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The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court on Wednesday to allow it to cancel up to $65 million in grants for teacher training and professional development, which the government claims promote harmful "diversity, equity and inclusion" practices.
The request marks the second time this week that the administration has asked the justices to overturn a temporary block on its actions by a lower-court judge, amid growing frustration from President Donald Trump and his Republican allies about injunctions that have stymied much of his second-term agenda.
Trump has called for the impeachment of one federal judge, and Republicans in Congress are considering legislation to rein in judges they say are issuing overly broad rulings that impinge on the prerogatives of the president. The impeachment demands drew a rebuke from the chief justice, John G. Roberts Jr., who said in a statement that disagreements with court rulings should be handled through the appeals process.
"This Court should put a swift end to federal district courts' unconstitutional reign as self-appointed managers of Executive Branch funding and grant-disbursement decisions," acting solicitor general Sarah M. Harris wrote in her request to the justices to intervene on the Education Department grants. "This case presents an ideal candidate for this Court to impose restraint, for it follows a familiar pattern."
The Supreme Court asked the parties in the lawsuit to file briefs in the case by Friday, a relatively speedy timeline. The case is the fifth that has reached the Supreme Court over Trump's initiatives in the opening months of his second term.
In February, the Education Department canceled 104 grants that were part of two programs - Teacher Quality Partnership and Supporting Effective Educator Development - that provide leadership development, teacher residency programs, teacher training and other services.
The administration told the grantees in letters that their programs "promote or take part in DEI initiatives or other initiatives that unlawfully discriminate" and may violate federal civil rights law.
California, Massachusetts, Maryland, New York and other states affected by the cuts asked a federal judge in Massachusetts to block the terminations, claiming they were arbitrary and capricious and saying Trump officials could not rely on DEI concerns to justify the cuts.
U.S. District Judge Myong J. Joun issued a temporary restraining order on March 10, saying the grants could not be canceled while the legal challenge to the decision was making its way through the courts. That ruling was affirmed by an appeals court on Friday. The appeals court found government claims that it would be greatly harmed by a hold on cuts was "speculation and hyperbole."
In a separate case, the Trump administration on Monday asked the Supreme Court to allow it to fire about 16,000 federal workers on probationary status. The firings had been blocked by a federal judge in San Francisco, who ordered the government to rehire the employees.
Lawsuits over Trump's education directives have also begun to pile up.
Two filed this week by teachers unions and other groups challenge Trump's executive order seeking to close the Education Department and the administration's attempt to dismiss nearly half the workforce.
The American Federation of Teachers, the National Education Association and others have also sued to block the Education Department's directive on how it would enforce civil rights laws. They objected to a "Dear Colleague" letter to school officials, which threatened to deny federal funding to any school or college that considers race in hiring, discipline policy, scholarships, prizes or any other aspect of campus life.
Other groups have challenged the Trump administration's efforts to detain and deport international students and scholars who have taken part in pro-Palestinian protests; to cut federal research funding to universities nationally; and to cancel $400 million in research grants to Columbia University with demands that the school take specific steps to combat campus antisemitism.