The U.S. Education Department's Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has recalled 247 staff members, including attorneys, who had been placed on paid administrative leave following temporary court blocks on a reduction-in-force (RIF) initiated by the Trump administration in March. The recall, effective December 15, comes as the department cites a need to bolster enforcement activities and as a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report details over $28 million in costs associated with the administrative leave and a significant decrease in civil rights complaint resolutions.
Recall of OCR Staff
Emails were sent on Friday, December 12, instructing 247 OCR employees to return to their regional offices by Monday, December 15. These individuals had been on paid administrative leave since March, when a reduction-in-force by the Trump administration was temporarily blocked by court intervention. Of the 299 OCR employees initially placed on administrative leave, 52 had since departed.
The department stated that "utilizing all OCR employees, including those currently on administrative leave, will bolster and refocus efforts on enforcement activities in a way that serves and benefits parents, students, and families."
Julie Hartman, the department's press secretary for legal affairs, confirmed the temporary recall, adding that the department "will continue to appeal the litigation disputes concerning the Reductions in Force, but in the meantime, it will utilize all employees currently being compensated by American taxpayers."
Background on Staffing Reductions
The March RIF attempted to dismiss over half of the civil rights attorneys and staff within OCR. This was not the administration's only attempt at staffing reductions; in October, another 137 OCR staffers faced termination but were reinstated as part of an agreement to end a government shutdown. Overall, at one point, only 62 OCR employees, approximately 10% of the office's January headcount, had not received a termination notice during the year.
The recall announcement followed an NPR report concerning the effects of OCR staffing reductions on students with disabilities and their families. One such case involved Maggie Heilman, who filed a complaint in 2024 regarding her daughter's alleged denial of a free, appropriate public education. The investigation, initiated in October 2024, was reportedly disrupted by staff cuts and remains among open investigations.
Costs Associated with Administrative Leave
A report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) indicates that the Education Department's efforts to dismiss staff resulted in costs exceeding $28 million. The GAO estimated the cost associated with keeping 247 OCR employees on administrative leave from March 21 to mid-December to be between $28.5 million and $38 million. This calculation was based on workers' salaries and benefits, as the Education Department did not provide a complete financial accounting of the RIF's costs or savings.
The GAO recommended that the Education Department perform a full accounting of the RIF's costs and savings. Kimberly Richey, then head of OCR, disagreed with this recommendation in a written response, stating the topic was "moot" because the department eventually rescinded RIF notices and returned staff to active duty. GAO investigators reported that the Education Department could not demonstrate it had included all potential costs and savings, nor had it documented its analysis, stating that officials orally relayed their analysis results to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Guidance from OMB and the Office of Personnel Management mandated the department to document these costs.
Rachel Gittleman, president of AFGE Local 252, a union representing Education Department employees, asserted that keeping OCR attorneys on paid leave had cost over $40 million in taxpayer funds. This figure could not be independently verified.
Impact on Civil Rights Case Resolution
An anonymous department source reported approximately 25,000 pending complaints and about 7,000 open investigations within OCR. Gittleman commented that department leadership had allowed a backlog of civil rights complaints to accumulate.
The GAO report detailed changes in OCR's handling of discrimination complaints, noting that from March to September, OCR resolved over 7,000 discrimination complaints, with approximately 90% resolved through dismissal, meaning staff received information but did not proceed with an investigation. For comparison, the dismissal rate was 81% in the 2019-20 school year and 49% in 2010-11 under the Obama administration.
Resolution Trends and Data
Public data provides further insights into OCR's case resolution trends:
- Since the current administration took office, OCR has reached resolution agreements in 73 cases involving alleged disability discrimination. This contrasts with 390 resolutions in 2024 and over 1,000 in 2017, the year the administration began its first term.
- Another report indicated that after Trump's 2025 inauguration, OCR completed resolution agreements in only two racial harassment cases for the remainder of the year, compared to over 30 in 2017.
- Resolution agreements in disability discrimination cases were roughly ten times fewer in 2025 than in 2017, according to the same report.
- In 2025, the office did not reach a single resolution agreement in school-based sexual harassment or sexual assault cases, in contrast to nearly 60 sexual harassment cases and 15 sexual assault cases resolved in 2017.