DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE NEWS RELEASE
A federal judge has granted full summary judgment in a lawsuit filed by New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez and 15 other attorneys general, ordering the U.S. Department of Education to unwind its unlawful cancellation of school mental health grants. The ruling restores critical funding for K–12 schools secured through the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, landmark legislation spearheaded by U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich, and ensures that more than 5,000 New Mexico students—including those in rural districts like Silver Consolidated Schools—will again have access to school-based mental health professionals.
“From the beginning, our office has been deeply involved in this fight to protect mental health services for New Mexico students,” said Attorney General Raúl Torrez. “We didn’t just join this case—we led an amicus brief, that included eight other states, supporting Silver Consolidated School District when they took action to defend their students, and we worked hand-in-hand with Senator Heinrich and attorneys general from across the country to see this through. No one—regardless of politics—wants to deny our kids access to the mental health support they need to learn, grow, and thrive.”
“This ruling is a major victory for New Mexico students and families, and it restores funding that never should have been taken away in the first place. School-based mental health services are essential to helping our kids learn, stay safe, and succeed. And now this funding from my Bipartisan Safer Communities Act will once again ensure students have access to the mental health support they need to thrive,” said Senator Martin Heinrich. “We will continue to hold this administration accountable and fight to make sure every dollar promised to our schools is delivered. Anything less is unacceptable.”
In 2022, following the tragic school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, Congress came together with overwhelming bipartisan support to pass the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. The legislation invested $1 billion to expand access to school-based mental health services, aiming to place up to 14,000 mental health professionals in high-need and rural schools nationwide. Early results underscored the importance of that investment: according to the National Association of School Psychologists, participating schools experienced a 50 percent reduction in suicide risk, improved attendance, and stronger engagement between students and staff.
To carry out this mandate, the U.S. Department of Education awarded multi-year grants with five-year project periods, subject to annual continuation decisions based on grantee performance, as required by federal regulations.
That framework was upended on April 29, when the Department of Education abruptly sent boilerplate notices to grantees announcing that their grants would be discontinued—not due to performance issues, but because the program no longer aligned with the Trump administration’s priorities. On June 30, a coalition of states filed suit, arguing that the department’s actions were arbitrary and capricious and violated the Administrative Procedure Act.
The states prevailed. U.S. District Court Judge Kymberly Evanson of the Western District of Washington granted the states’ motion for summary judgment, agreeing that the department acted unlawfully. In her ruling, Judge Evanson ordered the parties to confer and establish a timeline for the department to make lawful continuation decisions consistent with federal regulations.
“Nothing in the existing regulatory scheme comports with the Department’s view that multi-year grants may be discontinued whenever the political will to do so arises,” Judge Evanson wrote.
The ruling follows earlier court action in the case. In October, Judge Evanson issued a preliminary injunction blocking the grant terminations, and on December 2, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the Department of Education’s request for a stay, finding the department failed to show the district court lacked jurisdiction.
The lawsuit was led by Washington Attorney General Nick Brown and joined by New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez, along with the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin.