U.S. District Court Judge Kymberly K. Evanson in Seattle ruled on October 27 that the Trump administration must release millions of dollars in grants intended to address the shortage of mental health workers in schools. The preliminary ruling applies to certain grantees in sixteen Democratic-led states that challenged the Education Department’s decision to cancel the funding.

Congress funded the mental health program following the 2022 school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. The grants were designed to help schools hire more counselors, psychologists, and social workers, with a focus on rural and underserved areas of the country. The Education Department under President Joe Biden initially awarded these grants, prioritizing applicants who demonstrated plans to increase the diversity of counselors from varied backgrounds or from communities directly served by the school districts.

In April 2025, the Trump administration announced the cancellation of over $1 billion in grants, claiming they conflicted with the department’s priority of “merit, fairness, and excellence in education” and were not in the federal government’s best interest. The administration opposed diversity considerations used to award the grants, informing recipients they wouldn’t receive funding past December 2025. According to press reports, the Trump administration admitted that it targeted these grants for their perceived diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts.

Judge Evanson characterized the Education Department’s decision as “arbitrary and capricious,” noting that the states had made a compelling case for real harm from the grant cuts. In her ruling, she stated: “There is no evidence the Department considered any relevant data pertaining to the Grants at issue,” and criticized the department for failing to communicate to grantees why their work didn’t meet the “best interest” criteria.

In their lawsuit, the coalition of sixteen states argued that the Trump administration’s decision violated the Administrative Procedure Act and represented an unconstitutional violation of the Spending Clause and Separation of Powers. Judge Evanson emphasized that “Congress created these programs to address the states’ need for school-based mental health services in their schools, and has repeatedly reaffirmed the need for those services over the years by reauthorizing and increasing appropriations to these programs.”

The preliminary ruling will remain in effect while the legal case proceeds.