A Government Accountability Office review found the U.S. Department of Education spent between $28 million and $38 million paying Office for Civil Rights (OCR) staffers who were placed on administrative leave during a planned reduction in force. The GAO concluded the department cannot show it achieved its stated goal of increased efficiency and productivity through the RIF actions. The report documents that OCR placed roughly half its staff on leave, received more than 9,000 complaints while the RIF was in effect, and dismissed a large share of those complaints. Courts later blocked portions of the layoffs and several staff were brought back, adding to the cost and complicating the department’s workforce plans. GAO criticized the Department for not documenting RIF cost‑benefit analyses and warned the episode has degraded public confidence in federal civil‑rights enforcement capacity—an issue that carries direct implications for colleges and universities that rely on OCR to adjudicate complaints.