US Education Department to Cut Half its Staff As Trump Eyes Its

Department workplaces purchased closed down up until Thursday

Agencies cut workers using lump-sum payments, early retirement

Thursday is deadline to submit prepare for massive layoffs

(Adds brand-new government report on improper payments, paragraphs 12-14)

By Timothy Gardner, Tim Reid, Alexandra Alper and Marisa Taylor

WASHINGTON, March 11 (Reuters) – The U.S. Department of Education said on Tuesday it would lay off nearly half its personnel, a possible precursor to closing completely, as federal government firms rushed to fulfill President Donald Trump’s deadline to submit prepare for a second round of mass layoffs.

The terminations become part of the department’s “last objective,” it said in a press release, pointing to Trump’s vow to eliminate the department, which oversees $1.6 trillion in college loans, implements civil rights laws in schools and provides federal financing for clingy districts.

Asked on Fox News whether the firings would result in the department’s dismantling, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon stated “yes,” including that doing so “was the president’s mandate.” The layoffs would leave the department with 2,183 workers, below 4,133 when Trump took workplace in January.

Before announcing the layoffs, the firm bought offices in the Washington area near staff from Tuesday evening through Wednesday, according to an internal notification seen by Reuters. An Education Department representative did not instantly respond to concerns about the nature of the security issues prompting the closures.

Similar closures acted as a precursor to shuttering the headquarters of the U.S. Agency for International Development, the humanitarian aid agency, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which protects Americans versus unscrupulous loan providers.

The layoffs are the current step in Trump’s sweeping effort to downsize the government, led by the world’s richest individual Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency. DOGE has actually cut more than 100,000 jobs across the 2.3 million-member federal civilian bureaucracy, frozen most foreign help and canceled countless programs and contracts, regardless of dozens of lawsuits challenging the legality of those relocations.

DOGE’s blunt-force approach has irritated a number of White House officials and Republican legislators, some of whom have actually faced upset constituents at city center. Trump informed department heads recently that they, not Musk, have the last say on staffing, his first noteworthy public transfer to restrain the Tesla CEO.

All U.S. government agencies have actually been purchased to come up with large-scale layoff plans by Thursday, setting up the next stage of Trump’s cost-cutting project. Several agencies have offered employees payments to retire early to fulfill Trump’s need.

Affected Education Department workers will be put on administrative leave beginning on March 21, the department said.

The union representing more than 2,800 department workers stated it would combat the “extreme cuts.”

“What is clear from the previous weeks of mass firings, turmoil, and unattended unprofessionalism is that this program has no regard for the thousands of employees who have actually devoted their careers to serve their fellow Americans,” stated Sheria Smith, president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 252.

Trump and Musk have argued that the federal government is inefficient and puffed up. DOGE declares it has actually saved $105 billion in cuts, however it has actually only publicly documented a fraction of those savings, and its accounting has been afflicted by mistakes.

The federal government reported an estimated $162 billion in improper payments in fiscal year 2024, according to a U.S. Government Accountability Office yearly report launched on Tuesday. The vast majority were overpayments, the report said. Total federal investments topped $6.75 trillion in that financial year, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

The overall improper payments figure was down sharply from 2023’s $236 billion, the GAO stated.

EARLY RETIREMENT OFFERS

Other companies have actually provided lump-sum payments of as much as $25,000 before tax to workers who agree to leave their tasks. Among these are the Office of Personnel Management, the Social Security Administration and the Department of Health and Human Services, including its Fda.

The buyout provides, integrated with another program that reduces eligibility requirements for early retirement, are being embraced as a lower-friction way to assist fulfill the Thursday due date, human resources specialists at numerous federal agencies informed Reuters.

The Trump administration has been grappling with myriad claims after it fired thousands of probationary employees in a very first wave of mass layoffs and essentially dismantled entire departments like USAID and CFPB.

The General Services Administration, which handles the government’s property portfolio, is also seeking approval to offer the buyout payments to employees, according to an email sent by its acting head to personnel on Monday and seen by Reuters. The GSA might not be grabbed remark beyond U.S. organization hours. The Securities and Exchange Commission has already offered perks of up to $50,000, Reuters reported.

Human resources and public governance professionals said the appeal of the buyout program is that it is voluntary and less vulnerable to legal challenges. It likewise requires employees who have actually accepted the deal to repay the cash if they take another government task within five years.

Only a number of firms have actually telegraphed the number of workers they prepare to cut in the 2nd stage of layoffs. These consist of the Department of Veterans Affairs, which is intending to cut more than 80,000 employees, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which is preparing to cut 1,029 staff.

OPM itself has actually used lump-sum payments to some 650 of its employees, according to another person with understanding of the matter. Employees were provided up until March 12 to respond.

On Monday, the HR department of the Fda sent an email to all 19,000 employees revealing a Friday, March 14, due date for a buyout program. Those who accept would need to retire by April 19.

Late on Monday, HHS sweetened its previous deal by including two months of full pay in addition to the benefit, according to a copy of the email seen by Reuters. HHS might not be grabbed remark beyond normal U.S. business hours. (Reporting by Timothy Gardner, Alexandra Alper, Tim Reid and Marisa Taylor, additional reporting by Nathan Layne and Kanishka Singh, by Nathan Layne and Joseph Ax; Editing by Scott Malone, David Gregorio and Muralikumar Anantharaman)