Following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in mid-July, the Trump administration proceeded with 1,400 layoffs at the U.S. Department of Education as it continues its plans to dismantle the agency. The court voted 6-3 to lift a Massachusetts judge’s preliminary injunction in May.

The 1,400 workers — about a third of the department’s staff — were initially laid off after President Donald Trump’s March 20 executive order to close the agency. Nearly 600 other workers accepted deferred resignation.

Writing for the minority, Justice Sonia Sotomayor said the decision poses a grave threat to the Constitution’s separation of powers. Congress established the agency in 1979.

The terminations “eliminated whole offices and teams,” she wrote, including the Office of English Language Acquisition, Office of General Counsel workers who handle special education, and a dozen Office for Civil Rights regional locations.

Education Week, July 14, 25
K-12 Dive, July 22