Federal education policy under the Trump administration has provoked an unprecedented wave of litigation this year. Education Week tallied 70 lawsuits filed by school districts, universities, teachers’ unions, multistate coalitions and professional associations challenging actions from grant cancellations to downsizing at the Department of Education and restrictions on DEI and transgender-student rights. The lead legal battlegrounds have been midcourse grant terminations and enforcement changes to federal programs; Education Week reports at least 11 suits specifically over canceled grants. Judges have sometimes restored funding temporarily, but litigation outcomes have been mixed and often piecemeal, leaving institutions with ongoing uncertainty over budgets and program continuity. For higher education leaders this litigation wave matters because it directly threatens federal research, training, and student-support funding streams; legal decisions will shape compliance obligations and risk assessments for campus programs and external partnerships. Institutions that rely on federal grants should audit exposure, document program compliance, and prepare for protracted judicial reviews.