Committee questions OCR staffing and civil‑rights enforcement as department moves to restrict campus programs

Senators asked Secretary McMahon whether cuts to the Department of Education’s staff — including at the Office for Civil Rights — have degraded the department’s ability to enforce civil‑rights law and respond to campus antisemitism and other civil‑rights complaints.

Senator Murray noted the department has “pushed out half of the department staff” and raised concern about OCR capacity. McMahon said the department inherited a backlog of about 20,000 cases, had reviewed those complaints and was “catching up”; she gave a current backlog estimate of “about 2,500 cases” and said OCR was meeting statutory obligations despite fewer staff. “We absolutely are fulfilling all of our statutory requirements,” McMahon said.

Senator Capito and others questioned the department’s enforcement actions against Harvard and Columbia, including temporary funding holds tied to alleged civil‑rights violations and demands the universities change campus programs. McMahon said the department opened Title VI investigations into antisemitism on campuses, met with university presidents and, in some cases, paused some federal program funding while investigations or mitigation were pursued. “Our Office of Civil Rights has opened many cases looking at antisemitism, and we are actively enforcing that,” McMahon said.

Senators asked for specific, regular reporting. Senator Murray requested quarterly OCR performance reports so the committee could monitor whether cases are being dismissed or handled substantively; McMahon agreed to provide additional information and to follow up on backlog and caseload processing numbers. The committee took no formal action.