Divided court clears way for Trump to cut education department jobs

(Web Desk): A divided US Supreme Court has granted former President Donald Trump permission to resume efforts to dismantle the Department of Education, marking a major development in his ongoing push to shrink the federal government.

According to a report by AFP, the conservative-majority Supreme Court issued an unsigned order on Monday lifting a ban imposed by a federal district judge, which had blocked large-scale layoffs within the Department of Education.

Three liberal justices on the nine-member bench dissented from the decision.

During his White House campaign, Trump had promised to abolish the Department of Education, which was established in 1979 by an act of Congress. In March, he ordered the workforce of the department to be cut nearly in half.

Trump had also directed Education Secretary Linda McMahon to "prepare to make herself unemployed."

Around 20 US states, in coordination with teachers’ unions, challenged the move in court. They argued that the Republican president was violating the constitutional principle of separation of powers by interfering in congressional authority.

In May, District Judge Myung Joon had ordered the reinstatement of hundreds of laid-off Department of Education employees.

However, the Supreme Court overturned that ruling without providing an explanation. The decision came during a period in which the court has allowed Trump to carry out sweeping dismissals across other federal agencies as well.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor, joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson, wrote in a dissenting opinion that the authority to dismantle the Department of Education rests solely with Congress.

Their dissent warned that the majority opinion is either “willfully blind to its consequences or dangerously naïve,” and in either case, it poses a serious threat to the constitutional separation of powers.

Traditionally, the federal government has played a limited role in American education, providing only about 13% of funding for primary and secondary schools — with the remainder coming from state and local governments.

However, federal funding is considered vital for low-income schools and students with special needs. The federal government also plays a key role in safeguarding students’ civil rights.

Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has instructed all federal agencies to prepare workforce reduction plans. This directive falls under the Department of Government Efficiency (DGE), which was previously led by Elon Musk, and aims to significantly shrink the size of the federal government.

Trump has already begun implementing plans to terminate a large number of civil servants and eliminate several programs and agencies — including diversity initiatives, the Department of Education, the US Agency for International Development (USAID), and others.