The Supreme Court Faces a Crucial Decision on Education Department Layoffs
The Trump administration has approached the U.S. Supreme Court, seeking approval to implement significant staffing reductions at the U.S. Department of Education. This move is part of a broader effort to reshape the department’s operations.
On Friday, Solicitor General D. John Sauer requested the Supreme Court to lift a Massachusetts federal judge’s injunction issued in May. This legal pause was implemented to prevent President Trump and Education Secretary Linda McMahon from executing an executive order aimed at closing the Education Department.
Judge Myong J. Joun’s preliminary injunction on May 22 halted the administration’s plans and ordered the restoration of roughly 1,400 employees who were informed in March about impending job losses. These employees remain on paid administrative leave, with termination set for June 9 if the proposed reductions proceed. Additionally, several hundred staff have opted for voluntary buyouts, potentially reducing the department’s workforce by half since Trump’s inauguration.
Judge Joun remarked, “A department without enough employees to perform statutorily mandated functions is not a department at all. This court cannot be asked to cover its eyes while the Department’s employees are continuously fired and units are transferred out until the Department becomes a shell of itself.”
The injunction also prohibited Trump from reallocating management of the federal student loan portfolio and special needs programs to other agencies, a pledge he made in the Oval Office.
On June 4, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit supported Joun’s decision, stating that the proposed staffing cuts would render it “effectively impossible for the Department to carry out its statutory functions.”
In defense of the administration’s actions, Sauer stated in the Supreme Court application that “the government has been crystal clear in acknowledging that only Congress can eliminate the Department of Education,” asserting that the staffing changes aim to streamline operations within the Executive’s authority.
Sauer further argued, “The Constitution vests the Executive Branch, not district courts, with the authority to make judgments about how many employees are needed to carry out an agency’s statutory functions.” To demonstrate the administration’s commitment to maintaining the department, they have proposed a $66.7 billion funding request for fiscal year 2026.
This legal battle consolidates two cases filed in March, challenging the administration’s sweeping strategy to downsize and eventually close the Education Department. Plaintiffs include 20 states, the District of Columbia, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), two school districts, and other unions.
Read more about the injunction
Details on the executive order
Initial layoffs and reorganization
Budget proposal details
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