The Education Department can move forward with layoffs of around 1,300 employees it previously notified it would cut after the Supreme Court on Monday struck down a court order blocking those reductions from moving forward.

The Trump administration issued reduction-in-force notices to roughly one-third of the workforce in March, but in May a federal judge in Massachusetts issued an injunction after finding the cuts made it “effectively impossible” for Education to carry out its legally required responsibilities. The employees have to date sat on paid administrative leave, but the administration can now move forward with their terminations.

The Supreme Court’s ruling was only temporary in nature, and the case will still be argued on the merits before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit before potentially returning to the high court for a full hearing. In the meantime, however, Education can proceed with removing employees from its rolls.

The decision followed one the Supreme Court reached last week in a larger case, which allowed RIFs at nearly every other major agency to move forward. The State Department was the first to move forward with widespread layoffs following that decision, with more expected to follow suit soon. The Health and Human Services Department has similarly kept the 10,000 employees it sent layoff notices to on paid leave due to a court order, which remains in effect.

Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented on the decision to grant a stay to the lower court’s injunction. The cuts, which when combined with voluntary and incentivized departures would lead to an overall workforce reduction of 50%, amount to a dismantling of the department, the justices said, which only Congress can authorize.

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