Since January 2025, the Trump administration has issued a series of executive actions aimed at reshaping federal education policy, including orders to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education and withhold federal funding from institutions that support DEI or transgender students' rights.
Many of these orders have been challenged in court, leading to preliminary injunctions and a fast-changing policy landscape. To help state and local education leaders, Rachel M. Perera and colleagues at UC Law San Francisco’s Center for Racial and Economic Justice developed a litigation tracker and policy brief summarizing key executive actions and legal developments as of September 1, 2025.
About the Brown Center on Education Policy at Brookings
The Brown Center on Education Policy produces and promotes high-quality, independent research to inform education policy and practice in the United States. Our experts use the best tools available from the social sciences to bring data-based evidence to bear on education policy discussions.
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