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CNN
6 hours ago
- Politics
- CNN
Federal appeals court refuses to lift ruling halting mass layoffs at Department of Education
A federal appeals court declined on Wednesday to lift a judge's ruling that blocked the Trump administration from effectively shutting down the Department of Education. The unanimous decision from the 1st US Circuit Court of Appeals is another significant legal setback for President Donald Trump, whose efforts to rapidly shrink the federal government – including through dismantling entire agencies – have been tied up in numerous court challenges. Cutting the Department of Education has been of particular interest to Trump in his second term. Earlier this year, he moved ahead with mass layoffs at the agency, which is tasked with distributing federal aid to schools, managing federal aid for college students and ensuring compliance with civil rights laws. The administration, 1st Circuit Chief Judge David Barron wrote for the panel, has not 'shown that the public's interest lies in permitting a major federal department to be unlawfully disabled from performing its statutorily assigned functions.' The court also said that the administration had not demonstrated that it was likely to ultimately win in the case, with Barron writing that Justice Department attorneys had not put forth evidence showing how the widespread layoffs at the department would not prevent it from carrying out its core functions. Last month, US District Judge Myong Joun of the federal court in Boston indefinitely halted Trump's plans to dismantle the agency and ordered the administration to reinstate employees who had been fired en masse. The ruling came in a lawsuit brought by a teachers' union, school districts, states and education groups. Noting that the department 'cannot be shut down without Congress's approval,' Joun, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, said that the planned layoffs at the agency 'will likely cripple' it. 'The record abundantly reveals that Defendants' true intention is to effectively dismantle the Department without an authorizing statute,' he wrote in the 88-page ruling. Attorneys for the Department of Justice quickly asked the Boston-based appeals court to pause Joun's ruling while they appealed it, writing in court papers that it 'represents an extraordinary incursion on the Executive Branch's authority to manage its workforce.' 'Beyond that, it requires the government to indefinitely retain and pay employees whose services it no longer requires, and the government cannot recoup those salaries if it prevails on appeal,' the DOJ attorneys wrote.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Federal judge blocks Trump's dismantling of the Department of Education
The Brief A federal judge blocked the Trump administration's plan to dismantle the Department of Education, following a lawsuit by 21 state attorneys general. The injunction reinstates employees and halts the department's closure, with AGs arguing the move is illegal and unconstitutional. The block remains in effect until a merits decision in the legal proceedings is reached. SEATTLE - A Massachusetts federal judge on Thursday issued a preliminary injunction blocking the Trump administration's dismantling of the Department of Education. Washington and 20 other state attorneys general filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration on March 13, after the President announced plans to lay off half the Department of Education staff. The coalition then filed a motion for preliminary injunction after President Trump signed an executive order to close the department. and transfer student loan management and special education to outside agencies. What they're saying In an 88-page court order, U.S. District Judge Myong Joun granted the request for injunction, temporarily blocking the Trump administration from carrying out their dismantling of the department and ordering them to reinstate all employees fired during their sweeping layoffs. "Today's injunction supports the rule of law, and students and educators around the country," said Washington State Attorney General Nick Brown. "Our office will fight illegal and unconstitutional executive orders. And we will continue to win." Big picture view In their arguments, the AGs asserted that Trump's move to eliminate the Department of Education is "illegal and unconstitutional," as it is an executive agency authorized by Congress — and only Congress has the authority to dismantle the department if they vote on it. They further argued that mass layoffs at the department violate the Adminstrative Procedures Act. The injunction shall remain in effect until a merits decision is reached in legal proceedings between the multi-state coalition and the Trump administration. The Source Information in this story comes from the Washington State Attorney General's Office and court records from the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts. Tacoma cold case investigation yields no new evidence in Teekah Lewis case 17 arrested in Kent, WA during ICE raid Washingtonians will need state permit to buy guns under new law Activist marks 2 weeks in tree to protest logging near Port Angeles Rescue underway after boat sinks in Possession Sound near Everett, WA Murder, arson charges for suspect in Gig Harbor, WA house fire To get the best local news, weather and sports in Seattle for free, sign up for the daily FOX Seattle Newsletter. Download the free FOX LOCAL app for mobile in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store for live Seattle news, top stories, weather updates and more local and national news.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump Effort to Shutter Education Agency Blocked by Judge
