Supreme Court Permits Trump to Proceed with Job Cuts in Education Department
On Monday, the Supreme Court permitted the Trump administration to proceed with mass layoffs at the Department of Education, reversing a prior ruling by a federal judge that had blocked these actions. The conservative-majority court issued this decision without providing any explanation, accepting an emergency application from the administration. The three liberal justices on the court expressed their disapproval, particularly Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who issued a strong dissenting opinion. She emphasized that the judiciary must respond to executive defiance of the law rather than facilitate it, highlighting the implications this ruling has for the separation of powers.
President Trump celebrated the court’s action as a significant victory for parents and students, asserting that the administration could now return the Department of Education’s functions to the states. He mentioned this on Truth Social, stating that Secretary of Education Linda McMahon could begin the vital process of restructuring the department. Since taking office, Trump has issued an executive order aimed at closing the Department of Education, prompting McMahon to initiate mass layoffs. These layoffs were justified in a memo that stated the goal was to dismantle the department—a move that Congress has yet to authorize.
Skye Perryman, president of Democracy Forward, which represents the coalition that filed a lawsuit against the administration, called the Supreme Court’s ruling “devastating” for public education and noted that the decision seemed to contradict lower court rulings. The disputes involving the layoffs are separate from another ruling the Supreme Court made recently, where it allowed the Trump administration to conduct layoffs across several government agencies. In this instance, U.S. District Judge Myong Joun criticized the administration’s intent to dismantle the Education Department without the necessary legal authorization. The administration has faced criticism for aggressively reducing government agency sizes, raising concerns about overstepping legislative authority.
Legal representatives, including New York Attorney General Letitia James, argued that the layoffs are unlawful and undermine statutory responsibilities.