permits for parking. workspace. cards for access.
Instead, the U.S. Department of Education has reportedly been working on the logistics for weeks after being ordered to bring back about 1,300 laid-off employees. The Trump administration, meanwhile, wants the US Supreme Court to rule that they are not required to reinstate those employment.
The extent to which President Donald Trump and Education Secretary Linda McMahon can restructure the federal bureaucracy without congressional consent is being tested by the legal dispute over the employment status of Education Department employees.
Meanwhile, the workers continue to live in limbo, receiving compensation for work they are not authorized to do.
According to a study conducted by the union that represents Education Department employees, the government spends almost $7 million every month on staff absenteeism. Supervisors who are not members of American Federation of Government Employee Local 252 are not included in that number.
Brittany Coleman, an attorney at the Office for Civil Rights and the lead steward for AFGE Local 252, called it horribly inefficient. Because we are unable to perform our duties, the American people are not receiving what they require.
A week after being confirmed by the Senate, McMahon announced the layoffs in March and characterized them as a first step toward dissolving the Education Department. A few days later, McMahon was instructed by an executive order signed by Trump to take all legal action to close the department.
The American Federation of Teachers, other education organizations, 21 Democratic attorneys general, and the Massachusetts school districts of Somerville and Easthampton sued McMahon over the cuts. They claimed that because of the size of the layoffs, the Education Department would be unable to carry out its legal obligations.
The Institute of Education Sciences, Federal Student Aid, and the Office for Civil Rights were particularly badly struck by the layoffs. Within the Education Department, these agencies are in charge of carrying out nationally prescribed tasks. By law, the Education Department can only be abolished by Congress.
Judge Myong Joun of the U.S. District Court concurred, granting a broad preliminary injunction in May that prevented the Education Department from attempting to destroy or significantly restructure the department and mandated that laid-off workers return to work.
The issue is currently on the Supreme Court’s emergency docket, where a judgment could be made at any time. The Trump administration requested a stay of that order.
Solicitor General John Sauer contended in the administration’s appeal to the Supreme Court that the plaintiffs’ claims of harm were mainly speculative, that they had not demonstrated that the department was failing to carry out its responsibilities, and that they lacked standing to sue because layoffs primarily affect department employees rather than states, school districts, and educational institutions.
Sauer also contended that the injunction unfairly places the judicial branch in charge of hiring decisions that belong to the executive branch, in violation of the separation of powers.
In a court filing, Sauer stated that the injunction is based on the implausible premise that each fired employee is required to carry out the Department of Education’s statutory duties. That injunction prevents the Executive Branch from firing anyone and essentially places the district court in a Cabinet position.
Compared to lower court justices, the conservative 6-3 majority Supreme Court has been more receptive to the administration’s claims. The court has already let teacher training grant cuts to proceed while a lawsuit is being processed. Additionally, it has stopped probationary employees who have been sacked from being reinstated.
A request for comment was not immediately answered by the Education Department.
Joun issued a supplemental order last week directing the Education Department to reinstate its Office for Civil Rights staff. Thousands of cases were left in limbo, with children either unable to safely return to school or experiencing severe bullying, according to the Victims Rights Law Center and other organizations.
The Education Department is still providing Joun with weekly updates regarding the difficulties in rehiring the laid-off workers in the meantime.Chief of Staff Rachel Oglesby stated in these court documents that a weekly meeting of an ad hoc committee of senior leadership is being held to determine where workers should report to work and where they may park.
The agency has cut its parking spot contracts, eliminated an interoffice shuttle, closed regional offices, and combined offices in three buildings in Washington, D.C. into one since the layoffs.
Oglesby stated in the most recent filing that a reintegration strategy is being developed by the department.
Coleman stated that she thinks these revisions are absurd.
Your working group would have found a method to bring us our laptops if you truly wanted to follow the court’s instructions, she remarked.
