Legal Actions

Three anonymous law students have sued the Trump administration to challenge steps that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has taken to investigate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) hiring practices at major law firms. The plaintiffs contend that the EEOC's extensive requests for sensitive personal data of applicants and attorneys at major law firms exceeds the agency’s statutory authority and violates Title VII. According to the complaint, Title VII permits the EEOC to initiate investigations only in response to a written complaint from an employee, and the plaintiffs argue that no such complaint accompanied the EEOC’s March 2025 data requests. Plaintiffs seek declaratory and injunctive relief.

Academic organizations have sued the Trump administration for cutting federal funding for critical research. Specifically, on April 11, 2025, the Department of Energy (DOE) announced that it would cut the Facilities and Administrative rate, or the indirect costs rate, to 15 percent for all DOE research grants to colleges and universities. The plaintiffs argue that this action violates the Administrative Procedure Act and other federal statutes and regulations. The plaintiffs seek vacatur of the Rate Cap Policy and an injunction prohibiting the defendants from implementing the Rate Cap Policy.

A group of educational organizations, including researchers, data scientists, and school staff, has sued the Trump administration for dismantling the Institute of Education Sciences (IES). IES was established under the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 to produce and disseminate education research for parents, educators, and policymakers about education in America. The plaintiffs argue that the administration has unlawfully terminated congressionally-mandated IES funds, in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act and the separation of powers.

Sixteen states and the District of Columbia have sued the Trump administration for ending access to grants from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) that the states use to support low-income and unhoused students. The Department of Education had previously determined that states could access these grants through March 2026. The plaintiffs argue that the administration's rescission of these funds violates the Administrative Procedure Act.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) has sued the Trump administration for removing information on how the Office of Management and Budget directs agencies to spend taxpayer money, which the agency is required by law to post. CREW argues that removing this information violates the Consolidated Appropriations Acts of 2022 and 2023, and seeks vacatur of the removal.

Plaintiffs, the Association for Education Finance and Policy (AEFP) and the Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP), filed suit against the U.S. Department of Education and Secretary of Education Linda McMahon. They challenge the Department’s termination of six core research and data programs within the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), including multiple longitudinal studies, the peer review grant program, and the processing of restricted-use data applications. Plaintiffs allege these actions are unlawful under the Education Sciences Reform Act and violate the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) as arbitrary, capricious, and contrary to law, depriving researchers and the public of congressionally mandated education data and research opportunities. They seek declaratory and injunctive relief to compel reinstatement of the terminated programs, resume grant and data access processes, and prevent further unlawful disruption of IES’s statutory functions.

Education nonprofits have sued the Trump administration for unlawfully dismantling the Institute of Education Sciences (IES). IES was established under the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 to produce and disseminate education research for parents, educators, and policymakers about education in America. Specifically, the lawsuit challenges the termination of six IES studies, grant programs, and processes. The plaintiffs argue that these IES research grants are congressionally-mandated, and that the administration's actions violate the Administrative Procedure Act.

A coalition of medical researchers, unions, and professional associations have filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration's elimination of funding for medical research projects. In January 2025, President Trump issued three executive orders that eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs throughout the federal government (EO 14151), remove legal recognition for transgender people (EO 14168), and order the removal of DEI programs in all institutions that receive federal funding (EO 14173). Consequently, funding for hundreds of National Institutes of Health (NIH) research projects related to underserved communities and transgender people have been abruptly cancelled. The plaintiffs argue that the termination of NIH funding violates the Administrative Procedure Act, federal regulations, the Public Health Service Act, the Fifth Amendment, and the separation powers. The plaintiffs request that the court order the defendants to restore NIH funding. On May 22, 2025, the Motion for Preliminary Injunction was collapsed with trial on the merits in accordance with Rule 65(a).