The Brief

President Donald Trump’s executive order to close the Education Department and lay off thousands of employees cannot take effect yet, a judge ruled Thursday.

U.S. District Judge Myong Joun in Boston granted a preliminary injunction stopping the Trump administration from shutting down the department and ordering the agency to rehire the employees who were let go in mass layoffs.

What did the judge say?

The backstory:

Two school districts in Massachusetts joined the American Federation of Teachers and other education groups in suing the Trump administration.

The groups claimed the layoffs amounted to an illegal shutdown of the Education Department, leaving it unable to function as required by Congress, including duties to support special education, distribute financial ai

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