The United States Supreme Court has issued a ruling that allows President Donald Trump’s administration to move forward with significant cuts to the federal Department of Education.
On Monday, the Court’s conservative majority lifted a previous order from a federal judge that had reinstated around 1,400 employees impacted by extensive layoffs at the department.
The decision also permits the administration to transfer essential functions to other federal agencies, a move that is presently subject to ongoing legal challenges in lower courts.
Al Jazeera correspondent Shihab Rattansi reported from Washington, DC, describing the Supreme Court’s ruling as a “massive win” for Trump.
He noted that Congress established the Department of Education in 1979, emphasizing that only legislative action could officially terminate the agency.
However, Rattansi stated that the Trump administration is effectively shutting down the department by significantly reducing its workforce.
The lower courts had previously found that the mass firings undermined the department’s functionality, leading to a stay on the dismissals.
Rattansi also explained that the Supreme Court accepted the government’s arguments that the layoffs were part of a strategy to eliminate bureaucratic votes, despite President Trump’s explicit executive order calling for the dismantling of the Department of Education.
This ruling implies that even if Trump ultimately loses the ongoing litigation concerning the downsizing of the Department of Education, the administration may have already accomplished its goals through mass firings.
Trump celebrated the Supreme Court’s decision, announcing it as a “Major Victory to Parents and Students across the Country” on his Truth Social platform.
He claimed that this ruling would facilitate the administration’s effort to return numerous departmental functions “BACK TO THE STATES.”
Secretary of Education Linda McMahon expressed her disappointment that it took intervention from the Supreme Court for Trump’s plan to advance.
She remarked in a statement, “Today, the Supreme Court again confirmed the obvious: the President of the United States, as the head of the Executive Branch, has the ultimate authority to make decisions about staffing levels, administrative organization, and day-to-day operations of federal agencies.”
This ruling rescinds a prior decision made by US District Judge Myong Joun in May, who stated that the cuts could “likely cripple the department.”
A US Court of Appeals echoed this sentiment in a ruling on June 4, concluding that the reductions would render it “effectively impossible for the Department to carry out its statutory functions,” which include overseeing student loans and enforcing civil rights laws in education.
These areas have historically been embroiled in political disputes, including federal efforts to combat racial segregation.
Democracy Forward, a liberal legal organization that represents various school districts and unions, described the Supreme Court’s ruling as a “devastating blow to this nation’s promise of public education for all children.”
Skye Perryman, the group’s president and CEO, asserted, “We will aggressively pursue every legal option as this case proceeds to ensure that all children in this country have access to the public education they deserve.”
The Supreme Court’s decision was communicated through a brief, unsigned order, with dissenting opinions from its three liberal justices.
Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Ketanji Brown Jackson, and Elena Kagan argued that the ruling poses a “grave” threat to the separation of powers mandated by the Constitution.
They noted, “As Congress mandated, the Department plays a vital role in this Nation’s education system, safeguarding equal access to learning and channeling billions of dollars to schools and students across the country each year.”
Critics of the Trump administration have accused it of attempting to dismantle federal agencies established and funded by Congress through an expansive interpretation of executive power.
Trump and his Republican allies have often portrayed these agencies as being in opposition to their political agenda, labeling them as bastions of left-wing ideology and bureaucratic inefficiency.
Additionally, the Trump administration has sought to exert more control over US universities, aiming for a larger role in shaping academic curricula and threatening to withdraw federal funds should institutions fail to comply with government demands regarding issues such as student activism related to Palestine.
This ruling marks yet another victory for the Trump administration at the Supreme Court level.
image source from：aljazeera
