U.S. Sen. Hirono concerned over the backlog of civil rights cases in public schools

U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono, a Hawaiʻi Democrat, joined several Democrats in urging the U.S. Department of Education to reverse its efforts regarding the Office for Civil Rights and its alignment with the Trump administration’s ideological agenda.

In a letter to Education Secretary Linda McMahon and Office for Civil Rights Assistant Secretary Kimberly Richey, the senators raised concerns about the department’s targeting of transgender student protections and diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, as well as the weakening of protections for students in public schools and higher education institutions.

The senators also highlighted mass firings and the lack of investigations into allegations of sexual, racial, religious, and disability harassment in schools.

“The department has severely undermined the Office for Civil Rights’ capacity to carry out its mission,” the senators said in the letter. “Beyond its diminished output, the types of cases the Office for Civil Rights is choosing to investigate, or not investigate, are concerning, and the Office for Civil Rights has failed to provide transparency in its work.”

According to the letter, the Department of Education has not updated its public database listing open investigations by the Office for Civil Rights since January 2025, nor released its annual report for the 2025 fiscal year, as required by law. The Office for Civil Rights is also reportedly neglecting to investigate and resolve cases involving racial harassment.

In March 2025, McMahon fired 2,000 department employees — nearly half the agency’s workforce. On the anniversary of this reduction in force, Hirono hosted a press conference addressing how the administration has shortchanged students, teachers, and administrators.

“The reduction in force and closure of seven of the Office for Civil Rights’ regional offices left millions of students without dedicated regional investigators to conduct field visits, gather facts in person, resolve investigations, and enforce agreements,” the senators wrote. “In many cases, the department provided no communication or updates to students, families, or schools as investigations stalled and complaints accumulated.”

“These breakdowns in communication and access to Office for Civil Rights employees created uncertainty and frustration for students, their families, and schools as they waited for updates on their complaints and investigations,” the senators wrote.

With a growing backlog of cases and remaining employees facing an increased caseload, the senators emphasized that “the department is now expected to rely upon hundreds of employees it attempted to fire to work through this self-inflicted caseload backlog.”

The senators are also demanding answers regarding the timeline of actions that led the Department to deviate from its course and increasingly become part of the administration’s ideological agenda.

In addition to Hirono, the letter was signed by Senators Richard Blumenthal, Cory Booker, Martin Heinrich, Tim Kaine, Andy Kim, Ben Ray Luján, Ed Markey, Jeff Merkley, Patty Murray, Alex Padilla, Bernie Sanders, Chris Van Hollen, Elizabeth Warren, and Ron Wyden.

The full text of the letter can be found here.