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

Department offices purchased shut down till Thursday

Agencies cut workers utilizing lump-sum payments, early retirement

Thursday is due date to send plans for massive layoffs

(Adds new federal government report on incorrect 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 almost half its personnel, a possible precursor to closing altogether, as federal government companies scrambled to fulfill President Donald Trump’s deadline to submit strategies for a second round of mass layoffs.

The terminations belong to the department’s “last mission,” it said in a news release, alluding to Trump’s vow to get rid of the department, which manages $1.6 trillion in college loans, enforces civil liberties laws in schools and provides federal funding for clingy districts.

Asked on Fox News whether the shootings would cause the department’s dismantling, 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 employees, down from 4,133 when Trump took workplace in January.

Before revealing the layoffs, the agency ordered offices in the Washington location near staff from Tuesday evening through Wednesday, according to an internal notice seen by Reuters. An Education Department spokesperson did not right away respond to about the nature of the security problems triggering the closures.

Similar closures acted as a precursor to shuttering the headquarters of the U.S. Agency for International Development, the humanitarian aid firm, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which safeguards Americans against deceitful loan providers.

The layoffs are the newest step in Trump’s sweeping effort to downsize the government, led by the world’s wealthiest person 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 help and canceled thousands of programs and agreements, in spite of lots of lawsuits challenging the legality of those relocations.

DOGE’s blunt-force technique has actually irritated numerous White House officials and Republican lawmakers, some of whom have actually challenged mad constituents at town halls. Trump told department heads last week that they, not Musk, have the last say on staffing, his very first significant public transfer to restrain the Tesla CEO.

All U.S. federal government agencies have actually been purchased to come up with large-scale layoff plans by Thursday, establishing the next stage of Trump’s cost-cutting project. Several firms have used staff members payments to retire early to satisfy Trump’s demand.

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

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

“What is clear from the past weeks of mass firings, mayhem, and untreated unprofessionalism is that this regime has no respect for the thousands of employees who have dedicated their careers 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 puffed up. DOGE claims it has conserved $105 billion in cuts, but it has actually only publicly documented a fraction of those cost savings, and its accounting has been plagued by errors.

The federal government reported an estimated $162 billion in improper payments in financial year 2024, according to a U.S. Government Accountability Office annual report released on Tuesday. The vast bulk were overpayments, the report stated. Total federal investments topped $6.75 trillion in that , 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 used lump-sum payments of up to $25,000 before tax to workers who consent to leave their jobs. 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 uses, integrated with another program that alleviates eligibility requirements for early retirement, are being embraced as a lower-friction way to help meet the Thursday due date, personnels specialists at several federal companies informed Reuters.

The Trump administration has been coming to grips with myriad claims after it fired thousands of probationary employees in a first wave of mass layoffs and essentially took apart whole departments like USAID and CFPB.

The General Services Administration, which handles the government’s home portfolio, is also seeking approval to use the buyout payments to workers, according to an email sent out by its acting head to staff on Monday and seen by Reuters. The GSA might not be grabbed remark beyond U.S. company hours. The Securities and Exchange Commission has actually already provided bonus offers of approximately $50,000, Reuters reported.

Human resources and public governance professionals said the appeal of the buyout program is that it is voluntary and less susceptible to legal obstacles. It likewise requires workers who have accepted the offer to repay the cash if they take another federal government task within five years.

Only a number of firms have telegraphed how many staff members they prepare 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 planning to cut 1,029 staff.

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

On Monday, the HR department of the Food and Drug Administration sent out an email to all 19,000 employees revealing 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 deal by adding 2 months of complete pay in addition to the benefit, according to a copy of the e-mail seen by Reuters. HHS might not be grabbed comment outside of typical U.S. organization hours. (Reporting by Timothy Gardner, Alexandra Alper, Tim Reid and Marisa Taylor, additional reporting by Nathan Layne and Kanishka Singh, composing by Nathan Layne and Joseph Ax; Editing by Scott Malone, David Gregorio and Muralikumar Anantharaman)