(Bloomberg) -- A US judge blocked President Donald Trump's efforts for now to shutter the Department of Education, including a plan to slash the workforce in half and remove thousands of employees. Can Frank Gehry's 'Grand LA' Make Downtown Feel Like a Neighborhood? NY Private School Pleads for Donors to Stay Open After Declaring Bankruptcy Chicago's O'Hare Airport Seeks Up to $4.3 Billion of Muni Debt NYC's War on Trash Gets a Glam Squad NJ Transit Makes Deal With Engineers, Ending Three-Day Strike US District Judge Myong Joun in Boston wrote in a Thursday ruling that the personnel cuts would 'likely cripple the department' and ordered the administration to reinstate employees to carry out duties required under US law, including managing federal student loans, aiding state education programs and enforcing compliance with civil rights laws. Joun found that Trump lacked power to effectively dissolve a federal agency created by Congress by getting rid of its employees, closing regional offices and moving programs to other federal agencies. Trump has faced a slew of challenges to similar efforts to dismantle entities created by Congress, including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, US Agency for International Development and the US Institute of Peace. 'A department without enough employees to perform statutorily mandated functions is not a department at all,' Joun wrote. 'This court cannot be asked to cover its eyes while the department's employees are continuously fired and units are transferred out until the department becomes a shell of itself.' Hours later, the Trump administration asked the judge to put a hold on the injunction while the government appeals, saying it continued to believe the states would not prevail. The government alternatively asked the judge to grant a seven-day administrative stay by 10 a.m. Friday to halt the injunction while it seeks emergency relief from a federal appeals court. '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,' Education Department spokesperson Madi Biedermann said in a statement. Joun's injunction blocks a 'reduction in force' announced in early March to cut more than half of the department's 4,000 employees, as well as a March 21 executive order from Trump directing US officials to 'take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education' to the fullest extent allowed by law. The states and organizations that sued over the Education Department cuts 'paint 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,' Joun wrote. 'The record abundantly reveals that defendants' true intention is to effectively dismantle the department without an authorizing statute.' The ruling covered two lawsuits, one brought primarily by states led by Democrats and the other filed by several Massachusetts public school systems and unions. '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,' Skye Perryman, president of Democracy Forward, which represents challengers in the school systems' case, said in a statement. Judges have grappled with how to determine when the administration's mass cuts to federal workers and funding unlawfully override Congress' authority. On Wednesday, a federal judge in Washington denied an injunction to parents who sued over layoffs and office closures within the Education Department's civil rights enforcement arm, finding there was evidence that officials were still investigating complaints, just 'at a much slower pace.' The cases are Somerville Public Schools v. Trump, 25-cv-10677, and State of New York v. McMahon, 25-cv-10601. US District Court, District of Massachusetts (Boston). --With assistance from Erik Larson. (Updated with Trump administration motion to pause ruling in fifth paragraph,) Why Apple Still Hasn't Cracked AI Inside the First Stargate AI Data Center How Coach Handbags Became a Gen Z Status Symbol Anthropic Is Trying to Win the AI Race Without Losing Its Soul Microsoft's CEO on How AI Will Remake Every Company, Including His ©2025 Bloomberg L.P.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Judge halts dismantling of Education Department, orders fired workers to be reinstated
