New York Attorney General Letitia James and 20 other state attorneys general sued the Trump administration on Thursday to halt mass layoffs at the U.S. Education Department, charging it would effectively dismantle an agency without congressional authorization.

ALBANY — New York is seeking to halt President Donald J. Trump’s plan to scale down and eliminate the federal Department of Education. The state joined a lawsuit filed Thursday with 19 other attorneys general against the Trump administration, arguing that the authority to dismantle the department is held by Congress, not the White House.

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.”