ProPublica sued the U.S. Department of Education in federal court in New York, accusing him of concealing public records on how he applies civil rights protections to millions of American students.
The Education Department failed to provide public records related to its investigations, communications and other work that ProPublica requested in four Freedom of Information Act requests filed last year.
The civil rights arm of the Department of Education has investigated allegations of discrimination in schools for decades. Historically, it has maintained an online list of its open investigations and published the findings of completed investigations. But under Education Secretary Linda McMahon, appointed by President Donald Trump, the Office of Civil Rights has been decimated and the work of its remaining investigators is largely shrouded in secrecy.
ProPublica submitted three FOIA requests — the first of them more than a year ago — requesting records on civil rights investigations that were opened or closed, notices sent to institutions under investigation and prior findings of discrimination that were overturned under the Trump administration. A fourth request sought communication between senior Department of Education officials and conservative groups who have criticized public schools. Some groups urged OCR to investigate specific school districts and met often with McMahon.
The ministry did not respond to the requests, only acknowledging that it had received them.
“The Department of Education’s actions have real consequences for millions of students and families,” said Alexandra Perloff-Giles of the law firm Davis Wright Tremaine, who represents ProPublica.
“The public deserves to understand how executive power is exercised so they can hold government accountable,” she said. “Congress enacted FOIA to provide the public with necessary transparency, and we ask the court to enforce it.”
Department spokespeople did not respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit. The ministry has not yet responded to the complaint filed in court.
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday, argues that since Trump took office, the work of OCR — once one of the federal government’s largest enforcers of the 1964 Civil Rights Act — has become much more opaque. Although every presidential administration has its priorities, OCR has always worked to uphold constitutional rights against discrimination based on disability, race, and sex.
But under Trump, OCR has now focused on investigations related to combating anti-Semitism, ending transgender athletes’ participation in women’s sports and combating alleged discrimination against white students. Complaints about transgender students playing sports and using the girls’ bathroom at school were dealt with quickly while cases of racial harassment of black students last year were ignored.
And while some documents detailing how the cases were resolved are being posted online, some older resolution agreements have been released. finished. These dismissals have not been made public.
“Public interest in this information is substantial and ongoing. As there are approximately 49.6 million students in the United States, changes to ED and its policies affect millions of families,” the lawsuit states.
Trump is working to close the department. Hundreds of department employees were laid off, and OCR’s official employee count fell from 568 in 2024 to 403 in December 2025. McMahon closed seven of OCR’s 12 regional offices that handled discrimination complaints across the country. Amid staffing challenges and shifting priorities at OCR, discrimination complaints from families have piled up.
When President Joe Biden left office, about 12,000 investigations were open; by December 2025, there were nearly 24,000. ProPublica reporting found that new complaints as well as older ones included in the backlog are often dismissed without investigation. OCR workers said they felt like they were working in a “layoff factory.”
Over the past year, ProPublica has filed several other lawsuits aimed at forcing transparency from the courts and the federal government. This includes a lawsuit filed in May against the State Department. ProPublica also joined other media organizations in lawsuits.
