Washington, DC – Congresswoman Julia Brownley (CA-26) and 35 members of the Democratic Women’s Caucus (DWC), led by DWC members Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01) and Adelita Grijalva (AZ-07), sent a letter to Department of Education Secretary Linda McMahon calling out the Department of Education’s failure to enforce Title IX protections for students who have been sexually harassed, sexual assaulted, and faced other forms of sex discrimination.
Since the start of the second Trump administration, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR), which is in charge of handling student discrimination, sexual abuse, and sexual harassment claims, has not entered into a single resolution agreement addressing sexual harassment or sexual violence, despite hundreds of pending cases involving student survivors. Last week, the Trump administration announced they would move the OCR outside of the Department of Education entirely—further evidence of the administration’s failure to prioritize any resolution, accountability, or justice for women and girls.
The Members’ letter argues that the Department of Education must prioritize the investigation and resolution of complaints, restore resources dedicated to Title IX enforcement, end politically motivated investigations, and provide Congress with detailed information about its handling of Title IX cases and enforcement activities.
In their letter, the Members express outrage that the OCR has not entered into a single resolution agreement addressing sexual assault or harassment in schools.
“As members of the Democratic Women’s Caucus, we are outraged that since the start of the second Trump administration, the Office for Civil Rights in the Department of Education (OCR) has not entered into a single resolution agreement addressing sexual assault or harassment in schools. Instead, this administration is wasting taxpayer dollars pursuing immaterial politically motivated investigations while failing vulnerable students, including survivors of sexual assault or violence. We urge you to cease baseless investigations and demonstrate immediate progress in effectively resolving all pending OCR cases to deliver real enforceable legal protection for students facing discrimination based on their sex.”
The Members also explained that the Trump administration has deliberately reduced the capacity of the OCR to handle these complaints by placing investigators on leave without plans to hand off their cases.
“Your failure to enforce Title IX protections for millions of women and girls is deliberate and indefensible. In March 2025, the Trump administration placed 299 OCR employees—nearly half the agency’s entire workforce—on paid administrative leave and closed seven of OCR’s 12 regional offices, barring investigators from doing their jobs. According to the Government Accountability Office, this decision cost taxpayers up to $38 million in salaries paid to investigators who were prohibited from working. To this day, the Department has not explained to Congress how many investigators have returned to work, what caseloads they now carry, or how OCR plans to address the backlog it created.”
The Members closed the letter by calling on the Department of Education to prioritize Title IX enforcement of actual cases of sex discrimination.
“Protecting students’ civil rights is your fundamental responsibility as the Secretary of Education, and instead of using your authority to provide justice to survivors, you are weaponizing it against vulnerable students. That is shameful. We call on you to take immediate action to increase the resources focused on Title IX enforcement of actual and pending cases of sex discrimination and cease baseless directed investigations against schools or colleges.”
Read the full letter here.
In addition to Brownley and letter leads Suzanne Bonamici and Adelita Grijalva, the letter was signed by Yassamin Ansari, Joyce Beatty, Suzanne Bonamici, Judy Chu, Jasmine Crockett, Diana DeGette, Debbie Dingell, Veronica Escobar, Sylvia Garcia, Adelita Grijalva, Jahana Hayes, Pramila Jayapal, Julie Johnson, Sydney Kamlager-Dove, Summer Lee, Teresa Leger Fernandez, Doris Matsui, Lucy McBath, LaMonica McIver, Brittany Pettersen, Chellie Pingree, Nellie Pou, Emily Randall, Deborah Ross, Andrea Salinas, Janice Schakowsky, Terri Sewell, Lateefah Simon, Emilia Sykes, Jill Tokuda, Lori Trahan, Nydia Velázquez, Bonnie Watson Coleman, Nikema Williams, and Frederica Wilson.
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Issues: 119th Congress, Education