Trump To Shift More Programs Out Of Education Department In Latest Move To Shutter Agency

The Trump administration plans to transfer several core Education Department responsibilities, including its civil rights and special education programs, to other federal agencies as part of its efforts to dismantle the Education Department.

The administration is planning to announce Tuesday that it will move these operations to the departments of Justice and Health and Human Services, according to four people briefed on the moves, granted anonymity to discuss information they are not authorized to share. The administration is expected to shift the Education Department’s Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services to HHS and its civil rights arm to the Justice Department.

The Trump administration has made similar deals transferring Education Department responsibilities to other agencies across the federal government. The administration, through interagency agreements, has sent K-12, higher education and career and technical education programs to the Labor Department and started the process of moving the education agency’s $1.7 trillion student loan portfolio to the Treasury Department.

This latest shift, however, is among some of the most high-stakes moves the Trump administration has made to end the agency. The department’s special education office oversees the administration of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and the roughly $15 billion in federal funding supporting students with disabilities.

Meanwhile, the department’s Office for Civil Rights has been the Trump administration’s greatest tool in enforcing its political priorities in schools, including launching investigations into schools over their transgender-inclusive policies as well as alleged campus antisemitism and race-based discrimination in college admissions.

Spokespeople for the Education, Justice and Health departments did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The shift of special education in particular is likely to garner some pushback on Capitol Hill, including among Republican lawmakers who want to ensure that the federal government is meeting its legal obligations to students with disabilities.

Advocates for children with disabilities have warned that moving special education out of the Education Department could derail progress made in educating students with disabilities and splitting its responsibilities between multiple agencies could dampen coordination among offices responsible for enforcing civil rights laws and carrying out K-12 programs. The special education office is also responsible for ensuring states are in compliance with the federal disability education law.

As of last June, over 30 states and territories need assistance with meeting IDEA requirements for students with disabilities ages 3-21. And roughly 20 states and territories need assistance meeting federal mandates for early intervention services for infants and toddlers, according to an analysis of Education Department information. A handful of states “need intervention” which could mean a state has to create an improvement plan or strike a compliance deal with the federal government.

Critics of the department’s shift of the Office for Civil Rights to the Justice Department have expressed concerns that Justice is not equipped to handle OCR’s work. The DOJ's role is to litigate cases that the Education Department refers to Justice. The DOJ does not conduct the initial investigations and does not have the infrastructure to field the thousands of school discrimination complaints submitted annually that often are resolved before a lawsuit is ever filed.

The Trump administration has slashed OCR’s workforce by half and has shuttered 7 of the 12 regional offices nationwide. Hundreds of civil rights staffers were let go during the government-wide reduction in force last year. Many did not return even after the department started calling workers back, while other employees have chosen to leave in recent months as Trump has repeatedly vowed to shutter the agency and change what work is prioritized.

The DOJ has seen similar staffing woes in its civil rights division as more than 75 percent of its civil rights attorneys have left since January 2025, according to Justice Connection, an advocacy group founded by ex-DOJ civil rights lawyers.