The Trump administration announced on Tuesday that it will transfer many of the responsibilities of the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights, the division that investigates civil rights violations at American schools and universities, to the Justice Department. 

The move marks a major step in the White House’s efforts to dismantle the Education Department and significantly reduce or distribute its work. The policy was first discussed in the Heritage Foundation’s controversial Project 2025 blueprint for the Trump administration, which was released in April 2023 during the run-up to the 2024 presidential election.

“The Department of Education will also team up with the DOJ to ensure stronger, more coordinated civil rights enforcement and robust protections for student privacy,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a statement on Tuesday. An Education Department press release said the new agreement is “designed to reduce federal bureaucracy and improve the efficient delivery of federally funded programs and activities.” 

The formal agreement hands to the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division the core of OCR’s work: investigating and attempting to resolve discrimination complaints against schools and universities. It leaves OCR with the authority to refer cases out and sign off on the results, but has DOJ handling nearly every aspect of the investigation.

OCR has been a crucial tool for Jewish students who experienced antisemitism on their campuses, particularly after the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks in Israel and over the course of the ensuing war. Through Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the office’s remit includes complaints of discrimination on the basis of one’s national origin, a broad category that encompasses antisemitism. Jewish organizations have for years encouraged Jewish students and parents to file complaints with the agency. 

Now the civil rights office’s mandate and scope — already diminished because of widespread layoffs at the department last year — will for the most part move to the Justice Department. It is not clear whether the OCR staffers will move to DOJ.

The move sparked criticism from the left and praise from more conservative voices. 

Kenneth Marcus, the founder of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law who ran OCR during President Donald Trump’s first term, called the move a “promising” step from the White House.

“Much will depend on implementation,” Marcus said in a statement. “But if done right, this could mark a critical step forward for students whose rights have gone unprotected on campuses across the country.” 

An Education Department press release said the new agreement between the DOJ and OCR, which accompanied related agreements from DOJ and the Department of Health and Human Services, is “designed to reduce federal bureaucracy and improve the efficient delivery of federally funded programs and activities.”

Jewish Council for Public Affairs CEO Amy Spitalnick said that the push to move OCR to DOJ “is weakening one of the most effective mechanisms for protecting Jewish students and for enforcing civil rights protections on campus.” 

Most Jewish organizations have so far not commented on the announcement.