President Donald Trump has never been shy when it comes to expressing his contempt for the U.S. Department of Education (DOE). Deriding it as staffed with "radicals, zealots, and Marxists" during his 2024 presidential campaign, he promised to shut the department down and give the power for education decisions to the states. The Trump administration followed through with the issuance of Executive Order 14242 on March 20, 2025, which called for the closure of the DOE.
Immediately opposed by legal action from groups including state attorneys general and teachers' unions, Order 14242 lost in both trial court and on appeal. As has become a commonplace occurrence, the Trump administration made an emergency application to the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) to lift the preliminary injunction issued by U.S. District Judge Myong J. Joun on May 22.
Once again, SCOTUS finds itself asked to intervene. The shuttering of a department created by the legislative branch is typically not an executive power.
Putting the Department of Education on the Chopping Block
In the 217-page application for a stay, attorneys for the Department of Education accuse the courts of "thwarting the ability of the executive branch to manage the Department of Education." The courts have ruled that it's less managing and more dismantling, which calls into question the scope of the president's power. Executive Order 14242 states in clear language that its purpose is to shut down the Department of Education.
The executive branch has control over maintaining and altering the departments within its purview. However, under the U.S. Constitution, the executive branch can't create or close a department without Congressional approval. Given the tenor of Executive Order 14242, the administration seems to be trying to determine how far the envelope can be pushed.
The preliminary injunction issued by Judge Joun was in response to a reduction in force (RIF) that affected almost half of the DOE's workforce in March 2025. It also suspended millions in educational grants. SCOTUS has already overruled an April Judge Joun injunction over $65 million in grants targeted for the placement of teachers in poor and rural areas, allowing the federal government to suspend the payments for the time being.
The Letter of the Law
In his decision allowing the preliminary injunction, Judge Joun wrote that while there's no law in place allowing the executive branch to dismantle the DOE without Congressional approval, that was clearly their intention. Whether the RIF and other actions that would effectively leave the DOE as an ineffectual husk are a legal workaround for the executive branch now rests in the hands of the highest court in the land. Considering it is a time-sensitive question, SCOTUS is expected to deliver a ruling sooner rather than later.
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