A federal judge on Thursday ordered the Trump administration to reinstate roughly 1,300 Education Department employees after Democrat-led states claimed that their removal violated congressional mandates.
District Judge Myong Joun, an appointee of former President Joe Biden based in Boston, agreed with the blue-state plaintiffs, holding that the administration’s mass removals were not purely discretionary uses of executive power.
“Congress rarely intends to prevent courts from enforcing its directives to federal agencies,” Joun wrote in an 88-page opinion. “For that reason, this Court applies a ‘strong presumption’ favoring judicial review of administrative action.”
The order blocks the Trump administration from enforcing its March executive actions, which aimed to reduce staff at the Education Department, require the rehiring of laid-off staff, and mandate weekly progress reports to the court until the agency is restored to its pre-Jan. 20 state.
Democratic attorneys general from 20 states and the District of Columbia teamed up with school districts and teachers unions who argued the removal decision would cause permanent damage to the department.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon has touted the staff removals as one of the department’s “final” missions. However, the administration has made clear that the move is part of a broader policy priority to allow states to better manage their own education programs.
“Education is fundamentally a state responsibility,” McMahon said in March. “Instead of filtering resources through layers of federal red tape, we will empower states to take charge and advocate for and implement what is best for students, families, and educators in their communities.”
The decision comes as lower courts have issued a wide range of decisions regarding federal employees, issuing sometimes conflicting opinions that have resulted in tens of thousands of federal workers being fired, rehired, and facing the threat of being fired again.
Earlier this month, a federal district judge in San Francisco blocked large-scale federal layoffs known as “reductions in force” for 14 days in an order implicating 20 federal agencies, including the State, Treasury, and Veterans Affairs departments.
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION LAYOFFS COULD BE A PREVIEW OF BIGGER THINGS TO COME
In that case, the Trump administration has asked the Supreme Court to overturn the lower court’s order blocking mass layoffs. The administration is likely to seek an appeal of Joun’s ruling.
The Washington Examiner contacted the Justice Department for a response.