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Supreme Court Case Tracker

Emergency application

Department of Education v. California

Granted
No. 24A910Vacatur applicationFiled by the federal governmentPresented to Justice JacksonFrom United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit

What did the Court do?

The Court granted the request on April 4, 2025 and wiped out (vacated) the lower-court order it challenged.

Emergency rulings are temporary and do not decide the underlying case. The Chief Justice, Justice Kagan, Justice Jackson, and Justice Sotomayor would have ruled the other way.

Filed Ruled 9 days after filing

What's being asked

The federal government asks the Supreme Court to undo (vacate) a lower-court order from the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. The case is Department of Education v. California.

What the Court did

Application (24A910) granted by the Court. We construe the application as seeking a stay pending appeal and grant the application. The March 10, 2025 order and March 24, 2025 extension of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, case No. 1:25– cv–10548, is stayed pending the disposition of the appeal in the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and disposition of a petition for a writ of certiorari, if such a writ is timely sought. Should certiorari be denied, this stay shall terminate automatically. In the event certiorari is granted, the stay shall terminate upon the sending down of the judgment of this Court. The Chief Justice would deny the application. Justice Kagan dissents. Justice Jackson, joined by Justice Sotomayor, dissents. <a href= 'https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/24a910_f2bh.pdf'>Opinion</a> per curiam. (Detached <a href = 'https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/24a910_f2bh.pdf'>Opinion</a>)

Dissenting · 4recorded against the Court's order
  1. Robertswould deny
  2. Sotomayorjoined Jackson's writing
  3. Kagan
  4. Jacksonwrote a dissent
Vote not published · 5the order does not say how they voted
  1. Thomas
  2. Alito
  3. Gorsuch
  4. Kavanaugh
  5. Barrett
The order records the positions of 4 of 9 justices. The Court usually does not say how each justice voted on an emergency application, so the rest are shown as not published.
Days from filing to a ruling for 28 rulings on applications where the Court asked for a response since January 1, 2025. The band is the middle half, the tick the median, and the mark this application: ruled 9 days after filing.

What it means

This is a temporary order about what happens while the case is decided, not a ruling on who is right. The case continues in the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.

Separate writings

  • Justice Jackson, joined by Justice Sotomayor, dissenting

Sources

Facts on this page come from the Supreme Court docket, orders, and opinions for No. 24A910. The answers restate that record in plain words; explainer copy is written from the record and the filings only.

Checked September 24, 2026