The high court split 5-4 in granting a request from the Justice Department. The stay will remain in place while legal proceedings move forward. Justice Elena Kagan called the court's move a "mistake," and said the Trump administration did not defend the legality of canceling the education grants.
The justices split 5-4, with Chief Justice John Roberts joining the three liberal justices in dissent. The cuts had been temporarily blocked by a federal judge in Boston, who found that they were already affecting training programs. The emergency appeal is among several the high court is considering in which the Justice Department argues lower-court judges have improperly obstructed President Donald Trump's agenda.
The US Supreme Court in a 5-4 vote on Friday sided with the Trump Administration and blocked a Massachusetts judge’s order requiring it to reinstate $250 million in Department of Education DEI training to eight states. Chief Justice Roberts sided with liberal justices and would have denied the emergency application. Liberal justices Kagan, Jackson and Sotomayor dissented.
