Administration officials say a smaller Department of Education will continue to function despite this week’s Supreme Court decision that critics have charged would spell the end of the federal agency.

President Trump has vowed to close the department and give control of education to the states, and one of his executive orders has been widely reported as ordering its closure.

But the administration acknowledges that only Congress can fully eliminate the department and the executive order provides for its reduction only to the “maximum extent appropriate and permitted by law.”

Mr. Trump says the remaining department will be a fraction of itself. “Little tiny bit of supervision but very little, almost nothing, like to make sure they speak English. That’s about all we need,” Mr. Trump told reporters of the staffing levels needed.

There were 4,000 department employees at the start of Mr. Trump’s new term and in March the education secretary, Linda McMahon, announced a reduction in force involving 1,378 employees. She said the layoffs were designed to streamline the department and eliminate discretionary functions.

The government has also acknowledged the need to retain sufficient staff to fulfill functions mandated by law. The department says it has kept the personnel who, in its judgment, are needed for those tasks.

Nevertheless, a district judge in Massachusetts issued a preliminary injunction in May requiring the reversal of the layoffs after 20 states and several unions sued the administration.

Judge Myong Joun ruled that the Trump administration was trying to shut down the department without congressional approval and that the action was unlawful. Judge Joun claimed Mr. Trump’s moves were “effectively disabling the department from carrying out its statutory duties.” 

Government lawyers appealed and, after an appeals court refused to overturn Judge Joun’s injunction, they asked the Supreme Court to get involved. Their emergency appeal argued that with 2,183 employees — and numerous contractors — remaining, the department would be able to carry out its mandated functions.

The justices decided 6-3 on Monday to pause the preliminary injunction and allow the layoffs to remain in force. The court’s three liberal justices dissented with Justice Sonia Sotomayor, stating, “When the Executive publicly announces its intent to break the law, and then executes on that promise, it is the Judiciary’s duty to check that lawlessness, not expedite it.”

Ms. McMahon confirms this week’s decision will not shut down the education department. “This Administration will continue to perform all statutory duties while empowering families and teachers by reducing education bureaucracy,” she says.

Monday’s decision is the latest in a series of victories the Supreme Court justices have given Mr. Trump as he tries to reshape the federal government.

The court previously limited the ability of lower court judges to issue sweeping nationwide injunctions blocking his executive orders. It also reversed a San Francisco federal district judge who had sought to bar Mr. Trump from enacting mass layoffs across the federal bureaucracy.

The high court also allowed the administration to proceed with Mr. Trump’s order to deport some migrants to third countries and the Pentagon’s prohibition against trans people serving in the Armed Forces.