WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� President Donald Trump's administration on Friday asked the Supreme Court to pause a court order to reinstate Education Department employees who were fired in as part of his plan to .
The Justice Department鈥檚 emergency appeal to the high court said U.S. District Judge Myong Joun in Boston exceeded his authority last month when he issued a preliminary injunction reversing the layoffs of nearly 1,400 people and putting the broader plan on hold.
Joun鈥檚 order has blocked one of the Republican president鈥檚 biggest campaign promises and effectively stalled the effort to wind down the department. A federal appeals court refused to put the order on hold while the administration appealed.
The judge wrote that the layoffs 鈥渨ill likely cripple the department.鈥�
But Solicitor General D. John Sauer wrote on Friday that Joun was substituting his policy preferences for those of the Trump administration.
The layoffs help put in the place the 鈥減olicy of streamlining the department and eliminating discretionary functions that, in the administration鈥檚 view, are better left to the states,鈥� Sauer wrote.
He also pointed out that in April voted 5-4 to block Joun's earlier order seeking to keep in place Education Department .
The current case involves two consolidated lawsuits that said Trump鈥檚 plan amounted to an illegal closure of the Education Department.
One suit was filed by the Somerville and Easthampton school districts in Massachusetts along with the American Federation of Teachers and other education groups. The other suit was filed by a coalition of 21 Democratic attorneys general.
The suits argued that layoffs left the department unable to carry out responsibilities required by Congress, including duties to , and .
Education Department employees who were targeted by the layoffs have been on paid leave since March, according to a union that represents some of the agency鈥檚 staff. Joun鈥檚 order prevents the department from fully terminating them, but none have been allowed to return to work, according to the American Federation of Government Employees Local 252. Without Joun鈥檚 order, the workers were scheduled to be terminated Monday.
The Education Department said Friday it is 鈥渁ctively assessing how to reintegrate鈥� the employees. A department email sent Friday asked them to share whether they had gained other employment, saying the request was meant to 鈥渟upport a smooth and informed return to duty.鈥�
Trump has made it a priority to shut down the Education Department, though he has acknowledged that only Congress has the authority to do that. In the meantime, Trump issued a March order directing to wind it down 鈥渢o the maximum extent appropriate and permitted by law.鈥�
Trump later said the department鈥檚 functions will be parceled to other agencies, suggesting that federal student loans should be managed by the Small Business Administration and programs involving students with disabilities would be absorbed by the Department of Health and Human Services. Those changes have not yet happened.
The president argues that the Education Department has been overtaken by liberals and has failed to spur improvements to the nation鈥檚 lagging academic scores. He has promised to 鈥渞eturn education to the states.鈥�
Opponents note that K-12 education is already mostly overseen by states and cities.
Democrats have blasted the Trump administration鈥檚 Education Department budget, which seeks a 15% budget cut including a $4.5 billion cut in K-12 funding as part of the agency鈥檚 downsizing.
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Associated Press writer Collin Binkley contributed to this report.
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Mark Sherman, The Associated Press
