Article Summary –
The Trump administration is seeking a Supreme Court stay on a ruling that prevents it from dismantling the Department of Education, a move aligned with the Project 2025 agenda to eliminate the department and reduce federal education involvement. Despite a federal court’s injunction, the administration has attempted various strategies to undermine the department, including employee layoffs, freezing teacher-training grants, threatening universities’ funding, and proposing budget cuts to key education programs. However, the administration cannot unilaterally dissolve the Department of Education, as such action would require congressional approval, which seems unlikely due to potential Democratic filibusters.
President Donald Trump’s administration is requesting that the Supreme Court halt a federal appeals court’s decision preventing it from abolishing the Department of Education.
In a motion filed on June 6, U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer claimed the appeals court’s ruling would cause “irreparable harm” to the government and burden it with rehiring laid-off Department of Education staff.
The administration has aimed to dismantle the federal department since its inception, aligning with Project 2025, a Heritage Foundation-backed plan for Trump’s second term.
The Trump administration executed a “reduction in force” at the Department of Education on March 11 to halve its staff, followed by a March 20 directive to Education Secretary Linda McMahon to facilitate the Department’s closure.
“Closing the Department of Education would offer children and families a chance to escape a failing system,” Trump stated in an executive order. “Federal education bureaucracy is ineffective.”
In May, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction halting the administration’s plans, ordering reinstatement of laid-off employees.
On June 4, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit upheld the ruling.
Judge David Barron noted in the panel’s decision that the case questioned whether the department could fulfill its duties or be effectively closed by mass terminations.
The original court order required the Trump administration to reinstate all employees terminated on or after Jan. 20 and submit regular status reports.
The ruling is not final; it only pauses the Department of Education’s dismantling while the case proceeds. The Trump administration cannot unilaterally dissolve the Department of Education; Congress must pass a bill, and a Senate vote overcoming a Democratic filibuster is unlikely without rule changes.
Experts indicate Trump’s actions align with Project 2025’s agenda, which advocates eliminating the Department of Education. The administration has also frozen teacher-training grants and proposed cutting $12 billion from low-income student programs.
The administration has used the Department of Education to threaten Columbia University’s accreditation and withhold grants from Harvard University over various grievances, including hiring certain political figures as educators.
Congressional Republicans have introduced a nationwide school voucher program in a reconciliation bill passed by the House, offering tax credits for private school scholarships.
The administration also sought to end Head Start, a federal program for low-income families. In January, the White House froze funding but rescinded the freeze after a lawsuit by 23 state attorneys general.
The closure of regional offices has further complicated funding access for local Head Start programs. Though initially considering eliminating Head Start funding, the administration’s 2026 budget proposal eventually retained it.
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