The Ed. Dept. had paused the move after a federal court ordered it to stop mass layoffs
The U.S. Department of Education (ED) is moving quickly to downsize its operations following a Supreme Court decision that struck down a lower court’s order halting mass firings and other changes. ED is resuming a partnership with the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), which will take on “a greater role in administering” key workforce programs. Specifically, DOL will help manage career and technical education programs funded by the $1.4 billion Perkins program, as well as adult education and family literacy programs under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. This move is part of the Trump administration’s effort to shrink ED, with laid-off staff recently notified that their administrative leave would end on August 1st.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon defended the partnership, stating it is “inefficient and duplicative” for multiple agencies to manage the federal government’s workforce training portfolio. Under the agreement, DOL’s employment and training administration will handle the “day-to-day” authorization of formula grants for both CTE and adult learners, though the administration is currently withholding two major adult education formula grants totaling over $700 million and has proposed eliminating them in future years. The text of the agreement explicitly cites the President’s executive order from March directing McMahon to facilitate the department’s closure.
This combination of workforce reduction and program transfer has drawn legal challenges. Lawsuits argue that the Trump administration is attempting to effectively shutter the department without the necessary approval from Congress, which is the only entity that can abolish a Cabinet-level agency. U.S. District Judge Myong Joun previously agreed with this view, ordering ED to reinstate the 1,400 employees it laid off in March and halt efforts to implement the closure order. ED’s Chief of Staff Rachel Oglesby had indicated the department paused “significant interagency agreements” in compliance with that original court order, including the one with the Labor Department.
The administration has made it clear it intends for other agencies to eventually take over ED’s core functions. In his second term, the President has proposed transferring oversight of services for students with disabilities to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and moving the management of $1.6 trillion in student loans to the U.S. Department of the Treasury or the Small Business Administration. In addition to the Labor arrangement, ED also has a “detail agreement” with the Treasury Department to assist with a delinquent debt collection program, though negotiations regarding the student loan portfolio were paused due to the earlier court injunction.
Read the full story here by Brooke Schultz — July 15, 2025 – EdWeek
