As reported by K-12 Dive, on December 11, 2025 the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) announced new allocations for its mental health grants, which it revoked from over 200 original recipients earlier this year. The new funds come after the agency controversially revoked up to $1 billion under the same programs from recipients that incorporated diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts. The amount of the new grants total more than $208 million, but are significantly less than the nearly $1 billion in funds pulled from school-based programs and providers earlier this year. 

The new awards will be divided up among 65 recipients that were selected under a new application process and are subject to new requirements that limit funding to hiring school psychologists rather than also funding school counselors and social workers. Recipients are also prohibited from “promoting or endorsing gender ideology, political activism, racial stereotyping, or hostile environments for students of particular races.”

In a pending legal case, California’s McKinleyville School District, which serves Native American students and wanted to hire mental health providers to reflect the make-up of its student body, had about $5.9 million in funding revoked, ending the district’s grant with the USDE saying school district’s plans reflected “the prior Administration’s priorities and policy preferences and conflict with those of the current Administration.” Using the money in this way “no longer effectuates the best interest of the Federal Government.” Consequently, the school district and other entities sued the Trump administration over the withdrawal of the grants, saying such a move could only be made in cases where recipients didn’t meet their proposed benchmarks. A court temporarily paused the USDE’s decision in a separate lawsuit brought by 16 states. Those lawsuits are ongoing.

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On December 10, 2025, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), along with all HELP Committee Democrats, called on Chairman Bill Cassidy (R-La.) to hold an immediate oversight hearing with Education Secretary Linda McMahon regarding the illegal transfer of dozens of federally authorized education programs totaling more than $30 billion out of the U.S. Department of Education (USDE).

Joining Sanders on the letter are Sens. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.) and Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.).

The demand follows McMahon’s November 18, 2025 announcement of six new Interagency Agreements (IAAs) transferring core elementary, secondary and postsecondary education programs out of the USDE without congressional authority. Sanders and HELP Democrats said these actions represent an alarming and illegal attempt by the Trump administration to dismantle the USDE, and are a direct attack on students, parents, educators, colleges and public schools across the country.

“Congress unambiguously vested responsibility for administering education programs with the USDE under numerous laws, and Congress explicitly appropriated funding to the USDE to carry them out” wrote Sanders and the senators. “This illegal action is part of the administration’s broader effort to dismantle the USDE.”

“At a time when U.S. students rank 34th in the world in math and academic outcomes have sharply declined since the early 2010s, it is outrageous that the Trump administration is trying to dismantle the only agency dedicated to improving outcomes for all students.” the senators continued. “Burying education programs in other federal agencies will not help students or support schools and colleges. Rather, it will jeopardize services for tens of millions of students, educators, and families across the country.”

More than 80 education, disability, and civil rights groups have vocally opposed the recent IAA’s and other departmental changes, urging the HELP Committee to examine the consequences for public schools, working families and communities throughout the country.

“As members of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee we must hold an oversight hearing on this massive and unprecedented transfer of responsibility and federal funding to other agencies. Therefore, we are calling on you to immediately hold a bipartisan oversight hearing to bring Secretary McMahon to testify before the Committee about these interagency agreements,” the senators concluded.

Read the letter here.

On December 5, 2025, the U.S. Department of Education sent a letter asking some Office for Civil Rights (OCR) employees, who have been put on administrative leave since March 21, 2025 to return to work by the end of December 2025 to prioritize the OCR’s current caseload of discrimination complaints. According to K-12 Dive, a USDE official confirmed that, beginning on December 15, 2025, the USDE is temporarily bringing back OCR staff from administrative leave. The official also stated that, “The Department (USDE) will continue to appeal the persistent and unceasing litigation disputes concerning the Reductions in Force, but in the meantime, it will utilize all employees currently being compensated by American taxpayers.”

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