Sept. 15, 2026
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media contact: Dorie Turner Nolt, 404-861-1127, dorie.turner@gmail.com
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A group of former U.S. Education Secretaries, along with labor union American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 252, today formally requested an Inspector General investigation into the damage caused by the Trump Administration firing or forcing out half of the U.S. Education Department’s employees last year.
The letter is signed by former Education Secretaries Arne Duncan and John B. King Jr. from the Obama Administration and former Education Secretary Miguel Cardona from the Biden Administration, as well as AFGE Local 252 President Rachel Gittleman.
“The hardworking staff at the U.S. Department of Education delivers vital resources and support to tens of millions of students and families across the country, from early learning through graduate programs. Yet the Trump Administration has shown it will stop at nothing — even ignoring court orders and violating federal law — to dismantle the Department and sow chaos for students, families, and communities,” said Gittleman. “We need a full picture of the fraud, waste and abuse carried out by this administration as they continue to play politics rather than doing their jobs to serve the American people.”
The letter sent to Acting Inspector General Mark Priebe requests a full review of the attempted firing or forced retirement of about 2,000 U.S. Education Department employees over the course of last year, which led to Education Secretary Linda McMahon unlawfully firing about 1,000 workers in August 2025, including looking into:
- The cost for the Education Department to defend itself through litigation, arbitrations, grievances and Merit Systems Protection Board proceedings for all attempts to fire workers;
- The cost of conducting the reductions in force and firings, both in terms of financial resources and staff resources;
- The cost to reinstate employees who were unlawfully fired, both in terms of financial and staff resources;
- The cost to hire new employees and contractors to fill positions that were formerly held by fired federal workers, both in terms of financial and staff resources;
- The cost to fulfil statutorily defined duties after the mass firing.
So far, the Department’s Inspector General has issued two reports showing that due to McMahon’s actions, her agency can no longer fulfill its congressionally mandated duties, including preventing waste, fraud and abuse and following federal law:
- Review of U.S. Department of Education Changes in Staffing and Operations (June 2026)
- Fiscal Year 2026 Management Challenges Facing the U.S. Department of Education (January 2026)
What’s more, McMahon has started posting hundreds of new jobs for her agency, many of which match roles that were held by employees unlawfully fired in 2025.
History of the unlawful firings
On March 11, 2025, U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon announced she was chopping the Education Department staff in half by delivering reduction-in-force notices to nearly 1,400 hardworking public servants and accepting buyouts and early retirements for another 572 employees — all in an effort to eventually close the Department entirely. This historic mass firing hobbled the agency’s ability to follow federal laws and continue safeguarding taxpayer dollars from fraud, waste, and abuse, according to the agency’s Inspector General and the Government Accountability Office.
In October 2025, McMahon tried to unlawfully fire another 500 workers, but the new round of staff cuts were paused by the courts and then halted by Congress. Since then, a court case by AFGE and other key partners forced McMahon to bring about 300 Office for Civil Rights employees back to work in December 2025 after keeping them on paid leave for nine months. This caused a massive backlog of civil rights complaints and cases to pile up due to understaffing and wasted up to $38 million in taxpayer dollars, according to the GAO. McMahon also recalled another 60 Federal Student Aid workers when she realized the agency couldn’t perform its duties without them.
Throughout all of these unlawful firings, McMahon and her leadership team continue to harass, threaten and abuse remaining Department employees who are simply trying to do their jobs and follow the law. McMahon has signed 14 interagency agreements with six different federal agencies, effectively dismantling her own Department — despite Congress telling her she does not have the authority to do so, as well as multiple complaints and grievances filed by AFGE Local 252 and litigation brought by 21 attorneys general and other federal labor unions. The unlawful firings and the interagency agreements have cost taxpayers untold amounts of money, staff time, expertise, knowledge and other resources.
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About AFGE Local 252
The American Federation of Government Employees Local 252 is the labor union representing 2,000 dedicated public servants at the U.S. Department of Education employees—fired, retired, and still fighting.