On May 29, 2025, District Judge Myong Joun blocked an Executive Order (EO) issued by the White House to close the U.S. Department of Education (Department) and ruled that the Administration must reinstate hundreds of employees who had been previously fired. Myong’s ruling is a preliminary injunction, which means it will remain in force until the case is resolved or a higher court overturns it. The injunction, which was requested by two school districts in Massachusetts, the American Federation of Teachers, and 21 Democratic state attorneys general, states that the reduction in force (RIF) issued at the Department [as by Secretary McMahon] led to a “de facto elimination of the agency, interfered with essential services, and did not lead to the agency efficiencies claimed by the Department.” Instead, Myong ruled that the plaintiffs “have provided an in-depth look into how the massive reduction in staff has made it effectively impossible for the Department to carry out its statutorily mandated functions.” In response to a media inquiry, Madi Biedermann, the Department’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for Communications, responded that they “will immediately challenge this on an emergency basis.”