Linda McMahon testifies during her Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee confirmation hearing on Feb. 13, 2025. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
The department did not immediately give a reason for the pause.
Speaking to reporters on a call on Monday, Democratic attorneys general from California, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Colorado highlighted the myriad ways in which the education freeze has injected chaos and uncertainty into public schools nationwide – keeping on ice important budget decisions for public school educators, at a time when they should be focused on hiring staff and getting ready for the year ahead.
Bonta argued the freeze has already been a "devastating blow" to state learning programs, including some migrant education centers and tutoring and adult literacy programs.
"It's unconscionable, unlawful, and can't go unchecked, and it won't," he said.
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The Department of Education building in Washington, Nov. 18, 2024. (Jose Luis Magana/AP)
This lawsuit comes as Democratic-led states have filed a flurry of others aimed at blunting Trump's executive orders and actions in the first six months of his second term.
To date, the Democratic attorneys general have filed 31 lawsuits against the Trump administration in the 25 weeks since he took office, as Bonta said on Monday. Eight lawsuits have been focused on cuts to education programs.
On Monday, Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha likened the abrupt freeze on public education funding to a popular children's cartoon.
"It is impossible for states to effectively budget for an upcoming school year through their Departments of Education and through our Departments of Education to our local communities, when the president takes the football away from us like Lucy in a Charlie Brown cartoon," Neronha said.
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"So when this happens, as it's happened before, we're going to bring actions, and frankly, we're going to win."
Breanne Deppisch is a national politics reporter for Fox News Digital covering the Trump administration, with a focus on the Justice Department, FBI, and other national news.
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https://www.foxnews.com/politics/democrat-ags-sue-trump-6-8b-freeze-k-12-spending