June 16, 2026
Media contact: Dorie Turner Nolt, dorie.turner@gmail.com, 404-861-1127
American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 252, which represents 2,000 U.S. Department of Education current and former employees, released the following statement from AFGE Local 252 President Rachel Gittleman about new interagency agreements moving the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Office for Civil Rights to the U.S. Department of Justice:
“The Trump Administration continues to unlawfully dismantle the Education Department — despite clear warning from Congress and the courts that Education Secretary Linda McMahon lacks the authority to do so. The Secretary is now transferring special education programs to the Health and Human Services Department and shipping civil rights enforcement to the Justice Department. This will leave our most vulnerable students and families who have been shut out of our education system without the services they need and without protection when they face discrimination.
This isn’t efficiency — it’s chaos. Secretary McMahon is yet again targeting historically underserved students, eroding public trust, and sowing dysfunction for the federal employees who are trying to do their jobs on behalf of the public. Previous interagency agreements divvying up both P-12 and higher education programs to other federal agencies have led to massive delays in Congressionally mandated funding and confusion for federal employees and the public alike.
Scattering programs across six federal agencies doesn’t streamline government; it breaks it. Secretary McMahon is choosing politics over students — again. That’s an insult to the millions of students and families who rely on these services and the taxpayers who count on federal oversight to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse.”
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AFGE Local 252 