Trump admin asks Supreme Court to allow mass layoffs at Education Department

The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court on Friday to allow the dismantling of the Department of Education, which would result in laying off over 1,300 employees. Read further on Dynamite News

Washington:  The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court on Friday to clear the way for it to continue with its efforts to dismantle the Department of Education and lay off more than 1,300 employees, while a legal fight over the future of the department moves forward, reports Dynamite News correspondent.

The Justice Department is seeking the high court's intervention in a pair of disputes brought by a group of 20 states, school districts and teachers unions, which challenge Donald Trump's plans to unwind the Department of Education.

The president signed an executive order in March directing Education Secretary Linda McMahon to facilitate the department's closure to the maximum extent allowed under the law, CBS news reported.

As part of Trump's pledge to get rid of the department, the administration canceled a host of grants and executed a reduction in force, or a layoff, that impacted 1,378 employees — roughly a third of the department's workforce. Affected workers were placed on administrative leave and were to receive full pay and benefits until June 9.

Trump also announced that the Small Business Administration would take over the Education Department's student-loan portfolio, and the Department of Health and Human Services would handle special education, nutrition and other related services.

In response to the lawsuits challenging Trump's actions, a federal judge in Massachusetts blocked the administration from carrying out its layoffs, finding that the reduction-in-force was a unilateral effort to close the department, which would violate the separation of powers.

U.S. District Judge Myong Joun, appointed by former President Joe Biden, ordered the Trump administration to reinstate the nearly 1,400 employees to their role. A reduction-in-force "of this magnitude will likely cripple the department," he said.

Joun wrote in his decision that while the Trump administration acknowledged that the Department of Education cannot be shuttered without congressional approval, there was no evidence demonstrating that the administration is working with Congress to reach a resolution.

The Justice Department asked the US Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit to pause the lower court's decision, which it declined to do earlier this week.

The Supreme Court has already intervened in one other legal battle over the Trump administration's efforts to gut the Department of Education, which stemmed from a different order from Joun involving funding that supports teacher recruitment and training.

In April, the high court divided 5-4 to let the government cancel millions of dollars in education grants that purportedly funded programs that involved diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

Trump's administration has attempted to drastically slash the size of the federal workforce as part of the president's plans to overhaul the government. Separate from the layoffs at the Department of Education, other agencies have also sought to initiate large-scale reductions-in-force.

But a judge in San Francisco issued a preliminary injunction last month that prevented the Trump administration from moving forward with its existing reductions-in-force or planning any future layoffs as directed by Trump.

The Justice Department has asked the Supreme Court to lift that order and allow the government to continue with the planned workforce reductions, though the request for emergency relief is still pending.