Federal judge blocks mass Education Department layoffs after California, others sue

A federal judge on Thursday blocked President Trump’s executive order to dismantle the Education Department and ordered the agency to reinstate more than 2,000 employees who were fired in mass layoffs.

In response to multiple lawsuits filed by California, Democrat-led states, Massachusetts school districts and education groups, U.S. District Judge Myong Joun in Boston granted a preliminary injunction stopping the Trump administration from carrying out staff reduction plans announced in March that sought to work toward Trump’s goal to shut down the department.

In a statement, the Trump administration said it would appeal the decision and accused Joun of having “dramatically overstepped his authority.”

“This ruling is not in the best interest of American students or families,” said Madi Biedermann, the Education Department’s deputy assistant secretary for communications. “We will immediately challenge this on an emergency basis.”

The ruling came in two consolidated lawsuits that said Trump’s plan broke the law in its move to close the Education Department.

In a suit filed by California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta and attorneys general representing 19 other states and the District of Columbia, lawyers said the Education Department cuts amounted to an illegal shutdown of its work to administer student loans, protect civil rights and help educate students from low-income families and those with disabilities.

California accused the Trump administration of violating the separation of powers laid out in the Constitution and the Administrative Procedure Act, which regulates executive branch rulemaking.

Another suit was filed by the Somerville and Easthampton school districts in Massachusetts along with the American Federation of Teachers and other education groups.

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Both suits argued that layoffs left the department unable to carry out responsibilities required by Congress.

In a statement, Bonta celebrated the judge’s move.

“As long as the Trump administration persists in violating the law, we will continue to hold him accountable... I am encouraged by the court’s ruling today restoring fired Education Department employees to their positions while our case progresses. We will continue to fight to ensure the unlawful and absurd dismantling of the Department of Education is reversed — permanently,” Bonta said.

The decision marked a setback to one of Trump’s campaign promises. But it remains unclear how many employees would opt to return to their jobs after more than two months away. Many have moved on to other positions in the private sector, and the judge’s order to reinstate positions is not the final word. The department was dramatically reduced to less than half its Biden-era size and the case continues to be litigated.

“I’m not surprised, because the Department of Education was authorized by Congress, and so Congress has the power, not the president, to dismantle it... Now, the question is, what can be done to undo the dismantling that’s already occurred?” said Pedro Noguera, dean of the USC Rossier School of Education. “And I don’t know if it’s even possible to bring those people back on to do the work they were doing. I’m afraid a lot of the damage has been done.”

An attorney who was formerly employed in the department’s Office for Civil Rights in San Francisco — where dozens of laid-off lawyers previously handled the state’s civil rights cases related to K-12 schools and universities — told The Times they were ready to work.

“I think many of us will go back... for now. Much depends on how this is implemented. For now, we are very excited,” said the attorney, who was not authorized to speak.

Some conservative groups bemoaned the ruling, saying they had supported Trump and Education Secretary Linda McMahon’s goals of downsizing the federal education workforce so that states, which already handle the vast majority of education matters, could shoulder more responsibility.

“Parents are asking for accountability, local control, and a focus on student success — not the preservation of ineffective structures,” said Madison Miner, the Orange County chair of Moms for Liberty, a conservative organization that opposes curricula about LGBTQ+ rights, race and ethnicity. “This ruling feels out of touch with the needs of families and taxpayers.”

In his order, Joun said the plaintiffs painted a “stark picture of the irreparable harm that will result from financial uncertainty and delay, impeded access to vital knowledge on which students and educators rely, and loss of essential services for America’s most vulnerable student populations.”

Layoffs of that scale, he added, “will likely cripple the department. The idea that defendants’ actions are merely a ‘reorganization’ is plainly not true.”

Joun gave the department 24 hours to notify its employees of his ruling, and instructed the department to report back to court within three days about the status of hiring back former workers.

“Today’s order means that the Trump administration’s disastrous mass firings of career civil servants are blocked while this wildly disruptive and unlawful agency action is litigated,” said Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, which represents plaintiffs in the Massachusetts school districts case.

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Biedermann said in a statement that the ruling was made by a “far-left judge” who “dramatically overstepped his authority, based on a complaint from biased plaintiffs, and issued an injunction against the obviously lawful efforts to make the Department of Education more efficient and functional for the American people.”

“President Trump and the Senate-confirmed Secretary of Education clearly have the authority to make decisions about agency reorganization efforts, not an unelected judge with a political axe to grind,” Biedermann said.

The Trump administration has said the layoffs are aimed at efficiency, not a department shutdown. Trump has called for the closure of the agency but recognizes it must be carried out by Congress, government lawyers have said in court hearings and filings.

The administration has said restructuring the agency “may impact certain services until the reorganization is finished” but it’s committed to fulfilling its statutory requirements.

California receives billions in federal funding from the Education Department for K-12 and higher-education students and programs. That includes $16.3 billion annually in federal funding for K-12 school students, or about $2,750 per student. The Los Angeles Unified School District — the nation’s second-largest school system — puts its annual federal support at $1.26 billion.

Not all of those dollars go through the Department of Education. Significant federal funding for early-childhood education comes from the Department of Health and Human Services, and the student meal program is funded by the Department of Agriculture. The Education Department also handles student loans for 43 million borrowers who owe the government more than $1.5 trillion.

About half of Cal State University students receive student loans, a portfolio of more than $1 billion. In addition, the Pell Grant program, which awards more than $120 billion to 13 million students each year, is also managed by the department. About $1.5 billion per year is set aside in Pell Grants for California students.

The closures also affected the department’s San Francisco civil rights office, which had a caseload of roughly 1,500 and more than 50 lawyers before it shuttered earlier this year. The cases focused on alleged unequal academic instruction for disabled students; allegations of campus sexual assault; claims of unfair discipline meted out to students of color; and alleged bullying of LGBTQ+ students. Under Trump, the department has shifted its focus to investigating accusations of antisemitism as well as anti-Asian and anti-white discrimination.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.