Judge deals major blow to Trump's order dismantling Education Department

A federal judge blocked an executive order by president Donald Trump to shut down the Department of Education.

Boston-based U.S. District Judge Myong Joun granted a preliminary injunction blocking the Trump administration from dismantling the federal agency and ordered the reinstatement of employees laid off in March, reported CNN.

[The plaintiffs painted a] stark picture of the irreparable harm that will result from financial uncertainty and delay, impeded access to vital knowledge on which students and educators rely, and loss of essential services for America’s most vulnerable student populations," Joun wrote in his order.

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A pair of Massachusetts school districts had challenged the layoffs as illegal and argued Trump's order had left the department unable to carry out duties required by Congress to support special education, disburse financial aid and enforce civil rights laws.

Layoffs of the scale imposed by the administration “will likely cripple the Department," the judge found.