Organizations representing scholars and researchers are asking a federal judge to order the reinstatement of canceled contracts and laid-off employees at the U.S. Department of Education’s data-gathering and research arm, arguing that the cuts have “functionally eliminated” a congressionally mandated office.
The lawsuit, filed on Friday in federal court in Washington, is yet another challenging a massive reduction in force at the Education Department that has touched virtually every office and sliced staffing in half as part of President Donald Trump’s goal to abolish the agency. It also challenges the abrupt termination of scores of contracts that preceded the staff cuts.
This suit, brought by the Association for Education Finance and Policy and the Institute for Higher Education Policy, is the first to seek the restoration of the Institute of Education Sciences, the department office formed in 2002 that’s charged with compiling statistics on the nation’s schools and universities; funding education research and surveys; and disseminating the findings to the education field, researchers, and policymakers. The office, which relies on contractors for much of its work, is best known for administering the National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP.
The institute has historically enjoyed bipartisan support but has been in the crosshairs of Trump’s administration since nearly the start of the Republican’s second term. Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency cut roughly dozens of IES’ contracts in February. In March, a departmentwide reduction in force took the office from more than 160 employees to just about 20. Some of IES’ divisions lost all their employees in the layoffs, and the National Center for Education Statistics—which is responsible for NAEP—is down to three.
“The [reduction in force] has made it impossible for IES to perform its multiple statutory tasks,” the complaint states. “IES has been functionally eliminated.”
The lawsuit names Education Secretary Linda McMahon and the Education Department as defendants. The department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The groups argue that members of their associations and organizations cannot complete their work due to the cuts, and are asking the court to order McMahon and the department to restore the terminated contracts and staff.
The plaintiffs argue that the reduction in force and contract cancellations overstep the Trump administration’s executive authority. Congress established the institute and its core responsibilities by statute, so the president and his administration cannot legally cut them without congressional approval, the lawsuit argues.
In addition to keeping the Institute of Education Sciences from meeting its legal responsibilities, the lawsuit says, the reductions have also cut off researchers’ access to key data. The department is terminating researchers’ licenses to restricted data on June 1, the lawsuit says, and researchers had to delete any confidential information they’d collected during their research when the Trump administration canceled their contracts.
The canceled contracts have led to several members of the organizations leading the lawsuit to lose their jobs and have their research funding terminated. Those who still have grants have been unable to contact IES staff for necessary approvals and assistance, according to the complaint.
Department layoffs have left only three staff members to oversee the remaining contracts, or recompete canceled contracts, making it “impossible” for them to carry out statutorily mandated tasks, according to the complaint.
There are no alternatives for IES’ data collection and studies, and nationally representative surveys can’t be reproduced at the state level, the complaint argues.
One of the organizations on the lawsuit, the Association for Education Finance and Policy, also has appealed for congressional intervention to reverse these cuts. The group was among 12 research associations to sign a March letter asking congressional leaders to intervene.
“Congress has recognized that good national research is necessary to achieve positive educational outcomes, and created IES to make sure that research happens and is shared,” Adam Pulver, an attorney with Public Citizen and lead attorney on this case, said in a news release. “Secretary McMahon has no authority to override Congress.”
