The Education Department has instructed Office for Civil Rights employees who were placed on administrative leave during planned layoffs to return to duty starting in mid‑December, officials said. The move aims to address a mounting backlog of discrimination complaints—reported to have grown to more than 25,000—while the department continues to litigate against challenges to the workforce reductions. Union leaders and some employees had criticized the leave as politically motivated and said the sidelining had cost taxpayers and slowed enforcement. The department said returning staff will prioritize existing complaint caseloads; legal disputes over the layoffs are ongoing and the agency has signaled it still intends personnel reductions over time.