In their 31st lawsuit against the Trump administration, a coalition of Democratic attorneys general is suing the Education Department and Education Secretary Linda McMahon to unfreeze $6.8 billion in federal funding.

Filed in a U.S. District Court in Rhode Island on Monday, the lawsuit alleges the Trump administration unlawfully and arbitrarily froze congressionally approved grants that are owed to states across the country.

What You Need To Know

  • a coalition of Democratic attorneys general is suing the Education Department and Education Secretary Linda McMahon to unfreeze $6.8 billion in federal funding

  • It's the 31st lawsuit the coalition of attorneys general have filed against the Trump administration

  • The group said the Trump administration has unlawfully and arbitrarily frozen the funding for after-school, adult education, workforce development and other programs

  • The funds were supposed to be made available to schools July 1

“It was a very simple, easy decision to bring this lawsuit,” Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha said at a news conference announcing the case. “Plainly, the president has again broken the law. We’ve seen this story before where the president ignores the principal power of Congress, the power that schoolchildren all across America learned and are learning today, the power of the purse.”

At issue is $6.8 billion in funding Congress approved to fund after-school, adult education and workforce development programs and to teach English, provide educational technology in classrooms and improve school conditions.

Each year, about 25% of the funds for such programs are made available to states around July 1 so state and local education departments can plan their budgets for the upcoming academic year.

On June 30, the lawsuit said, state agencies across the country instead received a notification that the Education Department would not send the money.

The Education Department did not immediately respond Monday to a request for comment about the lawsuit.

“It is impossible for states to effectively budget for an upcoming school year through their departments of Education to our local communities when the president takes a football away from us,” Neronha said.

The lawsuit is requesting an injunction to free up the funds.

“This is not a case where we would wait to try to see success down the road,” Neronha said. “It’s incredibly important that we get a resolve quickly. The school year is upon us, and this is impacting summer programs as well.”

Neronha co-led the lawsuit with the attorneys general of California, Colorado and Massachusetts. The attorneys general of Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin are also part of the lawsuit along with the governors of Kentucky and Pennsylvania.