The U.S. Department of Education has emerged as an aggressive enforcer of President Donald Trump’s social agenda, moving quickly and publicly to investigate school districts, colleges and universities, state education departments, and athletic associations and threaten their federal funding.
As of Oct. 8, 2026, the Education Department has opened at least 219 investigations aligned with core Trump policy objectives since the president took office, according to an Education Week analysis of department announcements and local news reports.
The Trump administration has initiated many of these investigations on its own, rather than in response to complaints it’s received. The largest number of investigations it’s announced have targeted universities’ diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, which Trump has cracked down on through executive action. The Education Department early in Trump’s second term issued a memo in which it told schools to end any race-based programming or risk losing federal funds.
School district, university, and state policies on transgender students—including their ability to play on athletic teams and access bathrooms and locker rooms consistent with their gender identity—have been another common subject of Education Department investigations. Trump has threatened to pull federal dollars from schools that don’t comply with his executive order barring transgender girls from girls’ sports teams, and he has also made it official U.S. policy to recognize only two sexes.
As the Education Department’s main investigative arm, its office for civil rights, ramps up enforcement of the president’s agenda, it has faced deep cuts in the department’s downsizing.
Seven of its 12 regional offices were shuttered in March 2025, and the Trump administration attempted to cut more than 40 percent of its staff either through layoffs or buyout offers. In June 2026, the Education Department announced the U.S. Department of Justice would take over most of the office for civil rights’ responsibilities.
The office for civil rights is responsible for investigating discrimination claims and working with schools to comply with federal civil rights laws. The office typically opens investigations in response to claims it receives from students, parents, school staff, and community members. OCR has always been able to open investigations on its own—known as directed investigations—but previous administrations have used this tactic less often than the Trump administration appears to be using it, experts have told Education Week.
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