Montana Backs Trump in Legal Showdown Over Education Bureaucracy

HELENA — Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen is leading a 21-state coalition backing President Donald J. Trump’s effort to reduce the size of the U.S. Department of Education, defending the nearly 50 percent workforce cut as a constitutional and commonsense step to restore education authority to the states.

The coalition filed an amicus brief Monday in State of New York v. Secretary Linda McMahon, countering a lawsuit brought by 21 Democrat-led states seeking to block the reduction in force (RIF). The lawsuit argues the cuts will harm state access to federal guidance, but the amicus brief says the President’s Article II powers clearly authorize workforce changes within the Executive Branch.

“Article II provides the President with broad authority to manage the federal workforce. The Founders confirmed this authority, and the courts have recognized it for more than two centuries except in limited circumstances not relevant here,” Attorney General Knudsen wrote. “Restricting the President’s ability to place administrative employees on leave or implement reductions in force will cripple both the President and the ability to ensure good government.”

The brief also highlights what it calls the plaintiffs’ “selective reliance” on federal guidance—particularly regarding Title IX enforcement. Earlier this year, the Trump administration reaffirmed that women and girls must be guaranteed fair athletic opportunities, issuing updated Title IX guidance that biological males may not compete in female sports categories in Executive Order 14201 Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports. Despite this directive, several of the states now suing the administration have refused to comply with the policy, while simultaneously claiming they rely on such guidance.

“Plaintiffs cannot demand reinstatement of employees to provide ‘essential’ guidance upon which they claim to rely, while they are rejecting the essential guidance that is provided,” the brief states.

The push to decentralize federal education authority comes amid broader concerns that national bureaucracies have, in recent years, imposed sweeping mandates on local schools—including during the COVID-19 pandemic, when compliance with federal health policies was often tied to funding eligibility. Supporters of the Trump administration’s reform argue that returning power to states protects against this kind of federal overreach in the future.

The brief also warns of judicial overreach, urging the court to avoid intruding on the President’s long-recognized power to manage the federal workforce. “Liberty is always at stake when one or more of the branches seek to transgress the separation of powers,” the states argue, framing the case as a constitutional test of executive authority.

Additionally, the brief challenges the legal standing of the plaintiffs themselves. Under the Civil Service Reform Act, personnel disputes must go through a defined administrative process—not the courts. The attorneys general argue that the states are improperly attempting to bypass those procedures on behalf of federal employees.

Finally, the states cite catastrophic academic outcomes under the existing federal system as evidence of the need for structural reform. The brief points to recent data showing that some major city schools had zero students test proficient in math, calling the results “educational homicide.” “America and its children deserve better,” the brief states, asserting that decentralization could allow successful state-led reforms to flourish.

In addition to Montana, the brief was joined by attorneys general from Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and West Virginia.