The conservative wing of the Supreme Court gave the middle finger to Congress, low-income families, student-loan holders, children with disabilities, girls, students of color, LGBTQ+ individuals, and more on Monday, when it ruled that the Trump administration can go forward with its plan to dismantle the Department of Education, a move that was previously blocked by a lower court and will harm literally millions of Americans.
In an unsigned order that did not explain the justices’ thinking—probably because the “fuck you” was implied—the court’s six conservatives, half of whom were appointed by Trump, reversed an injunction issued last May that had blocked some 1,400 DOE layoffs. The injunction, issued by Judge Myong Joun in Boston, called out Team Trump for cuts that would “likely cripple the department.” The administration has insisted that it wasn’t shuttering the DOE—which would take an act of Congress— but simply streamlining things, but Joun called bullshit, writing in his order: “A department without enough employees to perform statutorily mandated functions is not a department at all. This court cannot be asked to cover its eyes while the Department’s employees are continuously fired and units are transferred out until the Department becomes a shell of itself.”
In response to her conservative colleagues, Justice Sonia Sotomayor issued a sharply worded dissent on Monday, saying that “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.” Staying Joun’s order, she wrote, “will unleash untold harm, delaying or denying educational opportunities and leaving students to suffer from discrimination, sexual assault, and other civil rights violations without the federal resources Congress intended.” While the case—which combines ones brought by 20 states, the District of Columbia, the American Federation of Teachers, two school districts, and other unions—will continue to move its way through the lower courts, Education Secretary Linda McMahon called Monday’s ruling “a significant win for students and families.”
What, exactly, did students and families “win” here? As Time notes, the effective dismantling of the DOE would be devastating on numerous fronts and affect millions of Americans. For starters, gutting the department would likely mean less Title 1 funding, which currently provides billions for school districts with a large number of low-income students. (It may or may not surprise you to hear that Project 2025 called for Title 1 to be phased out over a decade, a move that Advancement Project executive director Judith Browne Dianis has warned would “harm nearly three million children throughout the US by exacerbating the gap between the haves and have-nots causing further loss of resources and support.”) Children with disabilities would also be majorly affected, given that the DOE oversees the distribution of some $15 billion in grants that fund special education services, services that were used by 7.5 million children in 2023. While Trump has said he would move special needs programs under the Department of Health and Human Services, critics have said that department lacks the necessary education expertise.
How about student-loan holders? Not surprisingly, they’d be likely screwed too. Per Time:
Experts have previously warned that the dismantling of the department could massively disrupt the student loan systems. Peter Granville, a fellow at progressive think tank The Century Foundation, told CBS News that nixing the department before outlining exact plans for student loans would be “a recipe for chaos and frustration for millions of people who rely” on the program.
What about civil rights protections?
With the Supreme Court ruling, the layoffs put on hold will continue and the enforcement of civil rights in schools is likely to take a hit—which will mean marginalized persons like women, LGBTQ+ individuals, and students with disabilities could lack available recourse and protections, according to Gaylynn Burroughs, vice president for education and workplace justice at the National Women’s Law Center. “For decades, the agency has played an essential role in safeguarding the rights of students, especially girls, students with disabilities, LGBTQI+ youth, and students of color,” Burroughs said in a statement. “Without enough staff and resources, students will face more barriers to educational opportunity and have fewer places to turn to when their rights are violated… The damage inflicted by this decision will be felt for generations.”
Monday’s ruling comes a week after the Supreme Court’s conservatives issued a similar decision allowing Trump to move forward with mass layoffs across federal agencies.
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