The Trump administration did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Thursday’s move was made in concert with the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, Wisconsin, Vermont and the District of Columbia.
“President Trump is not a king, and he cannot unilaterally decide to close a cabinet agency,” said Matthew J. Platkin, New Jersey’s attorney general. “We are taking the Trump administration to court again to prevent the Trump administration from inflicting grave harm on our state’s schools, and especially our special-needs students.”
The suit is the most recent legal challenge to Mr. Trump’s fast-moving agenda. At the core of his goals has been a push to slash jobs, programs and funding across the government. To lead the push, Mr. Trump appointed Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, to run a program called the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. Staffed by Mr. Musk’s young aides, DOGE has bulldozed through federal agencies.
In its 52 days, the Trump administration has dealt crippling blows to several departments, including the Internal Revenue Service, the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Department of Veterans Affairs. Layoffs have also left thousands of federal workers unemployed and looking for employment in a sluggish job market.
