In a consequential move that could reshape federal education policy, the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday lifted a lower court’s block on massive layoffs at the U.S. Department of Education, effectively greenlighting the Trump administration’s plan to fire nearly 1,400 employees and begin a historic restructuring of the agency.
The unsigned ruling allows the administration to move forward with job cuts despite constitutional challenges and a strong dissent from the court’s liberal wing, which warned of an executive power overreach.
Liberal Justices Warn of “Unilateral Dismantling”
In a pointed 19-page dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson, accused the majority of endorsing a dangerous abuse of power.
“The president must take care that the laws are faithfully executed, not set out to dismantle them,” Sotomayor wrote. “Today, the majority rewards clear defiance of that core principle with emergency relief.”
The dissent painted the administration’s actions as a stealth campaign to eliminate a Cabinet-level agency without Congressional approval — something Justice Sotomayor said only Congress has the power to do.
