Democrats push back against education department dismantling

By Esther Wickham
The Center Square

Eighty-six House Democrats are urging the U.S. Department of Education to stop plans to transfer two key offices to other federal agencies, arguing the move exceeds the administration’s legal authority and could weaken federal protections for students.

In a letter to the department, the lawmakers said the Trump administration’s proposal to move the Office for Civil Rights to the Department of Justice and the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services to the Department of Health and Human Services violates congressional authority.

Lawmakers argue that only Congress can eliminate them or change their responsibilities.

The administration announced in June that it would move civil rights and special education programs to other agencies as part of its broader effort to dismantle the Department of Education.

In the letter, Democrats argued the transfers would not only face legal challenges but also reduce the effectiveness of services provided to students and families.

“The movement of OCR and OSERS … disrespects the very people who rely on those services. Specifically, these moves effectively segregate special education from the rest of the education system, moving it to an agency that has indicated it intends to treat disabilities as a health issue to be remedied, against the wishes of groups that advocate on behalf of disabled children and their families,” the letter said. “Such action is particularly concerning given the inaccurate and harmful comments from the HHS Secretary regarding children diagnosed with autism.”

‘Flatly false’

Department of Education Press Secretary Savannah Newhouse rejected those criticisms, saying the changes would not diminish federal civil rights protections or services for students with disabilities.

“Congressional Democrats are either completely ignorant to the collapse of American education, or they are actively rooting for the bureaucracy over our children,” Newhouse told The Center Square. “Their desperate fearmongering, claiming students will lose guaranteed federal support, is flatly false.

“Under ED’s partnership with DOJ, families retain the exact same direct line to staff for civil rights complaints. Furthermore, OSERS staff remain fully committed to protecting the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act with bolstered support from HHS — an agency that already successfully manages grants and programs that serve individuals with disabilities,” Newhouse added.

In further efforts to dismantle the department, the administration removed the disparate impact tool from the agency’s regulation under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, prompting a joint statement from 60 civil rights and education organizations.

“Every student, no matter their background, has the right to pursue their education free from discrimination,” the statement said. “[T]his administration is determined to undermine our laws, abandon civil rights enforcement, and deny the existence of systemic discrimination.”

The Department of Education stated that while disparate-impact liability has been used for decades, the Obama administration expanded its use as an enforcement tool, which the department argued resulted in schools being required to consider race in disciplinary decisions.

Among the organizations signing the joint statement was the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.

Michael Pillera, director of the Educational Opportunities Project at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, one of the 60 organizations that signed the joint statement, told The Center Square in an interview that the administration’s actions to dismantle itself destroy the very infrastructure of civil rights enforcement.

Pillera previously worked at the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights for 10 years, serving under the Obama, Trump and Biden administrations.

Pillera said the administration’s effort to dismantle the Department of Education would have three major effects: weaponizing civil rights law in ways that harm school communities, eliminating protections for students, and weakening the infrastructure needed to enforce civil rights laws.

Removes necessary functions

Moving OCR to the DOJ removes the necessary functions that the Department must have to get its job done effectively, Pillera said.

“It is a place that anyone can go, a parent, a teacher, a student, and very quickly, completely free and easy, file a complaint. And at the other side of that is an OCR attorney who assesses that complaint, investigates that complaint is appropriate, and remedies any discrimination if there is discrimination,” Pillera said. “And that is what you lose … parceling it out to DOJ.”

Pillera also argued the administration lacks the authority to move the offices without congressional approval.

“Congress only has the authority to change that, to diminish the department, to get rid of the department, to move its functions; that is congressional action. This administration has unilaterally tried to do this in so many different ways,” Pillera told The Center Square. “The interagency agreement is the newest way that they’ve arrived at to try to accomplish their aim of destroying the Department of Education.”

Pillera said that when Secretary McMahon says the goal is to cut red tape, it means eliminating civil rights protections for students in school communities, “which is an absolutely horrible outcome for anyone in this country.

“This is the responsibility of the federal government to ensure that anywhere in this country, no matter what state you live in, that your kids can go to school in a place where they aren’t discriminated against on the basis of the race, color, national origin, disability, or sex, that they have an ability to access school and their education and learn and do all of the things we would want our kids to do and everyone else’s kids to do at school, without being discriminated against,” Pillera said.

The Center Square reached out to various members of Congress who signed the letter for a comment but did not receive a response.