U.S. — Attorneys general from 15 states filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration on Friday, seeking to prevent cuts to school-based mental health funding and alleging ongoing noncompliance with a prior court order. The lawsuit involves the U.S. Department of Education and addresses the administration's plan to terminate $1 billion in grants at the end of the month.

The current lawsuit alleges that the Trump administration's plan to terminate the grants defies a December 2025 court order. The U.S. Department of Education had notified grantees in April 2025 that funding would be halted, stating that the programs conflicted with Trump administration priorities. Administration officials also stated the grants were cut due to connections to diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.

A coalition of 17 Democratic state attorneys general previously sued the administration in July 2025. Following that lawsuit, a court ruled in favor of the attorneys general and ordered the administration to stop the grant discontinuation. Despite this, the U.S. Department of Education has since threatened to withhold funding or terminate the grants, prompting this new legal action to address gaps in the previous court order.

The Mental Health Service Professional Demonstration Grant Program, valued at $1 billion, offers grants to school districts for hiring and training mental health professionals. Congress initially allocated $1 billion to this program in 2022, following a school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, which killed 19 students and two teachers. Republican U.S. Senators John Cornyn, Susan Collins, and Thom Tillis publicly supported the funding effort in 2022. The program was created by Congress after the 2018 school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

Within a year of allocation, the grants funded mental and behavioral health services for nearly 775,000 students nationwide and were supporting efforts in 49 states by April 2025. Rhode Island Attorney General Peter F. Neronha stated, "Our children deal with a unique set of problems which arise from growing up in 2026 — from loneliness to substance use disorder to the ever-present fear of violence — and the programs funded through these grants are designed to help them cope and hopefully thrive."

Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell commented on the ongoing legal challenges in a public statement. Campbell said, "The courts have repeatedly ruled that the Trump Administration does not have the power to arbitrarily revoke grant funding that provides critical mental health services to our students." She also stated, "Still, the federal government continues its attempts to terminate funding." The attorneys general participating in the lawsuit are from California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, and Wisconsin.

Why It Matters

This lawsuit represents a continued legal challenge to the Trump administration's efforts to end a $1 billion school-based mental health grant program. The program, established after school shootings in 2018 and funded in 2022 after another incident, aims to provide mental health support to students across the United States. A previous court order in December 2025 mandated the administration to cease discontinuation of the grants, a ruling the current lawsuit alleges the administration has not fully adhered to. The outcome of this legal action will determine the continuation of mental health professional funding in schools across 49 states, impacting nearly 775,000 students.