Supreme Court allows Trump to lay off nearly 1,400 Education Department
employees
[July 15, 2025]
By MARK SHERMAN
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is allowing President Donald Trump
to put his plan to dismantle the Education Department back on track —
and to go through with laying off nearly 1,400 employees.
With the three liberal justices in dissent, the court on Monday paused
an order from U.S. District Judge Myong Joun in Boston, who issued a
preliminary injunction reversing the layoffs and calling into question
the broader plan. The layoffs “will likely cripple the department,” Joun
wrote. A federal appeals court refused to put the order on hold while
the administration appealed.
The high court action enables the administration to resume work on
winding down the department, one of Trump's biggest campaign promises.
In a post Monday night on his social media platform, Trump said the high
court “has handed a Major Victory to Parents and Students across the
Country.” He said the decision will allow his administration to begin
the “very important process” of returning many of the department’s
functions “BACK TO THE STATES.”
The court did not explain its decision in favor of Trump, as is
customary in emergency appeals. But in dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor
complained that her colleagues were enabling legally questionable action
on the part of the administration.
“When the Executive publicly announces its intent to break the law, and
then executes on that promise, it is the Judiciary’s duty to check that
lawlessness, not expedite it,” Sotomayor wrote for herself and Justices
Ketanji Brown Jackson and Elena Kagan.
The secretary of education lauds the decision
Education Secretary Linda McMahon said it’s a “shame” it took the
Supreme Court’s intervention to let Trump’s plan move ahead.
“Today, the Supreme Court again confirmed the obvious: the President of
the United States, as the head of the Executive Branch, has the ultimate
authority to make decisions about staffing levels, administrative
organization, and day-to-day operations of federal agencies,” McMahon
said in a statement.
A lawyer for the Massachusetts cities and education groups that sued
over the plan said the lawsuit will continue, adding no court has yet
ruled that what the administration wants to do is legal.
“Without explaining to the American people its reasoning, a majority of
justices on the U.S. Supreme Court have dealt a devastating blow to this
nation’s promise of public education for all children. On its shadow
docket, the Court has yet again ruled to overturn the decision of two
lower courts without argument,” Skye Perryman, president and CEO of
Democracy Forward, said in a statement.
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The Supreme Court has handed Trump one victory after another in his
effort to remake the federal government, after lower courts have
found the administration's actions probably violate federal law.
Last week, the justices cleared the way for Trump's plan to
significantly reduce the size of the federal workforce. On the
education front, the high court has previously allowed cuts in
teacher-training grants to go forward.
Separately on Monday, more than 20 states sued the administration
over billions of dollars in frozen education funding for
after-school care, summer programs and more.
Education Department employees are on leave
Education Department employees who were targeted by the layoffs have
been on paid leave since March, according to a union that represents
some of the agency’s staff.
Joun’s order had prevented the department from fully terminating
them, though none had been allowed to return to work, according to
the American Federation of Government Employees Local 252. Without
Joun’s order, the workers would have been terminated in early June.
The Education Department had said earlier in June that it was
“actively assessing how to reintegrate” the employees. A department
email asked them to share whether they had gained other employment,
saying the request was meant to “support a smooth and informed
return to duty.”
The current case involves two consolidated lawsuits that said
Trump’s plan amounted to an illegal closure of the Education
Department.
One suit was filed by the Somerville and Easthampton school
districts in Massachusetts along with the American Federation of
Teachers and other education groups. The other legal action was
filed by a coalition of 21 Democratic attorneys general.
The suits argued that layoffs left the department unable to carry
out responsibilities required by Congress, including duties to
support special education, distribute financial aid and enforce
civil rights laws.
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