The Justice Department’s emergency appeal to the high court on Friday said US District Judge Myong Joun in Boston exceeded his authority last month when he issued a preliminary injunction reversing the lay-offs of nearly 1,400 people and putting the broader plan on hold.

Mr Joun’s order has blocked one of Mr Trump’s biggest campaign promises and effectively stalled the effort to wind down the department.

A federal appeals court refused to put the order on hold while the administration appealed.

The judge wrote that the lay-offs “will likely cripple the department”.

But Solicitor General D. John Sauer wrote on Friday that Mr Joun was substituting his policy preferences for those of the Trump administration.

The lay-offs help put in place the “policy of streamlining the department and e

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