Pennsylvania AG “will not micromanage the federal government” amid Trump lawsuits

(WHTM) — Another day, another lawsuit against the Trump Administration. This one challenged his ability to lay off half of the U.S. Department of Education.

Attorneys General from across the country signed on. Pennsylvania did not. Why not? And what does Governor Josh Shapiro think of the cuts?

“I don’t think the gutting of the Department of Education should be a Democratic or Republican issue,” Deborah Klehr, executive director of the Education Law Center, said.

But, a 53-page lawsuit is from Democratic Attorneys General from 20 states and the District of Columbia saying layoffs are “so severe and extreme that it incapacitates components of the
Department responsible for performing functions mandated by statute, effectively nullifying those mandates.”

“I can say that no president can unilaterally eliminate the Department of Education,” Klehr said.

She says the Civil Rights Division was hardest hit.

“I think as an attempt to eliminate the ability to enforce civil rights laws, then that department is charged with upholding,” Klehr said.

The Trump team calls the cuts “strategic” and says that they “will not directly impact students and families.”

“I’m extremely concerned. You know, public education is the great equalizer in American society,” Dan Ackelsberg with the Public Interest Law Center said. The center successfully argued for more equitable funding in Pennsylvania schools.

He worries about civil rights protections for minority kids or students with disabilities.

“What it means is that the biggest cop is no longer on the beat effectively,” Ackelsberg said.

Pennsylvania’s Republican Attorney General Dave Sunday said he wasn’t invited to join the suit, which was prepared by Democrats, and didn’t know of it until media reports.

But, he likely wouldn’t have anyway, adding, “We will not micromanage the federal government, and I will not have news-making commentary in response to happenings in D.C. This decision, and all decisions in D.C., will be enacted, or not, through a legislative and legal process.”

Shapiro wouldn’t comment on whether Sunday should sue or whether he will sue as he did with frozen funds, but he made two noteworthy comments.

“First off, if you are a federal worker and you’ve been laid off, we’re hiring,” Shapiro said. “We’re going to do everything we can to try and make sure that our school districts aren’t hurt.”

“Public education is not a partisan issue,” Ackelsberg said. “It is supported by people of all stripes in all corners of the Commonwealth, rural, urban and suburban.”