Three former U.S. Secretaries of Education and a national union leader formally requested an investigation into the financial impact of mass layoffs at the Department of Education on Tuesday.
The letter, addressed to Mark Priebe, the acting inspector general for the department, was signed by Arne Duncan, John B. King Jr., and Miguel Cardona, alongside Rachel Gittleman, president of the National Education Association. The group asked federal watchdogs to examine the costs associated with terminating roughly 1,000 workers in August 2025 and the subsequent expenses of reinstating hundreds of those employees.
The request follows a contentious period for the department under President Donald Trump’s administration. Trump appointed Linda McMahon as Education Secretary with a mandate to reduce the agency’s footprint. In March 2025, the department announced a reduction in force (RIF). After a legal challenge delayed the process, the U.S. Supreme Court temporarily approved the downsizing plan in July 2025. The layoffs took effect in early August.
A separate effort to terminate nearly 500 additional employees in October 2025 was halted by courts and ultimately stopped by Congress.
Criticism From Department Spokesperson
An Education Department spokesperson rejected the former secretaries’ concerns, criticizing their past records on issues including Common Core implementation, FAFSA administration, and gender definitions in schools. The spokesperson maintained that the reduction in force was executed in full compliance with existing regulations and laws.
The administration has also pursued more than a dozen interagency agreements to transfer education responsibilities to other federal departments, including Health and Human Services, Labor, Interior, State, Justice, and Treasury.
Congressional Response
Democratic lawmakers joined the former officials for a press conference outside the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday. Sens. Angela Alsobrooks and Chris Van Hollen, along with Rep. Bobby Scott, voiced opposition to the department’s restructuring efforts.
“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,” Gittleman said at the event.
Sens. Alsobrooks argued that Secretary McMahon has undermined the agency’s core purpose. “The Department of Education’s stated mission is to promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access – since day one, Secretary McMahon has done everything possible to cause this mission to fail,” Alsobrooks said.
Legislative efforts to curb the administration’s actions have seen mixed results. A Senate education panel advanced a bipartisan bill in July aimed at blocking specific interagency agreements related to special education, elementary and secondary education, postsecondary education, and Native American education. Conversely, a House education panel advanced a package earlier that month designed to reduce the department’s responsibilities.
The Department of Education, established 46 years ago, has become a focal point for debates over federal oversight of schooling. The inspector general’s office has not yet released a timeline for responding to the formal inquiry from the former secretaries and union leadership.