Gov. Shapiro sues Trump administration over $185 million in revoked school funding

Gov. Josh Shapiro said Thursday that Pennsylvania has joined 15 states in suing the Trump administration over federal funding abruptly revoked from schools.

The announcement came nearly two weeks after the U.S. Department of Education informed states that had previously been granted extensions to spend COVID relief money that the federal government would not reimburse them. In Pennsylvania, schools are owed a total of $185 million — including money designated for student mental health resources, internet access, and HVAC installation, according to the Shapiro administration.

The litigation marked the third time that Shapiro has sued the Trump administration since the president took office in January, suggesting that litigation will continue to play a key role in his opposition to the Republican administration.

Despite Shapiro seeming to be on the offensive, he stayed quiet about the canceled funding until joining the lawsuit Thursday. Meanwhile, other Democratic governors, including New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, had been sounding the alarm for more than a week over the lost COVID relief funds, demonstrating that as a swing state governor with national political ambitions, Shapiro is taking a more reserved approach.

“Congress and the federal government made a commitment to our students, and school districts across Pennsylvania started construction to make schools safer, delivered supplies to students, and invested to create more opportunity for our kids based on that commitment,” Shapiro said in a statement announcing the lawsuit. “Now the Trump administration is trying to renege on its commitments to our kids and leave Pennsylvania taxpayers holding the bag.”

» READ MORE: Pa. tells schools they don’t need to make changes amid Trump’s DEI funding threats

While the federal relief money was originally available to states through September 2024 — intended to combat the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic — state education agencies were able to ask for more time to spend it. Earlier this year, federal officials extended Pennsylvania’s deadline for spending the money until March 2026.

On March 28, U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon notified states at 5:03 p.m. that as of 5 p.m. that day, the department had rescinded those extensions.

The notification “triggered chaos” for state education agencies and school districts, according to the lawsuit filed Thursday in a New York federal court by officials from Pennsylvania and 15 other states, as well as the District of Columbia. The states estimate they are still owed more than $1 billion in federal funds, including $85 million still due to New Jersey, Murphy said.

The Reading School District in Pennsylvania, for instance, was granted more than $20 million to install new HVAC systems in three middle schools and make building repairs at seven schools, according to the Shapiro administration. The district, which is in the middle of those projects, is “relying on the money that is owed to them by the federal government,” the administration said.

In total, 116 Pennsylvania school districts, charter schools, intermediate units, and career and technical centers are affected by the federal government’s decision, as well as the Pennsylvania Department of Education, according to the administration.

In Philadelphia and its collar counties, 37 districts, schools and intermediate units stand to lose funding. The School District of Philadelphia, for example, has more than $6 million at stake.

In a letter to school administrators Thursday, Pennsylvania’s acting secretary of education, Carrie Rowe, said her department would be contacting affected schools to help determine their eligibility for a possible project-specific extension from the U.S. Education Department.

However, “given the uncertainty created by the USDE’s reversal,” schools “should consider immediately pausing or terminating any work or contracts” associated with pandemic relief funding that has not yet been reimbursed, Rowe said.

While McMahon’s letter said the grants must be rescinded because the pandemic had ended, the lawsuit says that wasn’t legal. States were granted extensions in spending the money, well after the pandemic’s end was declared on May 11, 2023.

And McMahon’s decision “assumes, with no legal or factual support, that all appropriations in COVID-19 related laws were only intended for use during the declared public health emergency,” rather than the ongoing effects, the lawsuit says.

Shapiro, who frequently sued the federal government during Trump’s first term when he was state attorney general, has joined two multistate legal battles in his capacity as governor against Trump, including Thursday’s suit. He’s also filed one lawsuit on his own against $2.1 billion in congressionally approved federal funds for environmental and energy projects that is still pending in federal court.

Shapiro has vowed to both work with the Trump administration when it is in the best interest for Pennsylvanians, as well as challenge it when necessary. Recently, though, Shapiro has been challenging the president administration more than working with him; he has been vocal against Trump’s tariffs, asked the U.S. Department of Agriculture to reconsider its cuts to a program benefitting farmers and school students, and criticized Trump’s threats to cut funding for the state’s neediest students over school diversity, equity, and inclusion practices.

While most states involved in Thursday’s suit, including New Jersey, are represented by their state attorneys general, Pennsylvania’s Republican Attorney General Dave Sunday has said previously he is unlikely to ever sue the Trump administration. So Shapiro has chosen to step over him and sue, as state law allows, in his capacity as Pennsylvania governor.

A spokesperson for Sunday could not immediately be reached for comment. Sunday has largely said he wants to focus on the core public safety mission of the State Attorney General’s Office, rather than the daily happenings in Washington. Republican attorneys general also typically don’t join lawsuits brought by their Democratic counterparts, and vice versa.