California Attorney General Rob Bonta has sued the Trump administration over the firing of nearly half of all workers at the U.S. Department of Education.

A group of 21 attorneys general led by New York's Letitia James Thursday sued the Trump administration in an effort to halt the dismantling of the Education Department.

The Trump administration cut about half the agency’s work force, saying the move would enable it to deliver services more effectively. The attorneys general called the layoffs “reckless and illegal.”