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

Department workplaces bought closed down until Thursday

Agencies cut workers utilizing lump-sum payments, early retirement

Thursday is deadline to send strategies for large-scale layoffs

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

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

WASHINGTON, March 11 (Reuters) – The U.S. Department of Education stated on Tuesday it would lay off almost half its personnel, a possible precursor to closing altogether, as federal government agencies scrambled to fulfill President Donald Trump’s due date to submit prepare for a second round of mass layoffs.

The terminations are part of the department’s “final mission,” it stated in a press release, pointing to to get rid of the department, which oversees $1.6 trillion in college loans, imposes civil rights laws in schools and offers federal financing for clingy districts.

Asked on Fox News whether the shootings would result in the department’s taking apart, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said “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 office in January.

Before announcing the layoffs, the company ordered workplaces in the Washington area near to staff from Tuesday night through Wednesday, according to an internal notice seen by Reuters. An Education Department spokesperson did not right away react to concerns about the nature of the security concerns prompting the closures.

Similar closures functioned as a precursor to shuttering the headquarters of the U.S. Agency for International Development, the humanitarian help firm, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which protects Americans versus unethical loan providers.

The layoffs are the current action 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 throughout the 2.3 million-member federal civilian administration, frozen most foreign aid and canceled thousands of programs and agreements, in spite of dozens of suits challenging the legality of those relocations.

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

All U.S. government companies have actually been ordered to come up with massive layoff strategies by Thursday, establishing the next phase of Trump’s cost-cutting campaign. Several agencies have provided staff members payments to retire early to meet Trump’s need.

Affected Education Department staff members will be put on administrative leave starting on March 21, the department stated.

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

“What is clear from the past weeks of mass firings, mayhem, and unchecked unprofessionalism is that this regime has no regard for the countless workers who have dedicated their professions to serve their fellow Americans,” stated Sheria Smith, president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 252.

Trump and Musk have actually argued that the government is inefficient and bloated. DOGE claims it has actually conserved $105 billion in cuts, but it has only publicly documented a portion of those cost savings, and its accounting has actually been plagued by errors.

The federal government reported an estimated $162 billion in improper payments in 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 inappropriate payments figure was down sharply from 2023’s $236 billion, the GAO said.

EARLY RETIREMENT OFFERS

Other companies have actually used lump-sum payments of up to $25,000 before tax to employees who accept 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 Food and Drug Administration.

The buyout provides, integrated with another program that alleviates eligibility requirements for early retirement, are being accepted as a lower-friction way to assist fulfill the Thursday due date, personnels specialists at several federal companies informed Reuters.

The Trump administration has been grappling with myriad lawsuits after it fired countless probationary employees in a very first wave of mass layoffs and essentially took apart whole departments like USAID and CFPB.

The General Services Administration, which handles the federal government’s property portfolio, is likewise looking for 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 comment outside of U.S. organization hours. The Securities and Exchange Commission has actually currently used rewards of up to $50,000, Reuters reported.

Human resources and public governance experts stated the appeal of the buyout program is that it is voluntary and less vulnerable to legal challenges. It also requires workers who have actually accepted the offer to pay back the cash if they take another government job within five years.

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

OPM itself has offered lump-sum payments to some 650 of its employees, according to another individual with understanding of the matter. Employees were given until March 12 to react.

On Monday, the HR department of the Fda sent out an email to all 19,000 workers announcing a Friday, March 14, deadline for a buyout program. Those who accept would have to retire by April 19.

Late on Monday, HHS sweetened its prior offer by including 2 months of full pay in addition to the bonus, according to a copy of the e-mail seen by Reuters. HHS might not be reached for remark beyond typical U.S. organization hours. (Reporting by Timothy Gardner, Alexandra Alper, Tim Reid and Marisa Taylor, extra reporting by Nathan Layne and Kanishka Singh, composing by Nathan Layne and Joseph Ax; Editing by Scott Malone, David Gregorio and Muralikumar Anantharaman)