In a decision filed on September 29th, a three-judge panel of the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston overruled a lower court decision and temporarily allowed the U.S. Department of Education (ED) to continue reducing Office for Civil Rights (OCR) staff. At issue is whether laying off 264 employees interferes with a mandate from Congress or whether the reduction in force is similar to the Supreme Court decision that allowed for broader ED layoffs across the agency. It is unclear what will happen to the 80 employees already reinstated due to the earlier court decision. In their decision, the three-panel judges stressed that their decision was temporary. Meanwhile, all OCR functions are halted for the duration of the federal government shutdown.