After Trump layoffs, Education Department workers pack up offices

Spokespeople for the Education Department did not respond to requests for comment Saturday. Education Secretary Linda McMahon has said on multiple occasions that safeguarding students with disabilities, and making sure they have access to the educational resources they're legally entitled to, is a top priority.

"I would like to see even more funding go to the states for that," she told CNN in March.

In a Friday court filing, the Justice Department said more than 460 Education Department employees had been laid off, cutting roughly a fifth of the agency's already-hamstrung workforce. That tally is likely to increase.

The terminations, which have hit more than half a dozen federal agencies, are part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to pressure congressional Democrats to end the ongoing government shutdown. Nearly 90% of the Education Department is furloughed, too.