The Education Department's efforts to fire staff cost over $28 million, watchdog says

A new report from a government watchdog suggests the Trump administration's efforts to fire staff at the U.S. Department of Education cost taxpayers tens of millions of dollars.

The report, from the nonpartisan U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), focuses on the department's Office for Civil Rights (OCR), which investigates complaints of discrimination in schools based on students' sex, race, national origin, disability and more.

In March, the administration attempted to fire more than half of OCR's civil rights attorneys and staff. At the time, Education Secretary Linda McMahon said the cuts reflected the department's commitment to "efficiency" and "accountability."

But, when that reduction-in-force (RIF) was blocked by the courts and the Education Department was forced to retain and continue paying these staff, the department prohibited them from returning to work.