Just in…
A district judge on Thursday blocked President Trump’s executive order calling for the closure of the Department of Education — as well as against the reduction in force that laid off half of the agency’s workers.
U.S. District Judge Myong Joun’s order blocks the Trump administration from carrying out the mass-firing at the DOE announced in March and orders that any employees who were already fired be reinstated.
The ruling is a blow to Trump’s efforts to eliminate the department and the quick actions taken by Education Secretary Linda McMahon to make that campaign pledge a reality.
The plaintiffs “have provided an in-depth look into how the massive reduction in staff has made it effectively impossible for the Department to carry out its statutorily mandated functions,” District Judge Myong Joun said.
“Defendants do acknowledge, as they must, that the Department cannot be shut down without Congress’s approval, yet they simultaneously claim that their legislative goals (obtaining Congressional approval to shut down the Department) are distinct from their administrative goals (improving efficiency). There is nothing in the record to support these contradictory positions,” his ruling continues.
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The ruling comes just a day after another federal judge blocked Trump’s administration from firing two Democrat members of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board on Wednesday.
U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton found that allowing unilateral firings would prevent the board from carrying out its purpose.
This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.
Wrong Judge NOT Your call