Supreme Court rules on Trump's mass layoffs at Education Department

The Supreme Court cleared the way for the Education Department to fire hundreds of employees on Monday, a move that advances President Donald Trump's plans to dismantle the department.

The high court's decision in McMahon v. State of New York was issued 6-3 along ideological lines.

The decision temporarily pauses an order by a lower court judge that had reinstated roughly 1,400 employees at the Education Department.

DEM AGS SUE OVER TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION LAYOFFS

Facade of the Supreme Court. (Valerie Plesch/picture alliance via Getty Images)

In March, Education Secretary Linda McMahon laid off half of the department's workforce as part of the Trump administration's broader reduction in force efforts. Later that month, Trump announced in an executive order that he planned to shutter the department altogether.

The Supreme Court's order arose from two lawsuits, including one brought by 20 Democrat-led states, who challenged the Education Department's layoffs and planned dismantling.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor, one of the three dissenting justices, said the majority's emergency decision was "indefensible."

"When the Executive publicly announces its intent to break the law, and then executes on that promise, it is the Judiciary’s duty to check that lawlessness, not expedite it," Sotomayor wrote.

Education Secretary Linda McMahon attends a Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Commission Event in the East Room of the White House, Thursday, May 22, 2025, in Washington.  (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

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