The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court on Friday to allow it to resume gutting the Education Department after a lower court judge blocked the efforts.
Trump campaigned on abolishing the department, and his administration since taking office has looked to gut its workforce and operations.
U.S. District Judge Myong Joun last month blocked the efforts, ordering the administration to reinstate nearly 1,400 laid off employees and take other actions to reverse the president’s directives.
“Each day this preliminary injunction remains in effect subjects the Executive Branch to judicial micromanagement of its day-to-day operations,” Solicitor General D. John Sauer wrote in the new application.
It marks the Trump administration’s 19th emergency plea to the Supreme Court since taking office.
The legal battle comes in response to two lawsuits filed by Democratic-led states, school districts and teachers’ unions, that argue Trump is effectively shutting down the department and can’t move forward without congressional authority.
Joun agreed, writing in his May 22 ruling that the president’s “true intention is to effectively dismantle the Department without an authorizing statute.” Joun was appointed by former President Biden.
His injunction reversed mass layoffs in March that cut the department’s staff in half, as well as plans to transfer management of student loans and other functions elsewhere in the government.
The Justice Department brought the case to the Supreme Court after a federal appeals court declined to immediately lift Joun’s ruling.
While acknowledging it would need congressional authority to completely shut down the Education Department, the Trump administration argues it is acting lawfully because it has retained sufficient staff to carry out the department’s mandatory functions.
The administration also asserts the plaintiffs have no legal standing to sue and only the Merit Systems Protection Board can order the employees’ reinstatement, not a federal district judge.
“Each of these errors independently warrants relief,” Sauer wrote.
Updated at 11:36 a.m. EDT
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