Reps. Lee, Adams Lead Call to Committee Leadership to Investigate Illegal Actions at Dept. of Education
**For Immediate Release**
Reps. Lee, Adams Lead Call to Committee Leadership to Investigate Illegal Actions at Dept. of Education
WASHINGTON, D.C. – March 5, 2025 — Today, Congresswoman Summer Lee (PA-12) and Congresswoman Alma Adams (NC-12) led their colleagues on a letter calling for House Committee leadership to investigate the Trump administration’s illegal actions taken at the Department of Education (ED). Over the past few weeks, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has violated federal workplace protections, conducted breaches of access, and has moved to dismantle the department from the inside.
In their letter to the chairs of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce and the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, the lawmakers called for each committee to use its authority to investigate DOGE’s overreach and violations.
“We urge the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform to investigate DOGE’s overreach, mass firings, and violations of federal workforce protections—which goes beyond the ED and threatens the entire federal workforce,” the lawmakers wrote. “We also urge the House Committee on Education & Workforce to confront ED’s security breaches, staff terminations, and the fallout for students, families, and schools. ED cannot function under these conditions.”
The Department of Education has also been targeted for diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives and programs, and many employees have been fired.
“The Department of Education abruptly terminated at least 60 employees across the country, including staff from the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS),” the lawmakers wrote. “At a time when federal oversight in special education and rehabilitative services is more essential than ever, these unexplained firings signal a disturbing willingness to undermine critical programs under the pretense of eliminating diversity initiatives.”
“Internal documents reveal DOGE is executing a three-phase plan, with the final stage—set to last until mid-July—focused on mass firings, even in offices required by law. What started as a purge of DEI has spiraled into a sweeping effort to slash staff in critical agencies, regardless of their actual roles, undermining the very institutions meant to serve the public,” the lawmakers continued..
The letter was signed by Nanette Barragán, Suzanne Bonamici, Kathy Castor, Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, Judy Chu, Danny K. Davis, Llyod Doggett, Dwight Evans, Robert Garcia, Raúl Grijalva, Glenn Ivey, Henry Johnson, Ro Khanna, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Stephen Lynch, Jennifer McClellan, LaMonica McIver, Kewisi Mfume, Gwen Moore, Eleanor Norton, Mark Pocan, Andrea Salinas, Linda Sánchez, Teri Sewell, Darren Soto, Bennie Thompson, Dina Titus, Rashida Tlaib, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and Bonnie Watson Coleman.
A copy of the letter can be found here.
Last week, Rep. Lee led 43 of her colleagues on a letter to the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights to rescind its letter threatening to remove federal funding for educational institutions and agencies that do not eliminate programs and activities related to diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility.
Congresswoman Summer Lee serves on the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability and the Committee on Education and the Workforce. Since taking office in January 2023, she has delivered historic levels of federal investment totaling over $2.4 Billion brought back to Western PA, including over $580 million for infrastructure, over $110 million for affordable transit, over $500 million to keep clean energy manufacturing at home in Pennsylvania, and over $55 million on clean energy efforts in and around schools to help keep our kids and communities safe. These investments will help improve Western Pennsylvania’s infrastructure and transit, ensure cleaner air and drinking water, lower housing costs, fund research institutions, fuel clean manufacturing, fund STEM innovation and entrepreneurship, boost workforce development, and create thousands of good paying union jobs. Lee and her team have also delivered casework and constituent services to over 3,000 constituents with issues ranging from helping our seniors and disabled community access Medicare and social security to helping folks secure housing and helping families with immigration support and passports.