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3d ago

Trump Administration Asks Supreme Court to Lift Injunction Blocking Education Department Layoffs

The Justice Department argues that only the executive branch can determine agency staffing without judicial interference.

U.S. President Donald Trump signs an executive order to reduce the size and scope of the Education Department alongside school children signing their own versions, during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House on March 20, 2025, in Washington, DC. The order instructs Education Secretary Linda McMahon, former head of the Small Business Administration and co-founder of World Wrestling Entertainment, to shrink the $100 billion department, which cannot be dissolved without Congressional approval.
FILE - The Supreme Court is seen on Capitol Hill in Washington, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
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The U.S. Supreme Court building is seen in Washington, U.S., June 27, 2022. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz/File Photo

Overview

  • On June 6, the Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to lift U.S. District Judge Myong Joun’s injunction blocking the mass layoffs and restructuring at the Education Department.
  • The injunction stemmed from a lawsuit by Democratic attorneys general, school districts and teachers’ unions that claimed firing over 1,300 workers and shifting key programs would effectively shutter the department without Congressional approval.
  • The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on June 4 upheld the injunction, saying the administration failed to show that cutting so many roles would leave the department capable of fulfilling its statutory duties.
  • Solicitor General John Sauer told the Supreme Court that only the executive branch has authority to manage agency staffing and that reinstating laid-off employees would inflict irreparable harm on government operations.
  • Trump’s plan would reduce the department’s workforce from 4,133 to about 2,183 staffers and transfer student loans to the Small Business Administration and special education programs to the Department of Health and Human Services.