A federal judge in Massachusetts blocked President Donald Trump’s executive order calling for Secretary Linda McMahon to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education.
U.S. District Judge Myong Joun granted a preliminary injunction on Thursday stopping the administration from carrying out plans announced in March that lay the groundwork for its goal of shutting down the department, AP News reports.
Joun also ordered the administration to reinstate Education Department employees who lost their jobs during a mass layoff in March and “to restore the Department to the status quo.” The department announced on March 11 that it had laid off about 1,300 people — nearly 50% of its workforce. The impacted employees were placed on administrative leave beginning March 21.
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Thursday’s ruling was in response to two lawsuits that said Trump’s plan to shut down the department was illegal. One suit was filed by the Somerville and Easthampton school districts, 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 the 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.”
The Trump administration said restructuring the agency “may impact certain services until the reorganization is finished,” but that it’s committed to fulfilling its statutory requirements. Joun wrote that the “idea that Defendants’ actions are merely a ‘reorganization’ is plainly not true.”
The department said it would challenge the order.
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“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 also wrote that he saw “no evidence that the [reduction-in-force] has actually made the Department more efficient. Rather, the record is replete with evidence of the opposite.”
