The government shutdown, which occurred on October 1, 2025, at 12:01 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT), disrupted essential national security and public safety services after Congress failed to pass a new funding bill. As of October 14, the shutdown has entered its second week with no proper resolution yet.
The shutdown has greatly impacted the agricultural sector, the aviation sector, where workers have not received their paychecks despite working and managing millions of Americans flying to and from airports across the country. On Friday, the Trump administration laid off most of the employees at the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS), a division of the Department of Education tasked with protecting the rights of roughly 7.5 million children with disabilities and ensuring they receive appropriate educational services.
Nearly the entire Office of Special Education & Rehabilitative Services has been cleared out by mass firings at the Dept. of Education. Children’s lives, rights, and futures are on the line! https://t.co/2JMOLpFj0V
— Ben Crump (@AttorneyCrump) October 14, 2025
Geoff Bennett spoke with Washington Post national education reporter Laura Meckler and claimed that the department is responsible for helping students with the Disabilities Education Act IDEA), a crucial federal law that guarantees a free education for students with special needs.
This department also provides $15 billion in funding to school districts across the country. Post shutdown, the funding is still being distributed, but the office responsible for monitoring how that money is used ( advising states, reviewing compliance, audits, and so on), while ensuring schools are following the law, has been let go. (via PBS News).
The impact may not be immediately visible in classrooms, but the consequences are serious. If these schools aren’t able to give the special students the support they need by giving them the proper smart device to help a nonverbal child communicate, the office can step in. Without enough staff, it will be much harder to catch and fix these problems.
Furthermore, there were also more layoffs in the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, an important department that looks after the discrimination complaints related to race, sex, and disability. In a country like America, with increased racial and child abuse cases in the news, the absence of a department like this one could impact a child’s safety.
Moreover, earlier this year, roughly half the OCR workforce was let go, and seven of its 12 regional offices were shuttered. A second round of layoffs followed last week. Even attorneys from the offices in San Francisco have also been fired.
SHUTDOWN: The Trump administration is laying off more than 4,100 federal workers from seven departments in response to the Democrat’s government shutdown. Only four Senate Democrats are needed to reopen the government and prevent the layoffs, but it appears they are steadfast. pic.twitter.com/FOSDinAhNI
— @amuse (@amuse) October 11, 2025
The Trump administration has consistently aimed to shift education responsibilities to the states. While some argue that states are capable of handling these duties independently. However, critics warn that this sudden change in approach could lead to uneven enforcement of student rights.
As per The Irish Star, this is the first shutdown in six years. The last shutdown, from December 22, 2018, to January 25, 2019, was the longest in history, lasting 35 days. Back then, the Trump administration again blamed the Democrats for the issues related to building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Donald Trump recently stated he plans to fire “a lot” of “Democrat-oriented” federal workers in response to the government shutdown. In addition, House Speaker Mike Johnson claimed on Monday that the ongoing government shutdown may surpass the longest in U.S. history.
“We’re heading toward one of the longest shutdowns in American history,” Johnson said at a press conference. Thousands of employees have been fired so far, keeping the agenda of Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), and people are not only questioning the ruling government’s credibility but also fearing the future of the nation.
