WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court just handed the Trump administration and Education Secretary Linda McMahon a legal victory that could unravel decades of federal education oversight, leaving millions of students, borrowers, and families vulnerable.
On Monday, the Court paused a lower court ruling that had blocked nearly 1,400 layoffs at the Department of Education and raised alarms over the legality of President Trump’s plan to dissolve the agency’s operations and spread its duties across other departments.
The Court is allowing McMahon and Trump to move ahead with gutting the department while the question of the legality continues to be litigated. It marks a major win for Trump who campaigned on dismantling the U.S. Dept. of Education.
“The Federal Government has been running our Education System into the ground, but we are going to turn it all around by giving the Power back to the PEOPLE,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
What’s at stake for student loans and civil rights protections?
Though Congress holds the power to formally abolish the department, Trump and McMahon are already moving its core functions elsewhere. Control of the nation’s $1.6 trillion student loan portfolio, which impacts nearly 43 million borrowers, could soon shift to the Treasury Department. Earlier this year, Trump floated the Small Business Administration for the task, but Treasury is now expected to take the lead, according to court filings.
Meanwhile, the department has already inked deals to hand off workforce training and adult education grants — a $2.6 billion portfolio — to the Department of Labor. Similar carve-outs could follow, potentially impacting everything from disability rights enforcement to civil rights investigations.
At her confirmation hearing, McMahon floated the idea of moving disability protections to Health and Human Services and civil rights oversight to the Justice Department.
Civil rights advocates are raising the alarm. Gaylynn Burroughs with the National Women’s Law Center warned that dismantling the department will gut federal enforcement of protections for girls, LGBTQ+ students, students with disabilities, and students of color.
“Without enough staff and resources, students will face more barriers to educational opportunity and have fewer places to turn to when their rights are violated,” Burroughs stated, the AP reported. “This is part of a coordinated plan by the Trump administration to dismantle the federal government and roll back hard-won civil rights protections.”
1,400 Education Department jobs on the chopping block
Even before this Supreme Court decision, McMahon had begun aggressively shrinking the agency. Roughly 1,400 employees have been on paid leave since March, awaiting word on their futures. A lower court had paused their terminations, but with that pause now lifted, layoffs are expected imminently.
That vacuum has already disrupted critical services. Melanie Storey, head of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, said colleges and universities have faced delays and breakdowns in federal systems, including outages on StudentAid.gov.
“It is concerning that the Court is allowing the Trump administration to continue with its planned reduction in force, given what we know about the early impact of those cuts on delivering much-needed financial assistance to students seeking a postsecondary education,” Storey said.
Related Stories:
- Linda McMahon won’t commit to civil rights protections as Ed. Sec.
- Feds investigating OU-Tulsa Medical school for alleged “impermissible” race-based scholarships
- “Big Beautiful Bill” Vote Looms Amid Uproar Over Program Cuts
Legal fight isn’t over — but layoffs are moving forward
While Democracy Forward, the legal team fighting the administration’s efforts, vows to keep up the court battle, the Supreme Court’s emergency ruling allows Trump and McMahon to forge ahead with downsizing in the meantime.
“No court in the nation — not even the Supreme Court — has found that what the administration is doing is lawful,” said Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward.
But that won’t stop the layoffs from happening now. And the impact will stretch far beyond paychecks. It could leave students across the country with nowhere to turn when their loans, rights, or futures are on the line.