The U.S. Supreme Court recently granted the Trump administration emergency relief allowing mass layoffs at the Department of Education to proceed for now. The Court unsigned order temporarily paused a lower court injunction that had required reinstatement of nearly 1,400 Education Department employees. The order enables the Department to issue termination notices while the broader legal battle continues.

Immediately following the decision, the Department notified affected employees their status would end August 1, attributing the cuts to “agency restructuring” rather than performance issues. The Supreme Court’s ruling was met with strong dissent: Justice Sonia Sotomayor, joined by Justices Kagan and Jackson, sharply condemned it, stating that the Court should be restraining executive overreach—not facilitating it. Sotomayor warned that the decision poses a serious threat to the constitutional separation of powers.

Lower courts had previously blocked the layoffs. District Judge Myong Joun had issued a preliminary injunction, finding that the reductions would “likely cripple the department” and that the administration’s plan to dismantle or shift functions away from the Department overstepped its authority. The Justice Department appealed, arguing that the lower court had exceeded its jurisdiction. The Supreme Court’s decision does not settle whether the restructurings are lawful in the long term—it simply clears the way for them to proceed temporarily.

In the wake of the ruling, critics warned of severe consequences: loss of institutional capacity, dangers to federal civil rights enforcement, and damage to educational oversight functions. Legal challenges remain ongoing, and the ultimate legality of mass layoffs without congressional authorization is still subject to court scrutiny.