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Jun
Jun
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ASKS SUPREME COURT TO PAUSE MASS LAYOFFS AT EDUCATION DEPARTMENT
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CapitalTimesNews / 2 weeks
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- 3 min read
The Trump administration has asked the Supreme Court to pause a court order to reinstate Education Department employees who were fired in mass layoffs as part of his plan to dismantle the agency. The Justice Department’s emergency appeal to the high court claims that U.S. District Judge Myong Joun in Boston exceeded his authority when he issued a preliminary injunction reversing the layoffs of nearly 1,400 people and putting the broader plan on hold. Judge Joun’s order has blocked one of President Trump’s biggest campaign promises and effectively stalled the effort to wind down the department. However, Solicitor General D. John Sauer argued that Joun was substituting his policy preferences for those of the Trump administration. “The layoffs help put in place the ‘policy of streamlining the department and eliminating discretionary functions that, in the administration’s view, are better left to the states,’” Sauer wrote. The current case involves two consolidated lawsuits that claim Trump’s plan amounts 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, while the other suit was filed by a coalition of 21 Democratic attorneys general. The suits argue 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. President Trump has made it a priority to shut down the Education Department, though he has acknowledged that only Congress has the authority to do that. In March, Trump issued an order directing Education Secretary Linda McMahon to wind down the department “to the maximum extent appropriate and permitted by law.” Trump later said the department’s functions will be parceled to other agencies, suggesting that federal student loans should be managed by the Small Business Administration and programs involving students with disabilities would be absorbed by the Department of Health and Human Services. The president argues that the Education Department has been overtaken by liberals and has failed to spur improvements to the nation’s lagging academic scores. He has promised to “return education to the states,” although opponents note that K-12 education is already mostly overseen by states and cities. The Trump administration’s Education Department budget seeks a 15% budget cut, including a $4.5 billion cut in K-12 funding as part of the agency’s downsizing, which has been blasted by Democrats.
