U.S. President Donald Trump secured another significant legal victory on Monday as the Supreme Court approved his administration’s plan to dismantle the Department of Education, authorizing the layoff of nearly 1,400 federal employees.
The Supreme Court’s decision came in the form of a brief, unsigned emergency order—common in such appeals—and offered no explanation for its ruling, in line with standard practice.
The justices lifted a federal judge’s previous order that had blocked the mass layoffs and prohibited the Trump administration from transferring key educational functions to other federal agencies.
U.S. District Judge Myong Joun in Boston had earlier ruled that the proposed cuts “will likely cripple the department.” His injunction had allowed affected employees to remain on paid leave while barring their full dismissal.
This marks Trump’s second major win at the nation’s highest court within a week. Just days earlier, the Supreme Court had backed his broader plan to reduce the size of the federal workforce, overruling lower courts that had temporarily blocked it.
The move to dismantle the Department of Education is central to President Trump’s long-standing promise to reduce the federal government’s role in education and return more control to individual states.
“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,”
wrote Justice Sonia Sotomayor in a forceful dissent, joined by Justices Ketanji Brown Jackson and Elena Kagan.
The union representing some of the affected workers—the American Federation of Government Employees Local 252—confirmed that employees had been on paid leave since March. The layoffs would have taken effect in early June had Judge Joun’s order not been in place.
In June, the Education Department acknowledged it was “actively assessing how to reintegrate” the impacted employees. Internal communications even asked staff to disclose if they had secured alternative employment, describing the inquiry as an effort to ensure a “smooth and informed return to duty.”
The Supreme Court was reviewing two combined lawsuits challenging the legality of Trump’s plan. One was filed by the Somerville and Easthampton school districts in Massachusetts, along with the American Federation of Teachers and other education groups. The other came from a coalition of 21 Democratic state attorneys general.
The plaintiffs argued the layoffs would render the department unable to fulfill its statutory obligations—such as managing student financial aid, enforcing civil rights laws, and supporting special education programs.
Despite the legal pushback, Monday’s ruling paves the way for the Trump administration to proceed with its controversial restructuring—dramatically reducing federal oversight in education and shifting responsibilities to other agencies or back to the states.