At a June 5, 2025 congressional hearing it was reported that the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has seen caseloads for those still employed at the agency ballooning from an average of 42 cases per caseworker to 115 per caseworker due to the March 2025 layoffs that resulted in the closing of seven out of 12 OCR offices nationwide. There is also a backlog of more than 25,000 complaints.
With half of the office’s former number of staff and a budget that would be significantly cut under President Donald Trump’s FY 26 proposal, nominee for assistant secretary for civil rights Kimberly Richey said she would have to be “strategic.”
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