Attorney General Ford Wins Court Order Restoring Critical Education Funds to States

Carson City, NV — Today, Nevada Attorney General Aaron D. Ford secured a court order forcing the Trump administration to restore states’ access to critical Department of Education (DOE) programs that support low-income and unhoused students and provide funding for other services to address the long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on K-12 students.

"The unlawful cuts the Trump administration has tried to impose on the DOE would be devastating to Nevada’s children,” said AG Ford. “I am thrilled that the courts have agreed and frozen these cuts as our case continues. While we fight against this unlawful action, our children will not be kept from the resources they need.”

On April 10, AG Ford joined a coalition of 15 other attorneys general and the Governor of Pennsylvania in suing the Trump administration for unilaterally ending access to over $1 billion in grants from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), which the DOE had previously determined the states could access through March 2026. The preliminary injunction issued today by Judge Edgardo Ramos of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York orders the EOD to immediately restore states’ access to these critical funds as the case continues.

To combat the long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, ARPA funded three education-related programs to help support states’ school systems and direct more resources to the most vulnerable students. These three programs — Homeless Children and Youth (HCY), Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) and Emergency Assistance to Nonpublic Schools (EANS) — provide essential resources to help schools and students recover from the lasting impacts of the pandemic.

AG Ford and the coalition asserted that the DOE’s arbitrary and abrupt termination of the states’ access to these funds is causing a massive, unexpected budget gap that will hurt students and teachers by cutting off vital education services.
 
Judge Ramos today granted the states’ motion for a preliminary injunction barring ED from blocking states’ access to ARPA funding. The preliminary injunction order issued today prevents the DOE from enforcing a March 28, 2025 letter from Education Secretary Linda McMahon rescinding states’ ability to access their awarded ARPA funding.

Joining AG Ford this lawsuit are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon and the District of Columbia, along with the Governor of Pennsylvania.

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