The United States Supreme Court has allowed the President Donald Trump administration to finally terminate Education Department grants for teachers' training in line with the government's new policy opposing diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts.
The decision by the apex court on Friday is a landmark win for President Donald Trump's administration since the beginning of his second term.
Accordingly, the 5-4 Supreme Court decision blocks a Massachusetts-based judge’s ruling that said the administration had failed to follow the correct legal process in terminating the grants.
This victory for Trump's administration policy comes after several judgements had temporarily blocked the government from terminating the pro-DEI teachers grants, which amounted in total to $600 million.
Recall that a lawsuit was filed in March this year by eight states, including California, Massachusetts, and New York — on behalf of entities that receive the grants, such as universities and nonprofits — saying the decision to rescind the awards violated a federal law called the Administrative Procedure Act.
U.S. District Judge Myong Joun issued a temporary restraining order blocking the administration’s move, saying officials had failed to properly explain their reasoning.
Also, the Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declined to block Joun’s ruling, noting that the Education Department had sent the same boilerplate letter to all of the grant awardees announcing the termination of funding. The letters contained no specific information on why any particular programme was deemed to be in violation of the anti-DEI policy, the appeals court said.
However, at this time, at the Supreme Court, Trump's officials argued that the district court judge who earlier blocked the government decision did not have the authority to order that the funds be paid under a federal law called the Administrative Procedure Act.
Administration officials said the funded programmes “promote or take part in DEI initiatives or other initiatives that unlawfully discriminate on the basis of race, colour, religion, sex, national origin, or another protected characteristic.”;
In court papers, acting Solicitor General Sarah Harris said many of the programmes contained “objectionable DEI material.”;
The case only involves grants issued to entities in the states that sued.
Trump last month signed an executive order that seeks to dismantle the Education Department, which aimed at eliminating the department; however, it would require congressional approval.
DAILY POST reports that two prior emergency applications filed by the Trump administration, the Supreme Court did not grant its requests.
