Supreme Court gives Trump green light to fire Education Department workers
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The U.S. Department of Education headquarters on June 20 in Washington, DC. Photo: J. David Ake/Getty Images
The Supreme Court on Monday allowed the Trump administration to resume layoffs at the Department of Education.
The big picture: The unsigned decision overturns a federal judge's order that found President Trump and Education Secretary Linda McMahon did not have the power to shutter the agency.
- The order, which did not offer an explanation, for now lifts the lower-court ruling that had indefinitely paused the president's plan to dismantle the department.
Zoom in: The court's three liberal justices blasted the decision for abetting Trump's "lawlessness."
- Justice Sonia Sotomayor offered a lengthy dissent, writing, "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 said the president lacks unilateral authority to close a cabinet-level agency created by Congress, adding that only Congress can abolish the department.
- She wrote that Trump, undeterred by limits on executive authority, "has made clear that he intends to close the Department without Congress's involvement."
Context: Trump signed an executive order in March to dismantle the Education Department.
- Nearly 50% of the department's workforce was slashed in March.
What they're saying: McMahon said in a statement that the high court "confirmed the obvious" in allowing the president to make decisions regarding the operation of federal agencies.
- The Education Department will now "carry out the reduction in force to promote efficiency and accountability and to ensure resources are directed where they matter most — to students, parents, and teachers," she added.
Zoom out: The Supreme Court has handed Trump a series of major victories lately through its "emergency docket" — an abbreviated process that doesn't require full-fledged briefings and arguments.
- While the court's actions on such issues are temporary, they still allow Trump to implement some of the most controversial parts of his agenda.
- In Monday's dissent, Sotomayor took aim at the administration's use of that process. She wrote that the government "in a now-familiar move ... presents a grab bag of jurisdictional and remedial arguments to support its bid for emergency relief," adding, "None justifies this Court's intervention."
Editor's note: This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.
