By COLLIN BINKLEY

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Monday cleared the way for the Trump administration to continue unwinding the Education Department, allowing it to move ahead with mass layoffs and a plan to outsource the department’s operations to other agencies.

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The justices paused a lower court order that had halted nearly 1,400 layoffs and had called into question the legality of President Donald Trump’s plan to dismantle the department.

Now, Trump and his education secretary, Linda McMahon, are free to execute the layoffs and break up the department’s work among other federal agencies.

They’re expected to move quickly—department lawyers have already previewed the plans in court filings.

What happens with student loans, civil rights cases

Trump and McMahon have acknowledged only Congress has authority to close the Education Department fully, but both have suggested its core functions could be parceled out to different federal agencies.

Among the most important decisions is where to put management of federal student loans, a $1.6 trillion portfolio affecting nearly 43 million borrowers.

Trump in March suggested the Small Business Administration would take on federal student loans, but a June court filing indicated the Treasury Department is expected to take over the work. The Education Department said it had been negotiating a contract with Treasury but paused discussions when the court intervened. That work is now expected to proceed in coming days.

Under a separate arrangement, nine Education Department workers already have been detailed to Treasury, according to court filing.

The department had also recently struck a deal to outsource the management of several grant programs for workforce training and adult education to the Department of Labor. The Education Department agreed to send $2.6 billion to Labor to oversee grants, which are distributed to states to be passed down to schools and colleges.

Combining workforce training programs at Education and Labor would “provide a coordinated federal education and workforce system,” according to the agreement.

Additional agreements are expected to follow with other agencies. At her Senate confirmation hearing, McMahon suggested that enforcement of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act could be handled by the Department of Health and Human Services. Civil rights work could be managed by the Justice Department, she said.

Laying off staff

Trump campaigned on a promise to close the agency, and in March ordered it to be wound down “to the maximum extent appropriate and permitted by law.” McMahon had already started a dramatic downsizing, laying off about 1,400 workers and declaring “one final mission” to turn over the agency’s power to states.

Education Department employees targeted by the layoffs have been on paid leave since March, according to a union that represents some of the agency’s staff. The lower court order had prevented the department from fully terminating them, though none had been allowed to return to work, according to the American Federation of Government Employees Local 252. Without the lower court order, the workers would have been terminated in early June.

The Education Department had said earlier in June that it was “actively assessing how to reintegrate” the employees if courts did not rule in Trump’s favor.

The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

By Andre Fernandez

Former Miami Dolphins quarterback Teddy Bridgewater has been suspended by his alma mater, Miami Northwestern, from his head football coaching position at the school after he recently posted on social media that he paid for players’ Uber rides.

Bridgewater, who led the Bulls to a state championship in his first season as coach last year, confirmed the suspension via a post on his Facebook page on Sunday night. The post did not specify the length of the suspension, but according to a source connected to the South Florida football scene, Bridgewater will not be allowed to coach the Bulls this coming season, and no replacement coach has been named as of yet.

Read more at MiamiHerald.com.

By JAIMIE DING

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A judge has ordered Los Angeles prosecutors to explain why Erik and Lyle Menendez’s murder convictions should not be re-examined in light of new evidence supporting their claims of sexual abuse by their father.

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The July 7 order by LA County Superior Court Judge William Ryan was in response to a habeas corpus petition filed by the Menendez brothers in May 2023 seeking a review of their 1996 convictions for the killings of their parents based on new evidence.

The brothers were convicted of murdering their father, Jose Menendez — a powerful record executive — and their mother, Kitty Menendez, in their Beverly Hills home in 1989. While defense attorneys argued the brothers acted out of self-defense after years of sexual abuse by their father, prosecutors said the brothers killed their parents for a multimillion-dollar inheritance.

Their first trials resulted in hung juries. At the second trial for both brothers, the judge excluded a substantial amount of evidence, including testimony from several family members who witnessed or heard about the abuse. The brothers were convicted and sentenced to life in prison without parole.

In May, a judge reduced their sentences to 50 years to life in response to a resentencing petition, making them eligible for parole. They will appear before the state parole board in August.

The new evidence included a newly discovered letter from Erik Menendez to his cousin Andy Cano in which he describes being abused by his father, and a declaration from Menudo boy band member Roy Rossello that he was raped by Jose Menendez in the 1980s.

While prosecutors argued that the evidence was untimely and inadmissible, Ryan sided with the Menendez brothers, saying they had provided sufficient proof of why the evidence could have changed the outcome of their convictions.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office now has 30 days to explain why the brothers should not be granted habeas corpus relief.

There are several possible outcomes if the judge grants relief, including reduced sentences, a new trial, or even release from prison.

By MARK SHERMAN

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is allowing President Donald Trump to put his plan to dismantle the Education Department back on track and go through with laying off nearly 1,400 employees.

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With the three liberal justices in dissent, the court on Monday paused an order from U.S. District Judge Myong Joun in Boston, who issued a preliminary injunction reversing the layoffs and calling into question the broader plan.

The layoffs “will likely cripple the department,” Joun wrote. A federal appeals court refused to put the order on hold while the administration appealed.

The high court action enables the administration to resume work on winding down the department, one of Trump’s biggest campaign promises.

The court did not explain its decision in favor of Trump, as is customary in emergency appeals.

But in dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor complained that her colleagues were enabling legally questionable action on the part of the administration.

“When the Executive publicly announces its intent to break the law, and then executes on that promise, it is the Judiciary’s duty to check that lawlessness, not expedite it,” Sotomayor wrote for herself and Justices Ketanji Brown Jackson and Elena Kagan.

Education Department employees who were targeted by the layoffs have been on paid leave since March, according to a union that represents some of the agency’s staff.

Joun’s order had prevented the department from fully terminating them, though none had been allowed to return to work, according to the American Federation of Government Employees Local 252. Without Joun’s order, the workers would have been terminated in early June.

The Education Department had said earlier in June that it was “actively assessing how to reintegrate” the employees. A department email asked them to share whether they had gained other employment, saying the request was meant to “support a smooth and informed return to duty.”

The current case involves two consolidated lawsuits that said Trump’s plan amounted to an illegal closure of the Education Department.

One suit was filed by the Somerville and Easthampton school districts in Massachusetts along with the American Federation of Teachers and other education groups. The other suit was filed by a coalition of 21 Democratic attorneys general.

The suits argued that layoffs left the department unable to carry out responsibilities required by Congress, including duties to support special education, distribute financial aid and enforce civil rights laws.