U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper ruled that the Trump administration violated the First Amendment by commandeering Education Department employees’ email accounts to send partisan messages blaming Democrats for the government shutdown. The automated responses stated that the House passed …
Christopher CooperDepartment of EducationAmerican Federation of Government Employeesfirst-amendmentcivil-servicegovernment-shutdownjudicial-rebukepartisan-abuse
During a Cabinet meeting, Trump demanded Harvard University pay ’nothing less than $500 million’ to restore billions of dollars in frozen federal research funding, calling the university ‘very bad.’ The demand came after Harvard and the Trump administration restarted …
TrumpHarvard UniversityDepartment of EducationAlan Garberextortionweaponized-fundinginstitutional-captureacademic-freedomcorruption
Education Secretary Linda McMahon initiated a dramatic 50% workforce reduction at the Department of Education, laying off approximately 1,950 employees. The mass layoffs, occurring on March 11, 2025, represent the first phase of the Trump administration’s plan to dismantle the department, …
Linda McMahonDepartment of EducationFederal education workforceTrump AdministrationProject 2025 Leadershipeducation-dismantlingdepartment-eliminationworkforce-cutsfederal-educationproject-2025+1 more
Education Secretary Linda McMahon initiates 50% workforce reduction while administration pushes legislation to completely abolish Department of Education, directly implementing Project 2025’s recommendation to eliminate the department entirely.
Linda McMahonDepartment of EducationFederal education workforceeducation-dismantlingdepartment-eliminationworkforce-cutsfederal-education
Columbia University agreed to pay $221 million ($200 million to the federal government over three years and $21 million for EEOC settlements) to settle Trump administration claims of failing to police antisemitism, while accepting unprecedented requirements for monitoring foreign students. The …
Columbia UniversityDepartment of EducationWhite HouseBart SchwartzDonald Trumpinstitutional-capturesurveillanceacademic-freedomimmigration-weaponization
Education Secretary Linda McMahon announced massive workforce reduction at the Department of Education, eliminating nearly 1,300 positions across all divisions. The cuts, directly aligned with Project 2025’s recommendation to dismantle the department, will impact Federal Student Aid, Institute …
Linda McMahonSheria SmithDepartment of EducationAFGE Local 252education-dismantlingdepartment-eliminationworkforce-cutsfederal-educationproject-2025+1 more
Education Secretary Linda McMahon announces reduction in force (RIF) impacting nearly 50% of Department’s workforce, cutting from 4,133 to 2,183 employees. Almost 600 employees accepted voluntary separation while remaining affected staff placed on administrative leave starting March 21. …
Linda McMahonDepartment of EducationTrump Administrationeducation-departmentworkforce-reductionagency-eliminationproject-2025
Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights division slashed from 550 to approximately 243 employees, leaving only 5 civil rights offices nationwide. Officials described this as making discrimination complaint resolution “virtually impossible.” Cuts part of Russell …
Department of EducationRussell Vought (OMB Director)Office for Civil Rightscivil-rightseducationinstitutional-destructiondiscriminationworkforce-reduction+2 more
The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that President Biden’s plan to cancel up to $430 billion in student loan debt exceeded executive authority under the HEROES Act. The plan would have forgiven up to $20,000 for Pell Grant recipients and $10,000 for other borrowers, affecting 43 million Americans. …
Supreme CourtJoe BidenJohn RobertsElena KaganDepartment of Educationexecutive-overreachemergency-powerssupreme-courtstudent-debt
On March 13, 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic’s economic devastation, the Trump administration announced an unprecedented pause on federal student loan payments and interest accrual, suspending monthly payments for approximately 44 million borrowers holding roughly 90% of all …
Donald TrumpJoe BidenDepartment of Educationstudent-debtcovid-19debt-relief
U.S. Magistrate Judge Sallie Kim held Education Secretary Betsy DeVos in civil contempt of court on October 24, 2019, for violating a preliminary injunction barring the Department of Education from collecting on loans from 16,000 former Corinthian Colleges students and fined the Department $100,000. …
Betsy DeVosSallie KimDepartment of Educationcontempt-of-courtbetsy-devosstudent-debtcorinthian-collegesrule-of-law
On December 21, 2017, Secretary Betsy DeVos announced a radical departure from Obama administration policy by implementing an earnings-based formula for Corinthian Colleges debt relief that denied full forgiveness to fraud victims and calculated partial relief based on post-graduation earnings. …
Betsy DeVosDepartment of Educationstudent-debtregulatory-capturebetsy-devoscorinthian-colleges
ITT Technical Institute abruptly shut down all 130 campuses across 38 states on September 6, 2016, stranding approximately 35,000 students mid-semester and displacing 8,000 employees. The closure came after the Department of Education banned ITT from enrolling new students receiving federal aid and …
ITT Technical InstituteDepartment of EducationTed Mitchellfor-profit-collegesstudent-debtitt-techfraud
The U.S. Department of Education imposed a 21-day hold on all federal aid flowing to Corinthian Colleges on June 12, 2014, after the for-profit chain—operating as Everest College, WyoTech, and Heald College—refused to provide documentation substantiating falsified job placement rates. The action …
Department of EducationCorinthian CollegesArne Duncanfor-profit-collegesstudent-debtfraudcorinthian-colleges
The Department of Education violated federal law by paying conservative commentator Armstrong Williams 40,000 through Ketchum Inc. PR firm to promote the No Child Left Behind Act without disclosing the government funding to audiences. Williams regularly promoted NCLB on his syndicated TV and radio …
Armstrong WilliamsRod PaigeDepartment of EducationKetchum IncMaggie Gallagherpropagandamedia-manipulationnclbarmstrong-williamsgao