This week, the U.S. Department of Education fired half of its staff. President Donald Trump has called to shut down the department saying education should be returned to the states. Newly confirmed Secretary Linda McMahon is tasked with stripping the department down.

A new lawsuit from Democratic attorneys general in 20 states and the District of Columbia alleges this week’s mass layoffs at the Department of Education are gutting the agency as a way to implement an unlawful plan by President Donald Trump to dismantle the department.

President Donald Trump announced recently that roughly half of the Education Department's staff was being cut, amid his contentious plans to axe the department altogether.

The Department of Education cut nearly half its civil rights investigators, which experts say could have a major impact on children with special needs.

The move comes as part of broader effort articulated by President Donald Trump and Education Secretary Linda McMahon to get rid of the Education Department altogether. Though many associate the agency — and the fights over it — with K-12 schools,