Judge blocks Trump's orders to dismantle the Education Department and fire employees
A federal judge on Thursday blocked President Donald Trump's executive order to dismantle the Education Department and ordered the agency to reinstate employees who were fired in mass layoffs. The administration said it would challenge the ruling.
US District Judge Myong Joun in Boston granted a preliminary injunction stopping the Trump administration from carrying out plans announced in March that sought to work toward Trump's goal to shut down the department. It marks a setback to one of the Republican president's campaign promises.
The ruling came in 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 suit 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.
In his order, Joun said the plaintiffs painted a 'stark picture of the irreparable harm that will result from financial uncertainty and delay, impeded access to vital knowledge on which students and educators rely, and loss of essential services for America's most vulnerable student populations.'
Layoffs of that scale, he added, 'will likely cripple the Department. The idea that Defendants' actions are merely a 'reorganization' is plainly not true.'
Hours later, the Trump administration appealed the ruling.
'Once again, a far-left Judge has dramatically overstepped his authority, based on a complaint from biased plaintiffs, and issued an injunction against the obviously lawful efforts to make the Department of Education more efficient and functional for the American people,' spokesperson Madi Biedermann said in a statement.
Joun ordered the Education Department to reinstate federal workers who were terminated as part of the March 11 layoff announcement.
That announcement led to the firing of about 1,300 people. Some Education Department employees have left through buyout offers and the termination of probationary employees, which combined with the layoffs have reduced the staff to roughly half the 4,100 the department had when Trump took office.
'Today's order means that the Trump administration's disastrous mass firings of career civil servants are blocked while this wildly disruptive and unlawful agency action is litigated,' said Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, which represents plaintiffs in the Somerville case.
Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, called the decision 'a first step to reverse this war on knowledge and the undermining of broad-based opportunity.'
The administration has said the layoffs are aimed at efficiency, not a department shutdown. Trump has called for the closure of the agency but recognizes it must be carried out by Congress, the government said.
The administration said restructuring the agency 'may impact certain services until the reorganization is finished' but it's committed to fulfilling its statutory requirements.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hindustan Times
23 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
US announces visa restrictions for central American government officials
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday announced visa restrictions for several unnamed Central American government officials he said were connected to Cuban medical mission programs that include elements of forced labor and the exploitation of Cuban workers. Rubio did not name the officials nor the countries they are from. "These steps promote accountability for those who support and perpetuate these exploitative practices," he said in a statement. "The Cuban labor export program abuses the participants, enriches the corrupt Cuban regime, and deprives everyday Cubans of essential medical care that they desperately need in their homeland." Cuba's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Havana has for decades rejected such accusations. Rubio in February expanded a visa restriction policy to target Cuban officials believed to be tied to a labor program that sends Cuban workers overseas, particularly healthcare workers. Cuba's health service generates major export earnings by sending doctors and health workers around the world. Since its 1959 leftist revolution, Cuba has dispatched an "army of white coats" to disaster sites and disease outbreaks around the world in the name of solidarity. In the last decade, they have fought cholera in Haiti and Ebola in West Africa. But Cuba has also exported doctors on more routine missions in exchange for cash or goods in recent decades, an increasingly critical source of hard currency in a nation suffering a deep economic crisis. The United States and Cuba have had a strained relationship since Fidel Castro took over in the 1959 revolution, and a US trade embargo has been in place for decades. Rubio, a former US senator and the son of immigrants who came to Florida from Cuba in the 1950s, has long opposed more normal relations with Havana, dating back to the administration of Democratic President Barack Obama. He has signaled a tougher stance on the communist-run island, reversing a last-minute effort by the Biden administration to loosen sanctions on long-time foe Cuba and complicating money transfers to the island.
