Public officials in 16 states and the District of Columbia are suing the Trump administration to restore access to federal pandemic relief funding for schools. A coalition led by New York Attorney General Letitia James says the Education Department’s decision to abruptly halt hundreds of millions of dollars of promised aid will force cuts to vital services. The lawsuit was filed Thursday in federal court in Manhattan by 16 Democratic attorneys general and the governor of Pennsylvania. It claims the Trump administration’s action violates federal law because it reversed a prior decision to allow states to access the money through March 2026.