Education Department Hands School Civil Rights Enforcement to DOJ and Special Education to HHS

The Education Department announced on June 16, 2026 that the Justice Department would take over enforcement of federal civil rights laws in schools and that the Department of Health and Human Services would oversee special education. The transfer lands on offices already sharply cut: the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services has shrunk by roughly a third since 2024, the Office for Civil Rights is about 40 percent smaller, and DOJ's Educational Opportunities Section — which would absorb the school civil rights caseload — has shrunk by half. Families of children with disabilities told the Associated Press they had already waited months or longer for action on discrimination complaints.

Moving statutory functions between cabinet departments by administrative action, rather than through the legislation that created them, tests the limits of executive reorganization authority.

Education Secretary Linda McMahon called it 'a way to get more help to families of kids with disabilities.' Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy said he would back legislation opposing the HHS placement, arguing the Labor Department would fit better.