The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court on June 6 to allow it to resume dismantling the U.S. Department of Education, following a lower court’s previous order halting the process.
A federal district court issued an injunction last month blocking the process, directing the government to rehire some of the departmental employees who had been laid off.
“Each day this preliminary injunction remains in effect subjects the Executive Branch to judicial micromanagement of its day-to-day operations,” Solicitor General D. John Sauer said in the new emergency application.
President Donald Trump campaigned on shuttering the department.
On March 20, he signed Executive Order 14242, pledging to close the agency, which he said “has entrenched the education bureaucracy and sought to convince America that Federal control over education is beneficial.”
The department “does not educate anyone” and “maintains a public relations office that includes over 80 staffers at a cost of more than $10 million per year,” the executive order states.
In a May 22 order, U.S. District Judge Myong Joun of Massachusetts ordered the government to rehire about 1,400 laid-off employees and reverse other actions aimed at downsizing the department.
Joun said that for more than 150 years, “the federal government has played a crucial role in education.” Since it was created in 1979, the department’s “role in education across the nation cannot be understated,” he added.
The agency oversees the federal student loan system, performs research for states and schools, distributes federal funds, and enforces compliance with various federal laws.
Joan said it’s clear that the Trump administration’s “true intention is to effectively dismantle the Department” without first obtaining the required congressional approval.
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