Overview

• On July 15 the Supreme Court granted an emergency request to pause U.S. District Judge Myong Joun’s injunction, clearing the way for nearly 1,400 Education Department layoffs to proceed.
• The conservative majority issued the unsigned order without explanation, overriding a ruling that had warned the cuts would likely cripple the department’s ability to carry out statutory duties.
• Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented, arguing the decision risked upsetting the Constitution’s separation of powers by letting the president remove staff essential to congressional mandates.
• The targeted layoffs, part of a reduction-in-force announced in March by President Trump and Secretary Linda McMahon, affect nearly half of the department’s workforce, many of whom have been on paid leave since then.
• Legal challenges filed by Massachusetts school districts, teachers’ unions and a coalition of 21 Democratic attorneys general will continue on appeal in the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.