The Trump administration’s legal team has made an urgent appeal to the Supreme Court, requesting that it lift a previous court decision that had stopped the firing of workers in the Education Department.
This step is meant to allow the government to push forward with its plan to close the agency completely. This appeal was submitted as an emergency request and is one of many similar filings that have come up since President Trump’s second term started.
The legal effort reflects the administration’s strong desire to reduce the size and reach of the federal government in education matters.
Executive Order Triggers Legal Clash
On March 20, President Trump approved an executive order that directed Education Secretary Linda McMahon to begin the process of dissolving the department. Since Congress must approve the complete shutdown of a federal agency, this move quickly sparked legal challenges.
That executive order also created grounds for ongoing court battles over whether such steps are lawful without legislative agreement.
In the document submitted Friday, Solicitor General D. John Sauer urged the Supreme Court to reverse a decision made by a Massachusetts federal judge in May. That judge had temporarily blocked the administration’s plan and instructed the government to rehire thousands of employees who had been dismissed.
Federal Court Blocks Administration’s Effort
On May 22, Judge Myong J. Joun, serving on the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, issued a preliminary injunction that stopped the firings. His ruling posed a major barrier to the administration’s plan.
According to Mr. Sauer’s Supreme Court filing, the judge’s decision interrupted the executive branch’s control over how the Education Department should operate.
A group that included two school districts in Massachusetts, the American Federation of Teachers, and attorneys general from 21 states where Democratic leaders hold office brought the case to court.
Their lawsuit, filed in March, aimed to block the president’s order and to reverse the cuts that would affect roughly half of the department’s staff.
Court of Appeals Supports Injunction
Judge Joun’s order found that the administration’s approach may have crossed legal boundaries. He pointed out that only Congress has the right to completely shut down a department.
On June 4, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit backed his decision, agreeing that removing the order could cause serious damage. The appeals court said that such mass layoffs would likely hurt the department’s ability to fulfill its legal duties.
The Supreme Court has asked those opposing the administration’s filing to respond by June 13, showing that the case is moving forward quickly.
