Supreme Court Gives OK to Shutter Dept of Education

St. Croix Times Staff

Washington, D.C. - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday that it would allow the Trump Administration to resume closing down the U.S. Department of Education. 

The court stayed a preliminary injunction issued in May by a federal judge in Massachusetts. That injunction had directed the Administration to stop gutting the Department and to reinstate many of the nearly 1,400 workers the government had laid off by Executive Order signed by President Trump on March 20, 2025. That order directed Education Secretary Linda McMahon to downsize the DOE “to the maximum extent” permitted by law. 

Monday’s ruling is not the final word, as the case continues to work its way through the lower courts. But it deals a serious blow to the States and school districts who had filed suit and who worry that, without an injunction, much of the damage done to the Department before a final ruling will be impossible to reverse. 

The Court’s 6-3 decision was unsigned, and the majority did not explain its thinking. 

Governor Albert Bryan Jr. recently stated that he was aligned with many of the Trump Administration policies including education reform, in particular President Trump’s efforts to reduce bureaucratic hurdles that delay the allocation of federal monies to the States and Territories. The Governor has emphasized that deregulation might enable the Territory to spend allocated funds more efficiently in order to meet pressing educational needs.