On Thursday, a federal judge in Boston blocked Donald Trump’s executive order aimed at dismantling the U.S. Department of Education, serving a blow to the president’s long-standing plan to shrink the federal government.
The ruling also requires the agency to reinstate employees who were fired in mass layoffs announced earlier this year.
U.S. District Judge Myong Joun issued a preliminary injunction halting the administration’s efforts to gut the department, saying the plan would inflict “irreparable harm” on students, schools, and vulnerable communities across the country.
“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,” Joun wrote in his ruling.
The executive order, issued in March, sent waves across the education world. Trump’s plan involved sweeping layoffs and restructuring within the Department of Education, a move critics said was a thinly veiled attempt to shut it down altogether.
While the administration claimed the layoffs were simply about efficiency, education advocates weren’t buying it.
The lawsuit, filed by school districts in Somerville and Easthampton, Massachusetts, along with the American Federation of Teachers and other advocacy groups, argued that the layoffs amounted to an illegal dismantling of the department. And more importantly, it left the federal government unable to do its job.
We’re talking key functions like funding special education, distributing student financial aid, and enforcing civil rights protections in schools. All of that would’ve been compromised, the plaintiffs said.
In his order, Judge Joun didn’t hold back. He noted that mass layoffs would likely “cripple the Department”, preventing it from performing its congressionally mandated responsibilities. He ordered that all employees who were let go as part of the March 11 announcement be reinstated immediately.
For now, the Department of Education stays open and staffed. But this ruling doesn’t end the battle. It’s a temporary injunction, which means the final outcome could still change depending on how the case plays out in court.
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