Court blocks Trump's plan to dismantle Department of Education
In March, President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at "closing the Department of Education and returning authority to the states.
Although the executive order was met with cheers from conservatives, a federal court has killed it for now.
Appeals court refuses to lift injunction
Fox News reported on Wednesday that the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit refused to lift a temporary injunction which had been imposed by a lower court.
The injunction prevents Trump from making good on his plan to cut the Department of Education's workforce in half as a step towards abolishing it completely.
It was imposed in response to a lawsuit filed in the District of Massachusetts by the governments of Washington, D.C. and two states along with five organized labor groups and a pair of school districts.
"What is at stake in this case, the District Court found, was whether a nearly half-century-old cabinet department would be permitted to carry out its statutorily assigned functions or prevented from doing so by a mass termination of employees aimed at implementing the effective closure of that department," the court of appeals wrote.
"Given the extensive findings made by the District Court and the absence of any contrary evidence having been submitted by the appellants, we conclude that the appellants' stay motion does not warrant our interfering with the ordinary course of appellate adjudication in the face of what the record indicates would be the apparent consequences of our doing so," the ruling continued.
Bill would abolish Department of Education
Fox News noted that while Trump's executive order remains tied up in the judicial branch, Republican lawmakers are seeking to get rid of the Department of Education via legislation.
Federal appeals court throws roadblock at Trump's education reform agenda https://t.co/IaVo0Ameek
— Fox News (@FoxNews) June 5, 2025
Known as the "Returning Education to Our States Act," the legislation was introduced late last year by South Dakota Republican Sen. Mike Rounds.
Under its provisions, the Department of Education's current responsibilities would be reassigned to the Departments of Interior, Treasury, Health and Human Services, Labor, Defense, Justice and State.
Rounds: Department "has grown into an oversized bureaucracy"
"The Department of Education was created to collect education data and advise state and local organizations on best practices," Rounds told Fox News.
"Since then, it has grown into an oversized bureaucracy that dictates one-size-fits-all policies, standards and practices for students across the nation," he went on to complain.
