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Trump Administration Moves Special Education and Civil Rights Out of Education Department

The transfers give day-to-day IDEA administration to HHS and most OCR enforcement and student privacy work to DOJ while raising legal, operational and access concerns.

FILE - The U.S. Department of Education building is seen in Washington, Dec. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)
Secretary of Education Linda McMahon speaks during a roundtable discussion hosted by Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche at the Department of Justice headquarters in Washington, D.C., on June 11, 2026.
FILE - The U.S. Department of Education building is seen in Washington, Nov. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)
FILE - Secretary of Education Linda McMahon speaks to reporters at the White House in Washington, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File)

Overview

  • The Education Department announced on Tuesday, June 16, 2026, that interagency agreements will shift day-to-day oversight of the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services to HHS and move most Office for Civil Rights enforcement and student privacy duties to DOJ.
  • Officials say ED will retain some statutorily required functions such as audits and final determinations in civil rights cases even as HHS and DOJ take on routine administration, investigations and training responsibilities.
  • Disability-rights groups, the ED employees’ union and Democratic lawmakers warned the moves could weaken enforcement, fragment complaint pathways for families, and recast special education through a medical lens rather than an educational one.
  • Legal and statutory questions center on the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and recent appropriations that place special‑education responsibilities at ED, creating a strong likelihood of litigation or congressional efforts to contest the transfers.
  • The decisions build on a broader pattern of about a dozen prior interagency agreements that have shifted major ED programs to other agencies and reflect policy proposals from the conservative Project 2025 blueprint, leaving staffing, timelines and case-handling details unresolved.