Federal judge blocks Trump admin moves to dismantle Dept of Education

U.S. District Judge Myong Joun's order blocks the Trump administration from carrying out the mass-firing at ED announced in March and orders that any employees who were already fired be reinstated.

Joun's order noted Trump's repeated calls to shut down the department while on the campaign trail, and argued the reduction in force was his means of doing so.

"The idea that Defendants' actions are merely a 'reorganization' is plainly not true," Joun wrote.

"Defendants do acknowledge, as they must, that the Department cannot be shut down without Congress's approval, yet they simultaneously claim that their legislative goals (obtaining Congressional approval to shut down the Department) are distinct from their administrative goals (improving efficiency). There is nothing in the record to support these contradictory positions," his ruling continues.

The DOE rejected Joun's ruling in a statement to Fox News Digital, labeling him a "far-left judge" who "overstepped his authority."

"President Trump and the Senate-confirmed Secretary of Education clearly have the authority to make decisions about agency reorganization efforts, not an unelected Judge with a political axe to grind," spokeswoman Madi Biedermann said in a statement. "This ruling is not in the best interest of American students or families. We will immediately challenge this on an emergency basis."

U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton found that allowing unilateral firings would prevent the board from carrying out its purpose.

Walton wrote that allowing at-will removals would make the board "beholden to the very authority it is supposed to oversee on behalf of Congress and the American people."

The oversight board was initially created by Congress to ensure that federal counterterrorism policies were in line with privacy and civil liberties law.

"The Constitution gives President Trump the power to remove personnel who exercise his executive authority," White House spokesman Harrison Fields told The Associated Press. "The Trump Administration looks forward to ultimate victory on the issue."