Hindustan Times
28 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
US judge says prisons must provide gender-affirming care for trans inmates
A US judge on Tuesday ruled the US Bureau of Prisons must keep providing transgender inmates gender-affirming care, despite an executive order President Donald Trump signed on his first day back in office to halt funding for such care. US District Judge Royce Lamberth in Washington, D.C., allowed a group of more than 2,000 transgender inmates in federal prisons to pursue a lawsuit challenging the order as a class action. He ordered the Bureau of Prisons to provide them with hormone therapy and accommodations such as clothing and hair-removal devices while the lawsuit plays out. The ruling does not require the bureau to provide surgical care related to gender transitions. White House spokesperson Harrison Fields said the Trump administration expects to ultimately prevail in the legal dispute. "The District Court's decision allowing transgender women, aka MEN, in women's prisons fundamentally makes women less safe and ignores the biological truth that there are only two genders," Fields said in an email. The American Civil Liberties Union, which represents the inmates, said the ruling was "a critical reminder to the Trump administration that trans people, like all people, have constitutional rights that don't simply disappear because the president has decided to wage an ideological battle." About 2,230 transgender inmates are housed in federal custodial facilities and halfway houses, according to the US Department of Justice. About two-thirds of them, 1,506, are transgender women, most of whom are housed in men's prisons. The named plaintiffs, two transgender men and one transgender woman, sued the Trump administration in March to challenge Trump's January 20 executive order aimed at combating what the administration called "gender ideology extremism." The executive order directed the federal government to only recognize two, biologically distinct sexes, male and female; and house transgender women in men's prisons. It also ordered the bureau to stop spending any money on "any medical procedure, treatment, or drug for the purpose of conforming an inmate's appearance to that of the opposite sex." Lamberth, appointed by Republican President Ronald Reagan, said in Tuesday's ruling that the plaintiffs were likely to succeed in their lawsuit because the bureau did not perform any analysis before cutting off treatment that its own medical staff had previously deemed to be medically appropriate for the inmates. Even if it had extensively studied the issue before deciding to stop gender-affirming care, the decision might still violate the US Constitution's Eighth Amendment's protections against "cruel and unusual" punishment, Lamberth wrote. The Department of Justice had argued that the judge should defer to the policy decision of a democratically elected president, but Lamberth said a functioning democracy requires respect for "all duly enacted laws," including those that blocked the executive branch from acting in an "arbitrary and capricious" manner. Democratic self-governance "does not mean blind submission to the whims of the most recent election-victor," Lamberth wrote. The executive order said it was meant to promote the "dignity, safety, and wellbeing of women, and to stop the spread of "gender ideology" which denies "the immutable biological reality of sex." But the inmates receiving hormone treatments had little interest in promoting any ideology, and were instead taking "measures to lessen the personal anguish caused by their gender dysphoria," Lamberth wrote. (Reporting by Dietrich Knauth, Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and Richard Chang)
Mint
an hour ago
- Mint
Elon Musk explodes on Donald Trump's spending bill, says ‘shame on those who voted for it'
Billionaire Elon Musk took to X, formerly Twitter, to unleash a scathing criticism of President Donald Trump's new spending and tax bill. 'I'm sorry, but I just can't stand it anymore. This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination. Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it,' Musk posted. His remarks came days after stepping down from a short-lived post in Trump's administration leading a federal spending reform initiative under the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Tesla has seen a drop in EV sales, a blow attributed to Musk's association with Trump's controversial policies. House Speaker Mike Johnson hit back at Musk's criticism, calling it 'very disappointing.' 'With all due respect, my friend Elon is terribly wrong about the one big beautiful bill,' said Johnson, who claimed to have spoken with Musk for more than 20 minutes. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt downplayed Musk's remarks, indicating they would not sway the administration's direction. 'The President already knows where Elon Musk stood on this bill. It doesn't change the president's opinion. This is one big, beautiful bill and he's sticking to it,' she said. Elon Musk just days earlier voiced criticism of Trump's tax and spending bill, warning it could worsen the federal deficit and derail cost-cutting efforts by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which he briefly led. 'I think a bill can be big or it could be beautiful. But I don't know if it could be both,' Musk said in an interview with CBS. 'It increases the budget deficit and undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing.' The bill narrowly passed the House last week and is now headed for a tough vote in the Senate. Trump is urging swift Senate action to get the legislation on his desk by Independence Day. 'Passing THE ONE, BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL is a Historic Opportunity to turn our Country around,' Trump posted. He added: 'Work as fast as they can to get this Bill to MY DESK before the Fourth of JULY.' He has been holding closed-door meetings with Senate GOP leaders and making personal calls to individual senators to push the bill forward. The House-passed bill is projected to reduce federal revenue by $4 trillion over 10 years and increase the deficit by $2.5 trillion. It extends 2017 tax cuts and adds new ones — including eliminating taxes on tips — while slashing safety-net programs like Medicaid and food stamps. Phases out Biden-era tax breaks for electric vehicles and green energy Allocates $350 billion for border security and deportations Raises the debt ceiling by $4 trillion Imposes work requirements for safety-net recipients An estimated 8.6 million could lose health coverage, and nearly 4 million may lose food assistance. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called the proposal 'ugly to its very core,' aligning with Musk's criticism. 'Behind the smoke and mirrors lies a cruel and draconian truth: tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy paid for by gutting health care for millions of Americans," Schumer said. Senator Rand Paul has emerged as a key GOP holdout, objecting to the $4 trillion debt ceiling hike included in the bill. 'Rand votes NO on everything, but never has any practical or constructive ideas. His ideas are actually crazy (losers!),' Trump posted on Truth Social. Paul responded: 'I like the president, supported the president. But I can't in good conscience give up every principle that I stand for and every principle that I was elected upon.' Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has warned that without a debt ceiling increase by mid-July or early August, the US will run out of money to pay its obligations. Lawmakers are debating possible tweaks to the House version, including: Revising the proposed $40,000 SALT cap Reconsidering the $35 Medicaid copay Reinstating provider taxes crucial for rural hospitals The Senate is expected to vote narrowly, mirroring the one-vote margin in the House. With a July 4th deadline looming, Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' faces fierce resistance—from Democrats, policy experts, and even one-time allies like Elon Musk.
