Tong joins AGs promoting equal access to education
As part of a coalition of 19 attorneys general, Connecticut AG William Tong filed a lawsuit challenging the U.S. Department of Education’s threat to withhold federal funding from state and local agencies that refuse to abandon lawful programs and policies that promote equal access to education in K-12 classrooms across the nation.
On April 3, 2025, the Department of Education informed state and local agencies that they must accept the Trump Administration’s new and legally incoherent interpretation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with respect to diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts — or else risk immediate and catastrophic loss of federal education funds.
Connecticut, like many other states, refused to certify its compliance with these new requirements, explaining that there is no lawful or practical way to do so given the Department’s vague, contradictory, and unsupported interpretation of Title VI. In filing today’s lawsuit, Attorney General Tong and the coalition seek to bar the Department from withholding any funding based on these unlawful conditions.
Connecticut responded to the U.S. Department of Education on April 16, affirming that Connecticut “already does and will continue to comply with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.”
“There is just no question that Connecticut schools have and will continue to comply with federal civil rights laws. From the start, this has been about Trump and Linda McMahon trying to force their MAGA ideology on Connecticut students and teachers by unlawfully withholding our taxpayer dollars. This is illegal and deeply destructive, and we’re not going to let Trump and McMahon rob from our schools and imperil our children’s futures,” said Tong.
Also working with other AGs, Tong led a coalition of 20 states filing an amicus brief supporting an injunction to block erratic and unlawful layoffs and mismanagement at the Social Security Administration by acting administrator Leland Dudek and the Department of Government Efficiency that jeopardize continued payments for millions of Americans.
The brief supports the plaintiffs in American Association of People with Disabilities v. Dudek and was filed Tuesday in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.
“Do not mess with Social Security. Period,” said Tong. “This is not some tech start-up for hacker bros to play with. This is our country’s most fundamental economic lifeline, and without it, millions and millions of Americans will go hungry and homeless. The courts must step in now to block Elon Musk and his band of wannabee stormtroopers from dismantling Social Security before it is too late.”