Amid fears of pending California education cuts, top Trump official says state is ‘at risk'

Los Angeles Times

a day ago

As concerns heighten among officials and educators about possible pending federal funding cuts to California, U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said Tuesday that the state is at risk, but did not elaborate on when a decision would be made or what the cuts could be.
McMahon, in a videotaped interview with Bloomberg, was responding to a question about the possible termination of grant funding to California public universities by referencing issues related to Title IX, which prohibits discrimination based on gender.
President Trump has repeatedly threatened to withhold unspecified federal funding from California because it allows transgender athletes to compete with cisgender athletes in girls' and women's sporting events.
'Well in California I think we saw pretty flagrant violations of Title IX,' McMahon said, 'and that is why this ... focus ... was put on them.... We have, you know, men participating in women's sports, which is clearly against Title IX, and the president has made it very clear that he is definitely going to uphold Title IX.'
If the Trump administration did not 'address' violations 'as they occur then it's sort of by acquiescence that it's OK to continue and it's not,' she said.
The remarks were made during a Bloomberg event in which McMahon addressed a variety of topics, including the mass Education Department layoffs under her leadership — halted by federal courts and appealed to the Supreme Court — and an ongoing battle with Harvard University. Trump has stripped billions of dollars from Harvard and tried to ban foreign-born students and the university has launched multiple lawsuits in response.
Reports, including one Friday by CNN, have emerged in recent days that the Trump administration is preparing to withhold wide swaths of federal funding from the Golden State's universities, scientific researchers and K-12 schools.
The California State University and University of California systems already face hundreds of millions of dollars in grant cuts from multiple federal agencies, including the Education and Health and Human Services departments. These cuts too are the subject of litigation, and some have been put on hold by the courts.
The possibility of further cuts have alarmed some California legislators. In a letter sent Friday to the administration, Rep. Dave Min (D-Irvine) called talk of cuts 'targeted political vengeance' and said 'any significant move to cut federal funding to California would be outrageous, illegal and set a dangerous precedent. It would also have devastating impacts for our residents, whether they are Democrats, Republicans or independents.'
He also raised a constitutional issue.
'Your withholding of funds that have been appropriated would constitute a direct attack on the separation of powers that is at the heart of our democratic republic,' Min wrote.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request Tuesday related to McMahon's remarks, but in a statement Friday said that 'no final decisions' had been made on funding cuts.
'No taxpayer should be forced to fund the demise of our country, and that's what California is doing through its lunatic anti-energy, soft-on-crime, pro-child mutilation, and pro-sanctuary policies. The Trump administration is committed to ending this nightmare and restoring the California Dream,' the statement said. 'No final decisions, however, on any potential future action by the Administration have been made, and any discussion suggesting otherwise should be considered pure speculation.'
Madison Biedermann, a spokesperson for McMahon, on Tuesday affirmed the last part: No decision had been made.
Biedermann said it would be incorrect to interpret McMahon's remarks as confirming imminent cuts. McMahon was restating the department's position: California is at serious risk of losing funds if it does not comply with Trump administration policies, including banning transgender athletes from women's and girls' sports.
Biedermann said any reports about the timing or extent of any cuts is, at this point, 'speculation.' To date, she said, California is under investigation but has not been penalized based on its actions.
Reports of imminent — but unconfirmed — cuts have appeared in Politico and the Washington Post.
Among the areas of funding potentially at risk are the so-called formula funding programs that are approved and mandated by Congress. This includes Title I dollars that the federal government provides to schools to offset the effects of poverty. These funds alone are worth about $2.1 billion a year to California and about $460 million to Los Angeles Unified, the state's largest school system, where about 80% of students have family income low enough to qualify them for a free or reduced-price lunch.
Aid for school meals — totaling $363 million to L.A. Unified alone — also is a potential lever of influence for the Trump administration. These dollars are administered through the U.S. Department of Agriculture, outside McMahon's jurisdiction.
Another potentially affected funding stream is $1.33 billion annually to offset part of the cost of educating students with disabilities — of which $177 million goes to L.A. Unified.
When asked Tuesday about withholding formula funding, McMahon again raised the issue of Title IX compliance.
'I think that is part of what we found with the state of California just blatantly refusing to be in compliance with Title IX regulations,' McMahon said. 'So that is one of the tools and the other options that we have with California and I think it's right that we make them aware that that is a risk that they run.'
California officials have defended their policy as consistent with state and federal law, prioritizing rights based on gender identity.
California sued the U.S. Justice Department on Monday over its demand last week that local school districts ban transgender youth from competing in sports, arguing the federal agency had overstepped its authority in violation of both state and federal law.
Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi (D-Rolling Hills Estates), chair of the California State Assembly's Education Committee, told The Times that he has kept a close eye on the Trump administration's attacks on public education.
'We know that the hardest hit would be our students with special needs and our disabled students,' he said. 'Also, Title I funding for our low-income students is a big concern.'
Muratsuchi said that California's 'best defense' against Trump's actions 'is our Constitution and the rule of law.... The president should not have a unilateral power to cut funding appropriated by Congress.'
Muratsuchi also stressed the importance of federal funding to the UC and CSU systems. 'To have the federal research funds cut is tremendously impactful,' he said.
The Times' Washington bureau chief Michael Wilner and Bloomberg News contributed to this report.