WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Democrats and education advocates on Wednesday commemorated the one-year anniversary of significant layoffs initiated by the U.S. Department of Education. These layoffs marked a broader effort by President Donald Trump’s administration to reduce the agency’s role, aiming to transfer education oversight “back to the states.”
A Government Accountability Office report highlighted how these staffing cuts have impeded the government’s capacity to evaluate the performance of student loan servicers. Hawaii Sen. Mazie Hirono, alongside Democratic Sens. Dick Durbin of Illinois and Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, hosted a press conference at the U.S. Capitol, emphasizing the layoffs’ impact on students and families nationwide.
In July 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court temporarily approved these layoffs as part of Trump’s executive order to downsize the agency, signed in March 2025. Rachel Gittleman of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 252 criticized the administration for allegedly violating federal law to dismantle the department, stating, “They will continue to undermine the careers of thousands of dedicated public servants who work every day to support our students and families.”
The March 2025 Reduction in Force severely impacted offices like the Office for Civil Rights and Federal Student Aid (FSA). The recent GAO report revealed that in 2025, FSA stopped evaluating student loan servicers on accuracy and call quality due to inadequate staff numbers. The report noted a decrease of 656 staffers at FSA within that year. Without these assessments, FSA lacks assurance of servicer accuracy and borrower information quality.
Student loans
The GAO findings stressed the repercussions of staff reductions on the department’s key functions. The FSA’s halt in assessments has left borrower records unchecked and information quality uncertain. The report indicated a significant drop in staffing, impacting the department’s ability to manage student loan servicers effectively.
Civil rights
An earlier GAO report showed that from March to December 2025, the department spent between $28.5 million and $38 million on salaries for Office for Civil Rights employees placed on paid leave during legal disputes. Despite resolving over 7,000 discrimination complaints, most were dismissed. The RIFs against OCR employees were rescinded in January amid ongoing legal challenges. During the press conference, Van Hollen criticized the department’s actions, stating they have wasted taxpayer money and attempted to undermine civil rights laws.
Interagency agreements
Congress members and advocates opposed the Education Department’s interagency agreements transferring responsibilities to other departments like Labor and Health and Human Services. While the department asserts it will maintain oversight, critics argue these agreements compromise program effectiveness. Hirono remarked, “Trump is setting these programs up to fail,” by misplacing them with departments lacking the required expertise.
Funding increase
Despite Trump’s request to cut funding, Congress approved a spending measure in February that increased the department’s budget to $79 billion, $12 billion more than the administration proposed. Although the spending package does not fully protect department responsibilities from outsourcing, it requires biweekly briefings to Congress on interagency transfers. The department did not comment on Wednesday.
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