The U.S. Department of Education spent nearly $38 million paying laid-off employees at the Office for Civil Rights while dismissing most civil rights complaints, according to a report released this week by the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office.
Between March and December of 2025, the department received more than 9,000 civil rights complaints and dismissed 90% of the roughly 7,000 complaints it resolved.
As part of the administration’s dismantling of the Department of Education, Trump officials placed more than half of the Office for Civil Rights staff on administrative leave and slashed the office to about 10% of its capacity. Officials also closed seven of 12 regional offices, including the English Language Acquisition office in charge of serving immigrant students attaining English proficiency. Following a series of lawsuits challenging the administration’s layoffs, Trump officials reinstated a smaller portion of staff…