Democratic attorneys general in Washington, D.C., and 20 states sued Thursday over the Trump administration’s efforts to lay off nearly half of the Education Department workforce. 

Earlier this week, more than 1,300 staffers received notification they are being let go, which comes on the heels of hundreds at the department already being placed on leave or taking a buyout. The department had more than 4,000 employees at the start of President Trump’s second term. 

“This massive reduction in force (RIF) is equivalent to incapacitating key, statutorily-mandated functions of the Department, causing immense damage to Plaintiff States and their educational systems,” the lawsuit states, an assertion department officials have rejected.

The attorneys general emphasized that Trump and Education Secretary Linda McMahon have “plainly and repeatedly stated” a desire to eliminate the Education Department, insisting the recent layoffs are part of a broader, illegal plan. Trump has held firm that he believes states should run education, not the federal government.

“This massive RIF is not supported by any actual reasoning or specific determinations about how to eliminate purported waste in the Department—rather, the RIF is part and parcel of President Trump’s and Secretary McMahon’s opposition to the Department of Education’s entire existence,” the lawsuit states. 

Filed in federal court in Massachusetts, the suit claims the plan usurps Congress’s authority and violates the Administrative Procedure Act because it is contrary to law and arbitrary and capricious.

“President Trump was elected with a mandate from the American public to return education authority to the states. The Department of Education’s reduction in force (RIF) was implemented carefully and in compliance with all applicable regulations and laws. They are strategic, internal-facing cuts that will not directly impact students and families,” Madi Biedermann, the department’s deputy assistant secretary for communications, said in a statement.

Though the lawsuit is the first to specifically challenge the Education Department’s recent reductions, it adds to a growing number of legal challenges to the Trump administration’s efforts to rapidly shape the federal bureaucracy. 

Multiple cases are proceeding challenging the administration’s efforts to mass terminate federal employees still in their probationary period, including one that is set for an evidentiary hearing in San Francisco later Thursday. 

The Education Department also faces existing lawsuits over its warning to schools they could lose federal funding if they persist with diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. And last week, a group of eight Democratic state attorneys general sued over the department freezing some of its grant payments.

— Updated at 12:21 p.m. EDT