The Education Department ordered staff who had been targeted in earlier reduction‑in‑force actions to return to work at the Office for Civil Rights to address a swelling complaint backlog exceeding 25,000 cases. The move affects roughly two‑hundred OCR employees and comes amid litigation over the administration’s prior layoff plan and growing concern about stalled civil‑rights investigations. Department officials said they need all available staff to prioritize existing caseloads; union leaders criticized the prior sidelining of OCR employees and questioned the department’s broader staffing strategy. OCR’s workforce instability raises operational risks for enforcement of disability, race, sex and religion protections across K‑12 and higher education.