The Supreme Court issued a 6-3 ruling on Monday allowing President Donald Trump’s Department of Education to resume efforts to slash its workforce in half.
The decision reverses a lower court ruling ordering the reinstatement of Department of Education employees cut loose in mass layoffs, and ultimately allows Education Secretary Linda McMahon to continue her mission of winding down the department.
The Department of Education announced in March that it was reducing its workforce by half in an effort to streamline the department and cut down on unnecessary bureaucracy.
Before the cuts, the Department of Education had 4,133 total staff, a number senior department officials said “exist[ed] largely to oversee contractors, add strings, and in many cases do duplicative efforts across the department.”
Senior department officials said at the time the cuts would not impact student aid, the rollout of FAFSA by October 1, funding for special-needs students, Civil Rights investigations, and other functions statutorily mandated by Congress.
