On June 24, 2026, a federal court temporarily blocked the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) from applying new regulations significantly restricting which graduate degrees count as “professional.”

The designation allows students pursuing such degrees to take out up to $200,000 in federal student loans — double the amount permitted for other graduate programs. Among notable omissions were graduate education programs, a move that advocates said could harm educator pipelines.

The U.S. District Judge ruled that the USDE’s definition of professional degrees, which it released in April 2026, is likely inconsistent with the definition that Congress included when creating the caps last year in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The judge also said the USDE’s rulemaking process likely violated the Administrative Procedures Act.

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On Thursday, June 25, 2026, Linda McMahon became the first U.S. education secretary to be the target of impeachment proceedings in what is being viewed as a largely symbolic action. Democrats have also introduced articles of impeachment against multiple members of President Donald Trump’s cabinet, including Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. In 2024, the Republican-controlled House impeached Biden Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for what members said was a failure to stop migrants from crossing the border, but the Senate dismissed the two articles against him. In fact, such attempts have rarely succeeded.

Sources:
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K-12 Dive

As reported by K-12 Dive, a report released on June 22, 2026 by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) revealed that staffing reductions at the USDE at the beginning of the second Trump administration appear to have impacted units that were performing legal duties. In fact, the staff reduction of at least 1,579 of 3,902 agency employees — or 40% of its overall workforce — between Jan. 20, 2025, and March 31, 2025, resulted in the elimination of several suboffices in 15 of the USDE’s 17 offices. These included some that “appear to have been performing statutory functions or oversight and monitoring functions,” according to the OIG, which is an independent arm of the agency. The downsizing of the USDE also resulted in the termination of 90 grants with funding totaling $504 million. Teacher training and mental health services were most impacted by the grant terminations. In addition, the USDE terminated 129 contracts worth $1.3 billion.

In the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, 14% of the office’s 177 staff at three suboffices were impacted by the March 11, 2025, RIF or by other means. This downsizing resulted in no employees in those OSERS suboffices to coordinate, monitor and oversee activities relating to policy formulation, program planning, regulations, evaluation, and grants and contract scheduling activities.

Also, the OIG report as pointed out that the USDE’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) had 598 employees at 11 regional offices and 18 suboffices on Jan. 20, 2025. The USDE’s reduction-in-force on March 11, 2025 impacted six regional offices, seven suboffices, and 291 employees. Another 55 OCR employees left through other means between Jan. 20, 2025, and March 31, 2025, which adds up to a total of 346 employees lost. The OIG report also points out that the statutory or oversight functions performed by the 13 impacted OCR regional offices and suboffices that had no employees by March 31, 2025, included conducting complaint investigations and compliance reviews of preschool, elementary and secondary institutions, colleges and other entities.

While the 83-page report does not offer recommendations, it does question the USDE’s move to withhold some of the documents and interviews requested by OIG due to ongoing litigation challenging the downsizing efforts. As stated in the OIG report summary, “Although the Department has repeatedly cited concerns about ongoing judicial proceedings and court orders, it has not explained how granting us access to requested documents and to staff would place it at risk of noncompliance with those proceedings and court orders.”

In the final report, OIG said the USDE provided no “corroborating evidence” that it continued performing certain statutory responsibilities referenced in the report since the March 2025 RIF.

Source: K-12 Dive

As reported by K-12 Dive, on June 16, 2026 the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) entered an agreement with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) whereby the HHS will provide administrative services to the USDE in managing and overseeing grants for early intervention and special education. The USDE will manage and lead programs currently under its Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS), including coordination of policy documents, technical assistance and stakeholder outreach. HHS will also take charge of annual state IDEA performance determinations.

In all, the USDE now has 14 interagency agreements with six other federal agencies, continuing the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle the agency and give states more authority on fiscal and policy decisions. Although the USDE is to retain statutory responsibility for the programs being outsourced, there has been significant pushback against the changes with concerns voiced with regard to the confusion that ensues as core federal education oversight is splintered. For example, programming for special education, elementary and secondary education and civil rights enforcement will now be shared among three federal agencies.

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As reported by K-12 Dive, on June 16, 2026, the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) announced it was moving parts of civil rights enforcement functions to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), increasing concern over whether the USDE’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) will be able to properly perform its duties. In fact, the announcement adds to a number of functions that the USDE is already outsourcing to other government agencies, including specific special education responsibilities, as part of its efforts to downsize the department and reduce bureaucratic bloat through returning education to the states.

This far, the USDE has entered into three new interagency agreements with the DOJ:
-Civil rights investigations processes and enforcement: OCR will be referring civil rights complaints to the Justice Department to evaluate, investigate and resolve them. OCR may also resolve complaints based on the Justice Department’s proposed findings and resolutions.
-Advising and technical support for school districts and states, especially for desegregation: DOJ will provide technical assistance to school boards and other local entities, especially related to “the preparation, adoption, and implementation of plans for the desegregation of public schools, and in the development of effective methods of coping with special educational problems occasioned by desegregation,” according to a USDE fact sheet.
-Ensuring student privacy protections and parental access to education records: The DOJ will review complaints alleging privacy act violations, conduct related investigations and recommend resolutions, according to an agreement fact sheet. This would include investigating schools for civil rights violations related to LGBTQ+ issues like gender support plans.

The USDE has said it will continue to be responsible for statutory and regulatory oversight, and will continue to manage and lead OCR. It will also:
-Make final decisions on whether to pursue civil rights cases for administrative enforcement or refer cases to DOJ for judicial enforcement.
-Facilitate mediation and negotiate settlements.
-Develop policy guidance procedures.
-Provide technical assistance to schools and states.
-Administer the Civil Rights Data Collection.-Manage and lead the Student Privacy Policy Office. 
-Have final say over the resolution of SPPO-related cases.

The USDE did not specify whether all or specific types of civil rights complaints will be referred to the DOJ for evaluation, investigation, and resolution processes and the two agencies are still working on ironing out many of the details involved. Nonetheless, the agreement made available publicly shows that the DOJ will be helping OCR with investigations in its core areas, including: Title IX, Title VI, Section 504, Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Age Discrimination Act, and the Boy Scouts of America Equal Access Act.

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