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The report, commissioned by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), examines the fallout from the administration's attempted dismantling of the Education Department's Office for Civil Rights, which enforces federal nondiscrimination laws protecting students on the basis of race, sex, disability, national origin and age.
In March 2025, the Education Secretary Linda McMahon issued reduction-in-force notices to 299 of OCR's 575 employees and closed seven of the agency's 12 regional offices. The targeted staff were placed on paid administrative leave and prohibited from working for nine months while legal challenges worked through federal courts.
"Every child in America should be able to get a good education no matter where they live, what their religious beliefs are or whether or not they have a disability," said Sanders. "Instead, the Trump administration fired half of the Education Department employees working to protect the civil rights of students and wasted as much as $38 million in taxpayer dollars by preventing investigators from doing their jobs."
The GAO calculated that paying salaries and benefits for idled OCR staff from March through mid-December 2025 cost between $28.5 million and $38 million. During October's government shutdown, the administration issued an additional 137 RIF notices that would have reduced OCR to just 62 employees—roughly 10% of its 2024 staffing level.
While nearly 500 investigators sat on administrative leave, OCR received more than 9,000 discrimination complaints between March and September 2025. The agency resolved 7,072 cases during that period, dismissing 6,353 of them—approximately 90%—without full investigation.
Education officials told GAO that OCR "kept up with its workload and met its mission" despite the staff reductions. However, the GAO report notes OCR has not updated its public list of institutions under investigation since January 2025, leaving parents and students without transparency about ongoing civil rights enforcement.
The administration ultimately rescinded the RIF actions in early January 2026 and reinstated staff to their positions following multiple court injunctions. GAO did not provide information on how many employees ultimately returned to work.
In its only recommendation, GAO called on the Education Department to estimate the full costs and savings associated with the RIF and document its analysis, as required by Office of Management and Budget and Office of Personnel Management guidance.
The department rejected the recommendation, arguing the matter was "moot" since the RIFs were rescinded. However, GAO noted that as of December 2025, Education officials said the agency "remained committed to the RIF and would work to officially separate these staff in the future."
The report also found that the Department of Education failed to demonstrate it conducted required cost-benefit analyses before implementing the workforce reduction, violating federal guidance.
"Without demonstrating that its analyses accounted for all potential costs and savings," GAO concluded, "Education lacks reasonable assurance that its actions achieved the stated goal of reforming the federal workforce to maximize efficiency and productivity."
Sanders has conducted ongoing oversight of the administration's actions on campus civil rights. Last month, he released findings that President Trump has violated or likely violated the First Amendment in 17 cases related to college campuses, according to federal courts.
