A year ago, the Trump administration's Department of Education shut down its regional Office for Civil Rights in Chicago, which investigated civil rights complaints filed by students and parents in the Midwest.
The Education Department also attempted to lay off half of the civil rights office's staff, but that was blocked in court and caught in months of legal limbo.
Now, a new report shows Illinois was one of 15 states where zero civil rights complaints were resolved in 2025. That's down from 18 Illinois case resolutions in 2024, according to federal data.
The report, published by the office of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, found that the Office for Civil Rights resolved just 1% of pending cases nationwide. That translates to 112 cases in total.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon testified before a Senate subcommittee on Tuesday and talked about her department's effort to cut Civil Rights staff.
"There was a time," she said, "when we were not processing cases as quickly as we should, but we are now focused on doing that and moving forward."
McMahon also said her department's effort to reduce staffing in the civil rights office as a matter of "hindsight."
Across the country, 30% fewer civil rights complaints were resolved in 2025, marking the largest year-to-year decline in over 30 years.
The White House's budget for the coming year proposes a 35% cut to the Civil Rights office and would eliminate nearly half of the remaining staff.
The Office for Civil Rights' goal is to resolve 80% of cases within 180 days.
There are 330 pending investigations in Illinois ranging from disability cases to racial discrimination, as well as Title IX issues. All of them are running beyond that 180-day goal. The list, however, hasn't been updated since January 2025.
Copy Edited by Eryn Lent
