access to immigrant Medicaid data, among others.
Contributing: AP