Faisal Abbas 
American courts have become the last repulsion wall against Trump, California, February 6, 2025 (Getty)
A federal judge issued a ruling to compel six US government agencies to return thousands of employees under the experience that were separated, last month, which constitutes a setback for President Donald Trump’s administration efforts to reduce the size of the federal workforce soon. The Federal Judge William Alsoub in California announced today, Thursday, that the employees under the experiment in the ministries of agriculture, energy, interior, treasury and old warriors affairs were illegally dismissed.
The US Federal Personnel Syndicate has filed a lawsuit on behalf of tens of thousands of employees under the experience, which was separated by the Personnel Affairs Office. The union explained that the government targeted these employees because they do not have the right to appeal against the decision to separate them, while the Ministry of Justice confirmed that the decisions of separation were legal.
Judge Alsoub, who was appointed by former President Bill Clinton, pointed out that there were employees who were informed that their separation came due to the weak performance, although they obtained distinguished performance reviews. “It is a sad day when the federal government separates a good employee and claims that the reason is his performance, while you know very well that this is a lie.” He added: “This should not happen in our country. It was just a trick to circumvent the legal requirements.”
The Trump administration faced several legal challenges during its attempts to reduce the size of the government and reduce its spending, as a group of 20 states filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration today, Thursday, due to its plans to reduce the number of Ministry of Education employees to half, considering that this measure will actually lead to the dismantling of the ministry.
The lawsuit, which was filed before a federal court in Massachusetts, led by a number of Democratic prosecutors from states such as Arizona, California, Colorado, New York and Warsonsen. The lawsuit claimed that the administration’s plans to dismantle the ministry are unconstitutional, as reducing the number of employees will harm educational programs throughout the United States, which makes the ministry unable to perform its basic functions.
“The separation of half of the Ministry of Education employees will negatively affect students in New York and all parts of the country, especially students with low incomes and those with special needs who depend on federal financing.” She added: “This heinous effort is to leave students behind the knees and deprive them of a good education is a reckless and illegal behavior.”
For her part, Madi Bedairman said: “President Trump was elected under the authorization of the American people to restore education authority to the states.” She added that the plans of reducing the Ministry’s employees took place in accordance with all the laws and regulations in force, stressing that the employees who work in federal student assistance programs, student loan services and grant programs were not affected by these procedures, as well as investigations related to civil rights will continue.
The Ministry of Education announced, on Tuesday, that it would reduce the number of its employees by 1,950 jobs, including 1,315 federal employees, where Trump is expected to issue, soon, an executive matter through which he seeks to dismantle the ministry completely. The Wall Street Journal reported that the expected executive order will be required by the Minister of Education, Linda McMahon, to help close the ministry. However, the White House has not yet determined the president’s signature date.
The US President cannot cancel a federal agency established by Congress on his own, as it takes the approval of Congress. Republicans, who control the Senate by a majority of 53-47, need the support of Democrats to reach a majority of 60 votes to break any attempt to disrupt, and then cancel the ministry. The Trump administration has reduced the number of employees via federal agencies, under the leadership of Elon Musk for the Ministry of Government’s efficiency. Evercore ISI estimates that the Ministry’s efforts will directly or indirectly lead to a loss of approximately 500,000 jobs.
Since the establishment of the Ministry of Education by Congress in 1979, which President Jimmy Carter signed the decision to establish it, the Republicans have been constantly criticizing it. During the Biden administration, the conservative opposition targeted the ministry due to the policies of exempting student loans and expanding the anti -discrimination regulations for sexually transformed students. As for Trump, he promised during his election campaign to cancel the ministry.
The Ministry of Education is the smallest American ministry, as the number of its employees reached about 4,500 employees last year. Nevertheless, opinion polls indicate that the majority of Americans oppose the idea of canceling it.
