WASHINGTON (CN) - President Donald Trump can disregard a court order restoring millions of dollars in grant funding for teachers, the Supreme Court ruled Friday, ceding to the president's claims that a federal judge exceeded judicial authority. 

Trump framed his emergency appeal as a referendum on the "unconstitutional reign" of federal courts that have paused his administration's policies in the last few weeks. The president made similar judicial overreach claims when appealing a pause in his order ending birthright citizenship and an order reinstating thousands of federal workers. 

A federal judge ordered Trump to restore millions of dollars in funding for teacher training grants earlier this month. Trump abruptly cut funds for the Teacher Quality Partnership and Supporting Effective Educator Development. Both grants were established by Congress to recruit and train educators to work in high-need rural and urban school districts.

The numerous programs that money went toward included initiatives that taught teachers second languages, recruited them to high-poverty schools and trained them on special education requirements.

The grants got swept up in Trump's executive order to root out diversity, equity and inclusion across the public and private sectors. According to the administration, the money trained teachers on "divisive ideologies" like anti-racism, which run afoul of the administration's platform.

California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, New York and Wisconsin sued the administration, claiming the cuts exceeded $250 million in their states alone.  

Thousands of teachers' salaries were funded through grants, according to the states. Without the funding, the states predicted a worsening teacher shortage nationwide that would destabilize local school systems. 

California said Trump wanted to prevail at the Supreme Court for the sake of the win, not out of concern about the grant money. 

"It appears that defendants' real concern is not with this case or the courts below; it is with other cases in other 'forums across the country' where courts are grappling with a raft of legal disputes arising out of recent actions by the Executive Branch," the states told the justices. 

The Justice Department warned the high court that paying for the grant programs would be inconsistent with the interests of the executive branch and cost taxpayer money that could never be recovered. 

Lower court judges were usurping congressional authority, Trump said, by reimagining contract and grant-termination claims - which are reviewed by the Court of Federal Claims - into Administrative Procedure Act lawsuits. 

"The aim is clear: to stop the executive branch in its tracks and prevent the administration from changing direction on hundreds of billions of dollars of government largesse that the executive branch considers contrary to the United States' interests and fiscal health," the government wrote. 

The states countered that it would be the Supreme Court expropriating authority if the justices intervened. The lower court is currently considering whether to extend its temporary restraining order into an injunction. Temporary restraining orders typically can't be appealed because of their limited lifespan. 

California said Trump's emergency appeal on the temporary restraining order will be moot by April 7. 

Source: Courthouse News Service