Supreme Court Clears Trump's Plan to Lay Off 1,400 Education Department Employees

The Supreme Court has ruled in favor of President Donald Trump's plan to lay off nearly 1,400 employees at the Education Department, effectively allowing the administration to proceed with its broader initiative to transfer many of the department's functions back to the states. This decision comes after a series of legal challenges and lower court rulings that had temporarily halted the layoffs.

The court's action, which paused an order from U.S. District Judge Myong Joun in Boston, enables the administration to resume its efforts to wind down the department. Judge Joun had previously issued a preliminary injunction reversing the layoffs, citing concerns that the layoffs would "cripple the department." The federal appeals court had refused to put the order on hold while the administration appealed, but the Supreme Court's intervention has now cleared the way for the layoffs to proceed.

In a social media post, Trump celebrated the decision, stating that it allows his administration to begin the "very important process" of returning many of the department’s functions to the states. The court did not provide an explanation for its decision, but Justice Sonia Sotomayor, in her dissent, criticized the majority for enabling what she described as legally questionable actions by the administration.

Education Secretary Linda McMahon welcomed the decision, asserting that the Supreme Court's intervention was necessary to allow Trump's plan to move forward. She emphasized that the President, as the head of the Executive Branch, has the authority to make decisions about staffing levels and administrative organization of federal agencies. However, a lawyer representing the Massachusetts cities and education groups that sued over the plan indicated that the lawsuit will continue, as no court has yet ruled that the administration's actions are legal.

The Supreme Court's decision marks another victory for Trump in his efforts to reshape the federal government, following a series of lower court rulings that had found the administration's actions likely violated federal law. The high court has previously allowed cuts in teacher-training grants to go forward and cleared the way for Trump's plan to significantly reduce the size of the federal workforce.

Separately, more than 20 states have sued the administration over billions of dollars in frozen education funding for after-school care, summer programs, and other initiatives. The Education Department employees targeted by the layoffs have been on paid leave since March, and without the previous court order, they would have been terminated in early June. The department had been assessing how to reintegrate these employees, but the Supreme Court's decision now allows the layoffs to proceed.

The current case involves two consolidated lawsuits that argued Trump's plan amounted to an illegal closure of the Education Department. One suit was filed by school districts in Massachusetts along with education groups, while the other was filed by a coalition of Democratic attorneys general. The suits contended that the layoffs left the department unable to carry out responsibilities required by Congress.