A new report finds that key federal agencies have stopped overseeing civil rights laws nationwide.
Published August 13, 2026
The Trump administration’s sweeping staffing and policy changes have “eviscerated” critical oversight and enforcement of civil rights laws in the United States, according to a new study by Human Rights Watch.
“The federal government plays a unique and irreplaceable role in enforcing antidiscrimination laws,” Human Rights Watch said in a report released Thursday. “In some cases, federal law is more comprehensive than state law, and in some cases Congress has given federal agencies sole jurisdiction to bring these legal actions.”
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Rights groups interviewed former federal officials, reviewed court filings and other records, and spoke with community leaders and civil rights lawyers about the impact of the Trump administration’s move away from defending minority, transgender and other rights.
The report comes amid high-profile court rulings, including by the U.S. Supreme Court, overturning decades of legal provisions that minorities have relied on to ensure they have access to the vote and fair representation in the electoral district.
Most of the federal agencies that housed specialized units investigating discrimination in the criminal justice system, housing, education, and employment have been disbanded since President Donald Trump took office in January 2025, according to Human Rights Watch.
By early 2026, the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division had lost three-quarters of its lawyers and abandoned reform agreements it had secured with police departments in places like Louisville and Minneapolis. In nearly 70 cases across the country, federal agencies have suspended work, fired or reversed support for plaintiffs who alleged discrimination.
The Education Department, which handles complaints under federal law prohibiting discrimination in schools, fired nearly half its staff in a single day and closed seven of its 12 field offices under the Trump administration. The year before President Trump took office, the department received a record number of complaints from Black and Latino students alleging discrimination. Since President Trump took office, zero such cases have been resolved.
Staffing at the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s unit responsible for investigating racial discrimination in housing was also significantly reduced. The agency has dismissed at least 115 fair housing complaints without making any findings public. Staffing levels at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which handles civil discrimination complaints from private and public sector workers, have reached their lowest level in 40 years.
“The Trump administration is targeting efforts to address discrimination without offering any alternatives,” Trey Wolk, U.S. program researcher at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. “While the government claims to protect all Americans, it is rolling back a system that communities have sought relief from for years.”
Human Rights Watch is one of several major human rights organizations that recently filed suit against the Trump administration’s campaign against the International Criminal Court. The lawsuit alleges that the administration’s broad sanctions against international tribunals and organizations that cooperate with them risk trampling on the constitutional rights of U.S. citizens and entities.