A federal judge in Massachusetts on Thursday issued an injunction blocking the Trump administration from dismantling the Department of Education and ordering that fired employees be reinstated. 'The record abundantly reveals that Defendants' true intention is to effectively dismantle the Department without an authorizing statute,' U.S. District Judge Myong Joun wrote, noting 'the Department cannot be shut down without Congress's approval.' The judge said an injunction was necessary because 'The supporting declarations of former Department employees, educational institutions, unions, and educators paint 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.' Prior to the mass firings, or reduction in force, 'the Department was already struggling to meet its goals, so it is only reasonable to expect that an RIF of this magnitude will likely cripple the Department,' Joun wrote. A spokesperson for the Education Department, Madi Biedermann, said officials 'will immediately challenge this on an emergency basis.' The cuts were announced after President Donald Trump pledged to shutter the department, and days before he issued an executive order directing Education Secretary Linda McMahon to 'take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education,' the judge noted. In her confirmation hearing, McMahon testified that the administration would not attempt to abolish the department without congressional approval, as required by law, and said that she would present a plan that senators could get on board with. 'We'd like to do this right,' she said, adding that shutting down the department 'certainly does require congressional action.' The judge wrote that the administration also acknowledged in court filings that 'the Department cannot be shut down without Congress's approval, yet they simultaneously claim that their legislative goals (obtaining Congressional approval to shut down the Department) are distinct from their administrative goals (improving efficiency).' 'There is nothing in the record to support these contradictory positions,' the judge added. 'Not only is there no evidence that Defendants are pursuing a 'legislative goal' or otherwise working with Congress to reach a resolution, but there is also no evidence that the RIF has actually made the Department more efficient. Rather, the record is replete with evidence of the opposite,' he wrote. While administration says the reduction in force 'was implemented to improve 'efficiency' and 'accountability,'' the judge wrote, the 'record abundantly reveals that Defendants' true intention is to effectively dismantle the Department without an authorizing statute.' He ordered the administration not to implement Trump's order, and said it must reinstate federal employees whose employment was terminated on or after Jan. 20. The judge said those moves were necessary 'to restore the Department to the status quo such that it is able to carry out its statutory functions.' It also blocks the department 'from carrying out the President's March 21, 2025 Directive to transfer management of federal student loans and special education functions out of the Department.' Biedermann, the Education Department spokesperson, blasted the judge in a statement and said the ruling 'is not in the best interest of American students or families.' '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,' the statement said. 'President Trump and the Senate-confirmed Secretary of Education clearly have the authority to make decisions about agency reorganization efforts, not an unelected Judge with a political axe to grind,' Biedermann added. Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, one of the plaintiffs in the case, praised the ruling, which she said 'rightly rejected one of the administration's very first illegal, and consequential, acts: abolishing the federal role in education.' 'This decision is a first step to reverse this war on knowledge and the undermining of broad-based opportunity,' she said in a statement. This article was originally published on
The Independent
22-05-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Judge stops the dismantling of the Department of Education and orders rehiring of fired workers
A federal judge has blocked Donald Trump 's administration from dismantling the Department of Education and ordered the reinstatement of fired employees. Massachusetts District Judge Myong Joun rejected the administration's arguments that thousands of workers purged from the agency were done with 'efficiency' in mind. Mass firings have instead led to chaos and disruptions for schools, teachers, students and families across the country, according to Joun, who was appointed to the bench by former president Joe Biden. The administration has admitted that the Education Department 'cannot be shut down' without Congress weighing in, 'yet they simultaneously claim that their legislative goals (obtaining Congressional approval to shut down the Department) are distinct from their administrative goals (improving efficiency),' Joun wrote in his 88-page opinion Thursday. 'There is nothing in the record to support these contradictory positions.' Instead, the administration's 'true intention is to effectively dismantle the department without an authorizing statute,' he wrote. 'The idea that Defendants' actions are merely a 'reorganization' is plainly not true.' Joun's preliminary injunction orders the administration to return the Education Department to the 'status quo' before his executive orders designed to shutter the agency, which oversees grant funding and civil rights enforcement. It does not have any role role in developing curriculum, enrollment requirements, lesson plans or hiring at public schools, colleges or universities, but the department has become a target for Republican officials and right-wing special interest groups in an effort to purge ideological opponents from public education and privatize schools. Joun's order also blocks the administration from transferring the department's functions to other agencies.
