BREAKING: Trump admin BLOCKED from closing Dept of Education by federal judge

US District Judge Myong Joun blocked the Trump administration from carrying out a March 11 reduction in force, Trump’s March 20 executive order directing the Secretary of Education to take "all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education," and Trump’s March 21 order directing the transfer of federal student loan management to the Small Business Administration.

Those employees who had already been fired as a result of the reduction-in-force order were required to be reinstated, Joun ruled.

The March 11 reduction-in-force directive stated that around 2,183 employees, or around 50 percent of the department’s 4,133 employees, would be cut. "When combined with the 259 employees who accepted resignation as part of the 'Fork in the Road' initiative, as well as the 313 employees who accepted a 'Voluntary Separation Incentive Payment,' the Department’s total numbers after the RIF is estimated at 1,950 employees—roughly a 50% reduction from the Department’s 4,133 employees at the beginning of President Trump’s second term."

"The record abundantly reveals that Defendants’ true intention is to effectively dismantle the Department without an authorizing statute,” Joun, a Biden appointee, wrote. "The idea that Defendants’ actions are merely a ‘reorganization’ is plainly not true."

This is a breaking story. Please refresh the page for updates.