Trump's Trials - Supreme Court says Trump's efforts to close the Education Department can continue

Episode Date: July 15, 2025

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday that it would allow the Trump administration to resume dismantling the U.S. Department of Education. NPR's Cory Turner reports.Support NPR and hear every episode of Trump's Terms sponsor-free with NPR+. Sign up at plus.npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

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Hi Corey. Hey, how are you? Hey, I'm all right. Okay, so what was the underlying case about that that led to this emergency appeal to the Supreme Court? Yeah, so it all goes back to President Trump's executive order earlier this year, where he instructed education Secretary Linda McMahon to dismantle the US Department of Education. The

department offered buyouts and early retirement and then in March, Elsa, McMahon ordered a massive reduction in force, laying off roughly 1,400 employees. You do the math, all these moves together cut the department essentially in half. And it is in response to these dramatic cuts that two different lawsuits were filed. They were eventually merged together. They tried to stop the Trump administration by arguing essentially that Congress created the department, only Congress can dismantle it. Now, in May, a federal judge in Boston agreed. He issued a preliminary injunction that told the administration to not only stop cutting the department,

but to reinstate those 1,400 employees that it had laid off. And it is that order, Elsa, that the Trump administration fast-tracked to the Supreme Court as part of this shadow docket and argued, look, we think the president does have the power to make these cuts, and we would like to get on with it. Okay, so say more about what the justices said in today's ruling. Well, they didn't say very much because it was part of the shadow docket. The ruling was unsigned and they offered no explanation at all. Um, only the only that the court's conservative justices appeared to agree to stay this lower court injunction,

which effectively allows the administration to resume cutting the department. Now, I will say one of the liberal justices, Sonia Sotomayor, wrote quite a bit in what is a pretty scathing dissent. She called the majority's decision indefensible and she wrote, quote, It hands the executive the power to repeal statutes by firing all those necessary to carry them out and that the threat to our Constitution separation of powers is grave. It goes without saying, Education Secretary Linda McMahon cheered the court's decision today. Education Secretary Linda McMahon cheered the court's decision today. In a press release, she said, Today's ruling is a significant win for students and families. Okay, well, practically speaking, what does the ruling mean for the Education Department then?

Well, on a human level, it means an end to the roller coaster ride for those roughly 1,400 Ed Department employees who suddenly lost their jobs in March and then didn't, and then didn't know. One of them texted me just a few hours after ruling today saying they had already gotten an email from the department telling them they would be terminated as of August 1st. Meanwhile, we've got to point out here, this case is still technically working its way

through the lower courts. This is not the last word, which is why the plaintiffs here were so worried about letting these cuts go through before they get their day in court, because these cuts are so severe that trying to undo them later would be kind of like trying to put fire back on a match. That is NPR's Cory Turner. Thank you, Cory. You're welcome. back on a match. That is NPR's Corey Turner. Thank you, Corey. You're welcome.

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