The Supreme Court, in a 5-4 vote, has granted a stay of a temporary restraining order that would have forced the Department of Education to fund previously awarded contracts under the Teacher Quality Partnership Program and Supporting Effective Educator Development Grant Program.
Eight states had sued under the Administrative Procedures Act to stop the withdrawal of grants exceeding $10 million. The Department of Education asked for a stay, which was rejected by the District Court of Massachusetts, where the case was brought, and by the First Circuit Court of Appeals. The Department then asked for a stay under the Supreme Court’s emergency docket process.
The majority of the Court granted the stay in a short per curiam opinion, stating that the government is likely to succeed in showing that the District Court lacked jurisdiction to order the payment of money under the APA. Chief Justice said in a one sentence note that he would have denied the application. Justice Kagan filed a separate dissent, stating that APA cases traditionally go to the District Court, not to the Court of Claims as suggested by the majority. Justice Jackson, joined by Justice Sotomayor, filed a separate dissent arguing there was no reason to disregard the general rule that a temporary restraining order is not an appealable order or to grant a stay when the District Court was about to rule on a preliminary injunction, and when the government had failed to challenge the basic argument that the Department had acted in an arbitrary and capricious manner. (Department of Education v. California, U.S. Supreme Ct., No. 24A910, 4/4/25.)
Add new comment