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

Department offices purchased closed down up until Thursday

Agencies cut employees utilizing lump-sum payments, early retirement

Thursday is due date to send prepare for massive layoffs

(Adds new federal 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 staff, a possible precursor to closing completely, as federal government companies scrambled to satisfy President Donald Trump’s deadline to submit prepare for a 2nd round of mass layoffs.

The terminations are part of the department’s « final mission, » it said in a news release, mentioning Trump’s vow to remove the department, which manages $1.6 trillion in college loans, imposes civil rights laws in schools and provides federal funding for needy districts.

Asked on Fox News whether the firings would cause 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, down from 4,133 when Trump took office in January.

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

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

The layoffs are the most current action in Trump’s sweeping effort to scale down the federal government, led by the world’s richest individual and his Department of Government Efficiency. DOGE has actually cut more than 100,000 tasks across the 2.3 million-member federal civilian administration, frozen most foreign help and canceled countless programs and agreements, regardless of lots of lawsuits challenging the legality of those relocations.

DOGE’s blunt-force method has annoyed a number of White House officials and Republican legislators, some of whom have confronted mad constituents at town halls. Trump informed department heads last week that they, not Musk, have the last word on staffing, his first notable public relocate to limit the Tesla CEO.

All U.S. federal government firms have been purchased to come up with massive layoff strategies by Thursday, setting up the next phase of Trump’s cost-cutting campaign. Several companies have actually used workers payments to retire early to satisfy Trump’s demand.

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

The union representing more than 2,800 department employees stated it would fight the « oppressive cuts. »

« What is clear from the previous weeks of mass shootings, turmoil, and untreated unprofessionalism is that this regime has no regard for the thousands of employees who have actually devoted their professions 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 government is inefficient and bloated. DOGE claims it has actually saved $105 billion in cuts, but it has just publicly recorded a portion of those cost savings, and its accounting has been plagued by mistakes.

The federal government reported an approximated $162 billion in inappropriate payments in 2024, according to a U.S. Government Accountability Office annual report launched on Tuesday. The vast bulk were overpayments, the report stated. Total federal investments topped $6.75 trillion because , according to the Congressional Budget Office.

The total incorrect payments figure was down sharply from 2023’s $236 billion, the GAO said.

EARLY RETIREMENT OFFERS

Other firms have actually used lump-sum payments of up to $25,000 before tax to workers 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 Fda.

The buyout uses, integrated with another program that relieves eligibility requirements for early retirement, are being accepted as a lower-friction method to help satisfy the Thursday deadline, human resources experts at a number of federal agencies informed Reuters.

The Trump administration has been facing myriad suits after it fired countless probationary workers in a first wave of mass layoffs and basically dismantled entire departments like USAID and CFPB.

The General Services Administration, which manages the government’s residential or commercial property portfolio, is likewise looking for approval to use the buyout payments to employees, according to an e-mail sent out by its acting head to staff on Monday and seen by Reuters. The GSA could not be reached for remark beyond U.S. organization hours. The Securities and Exchange Commission has actually currently provided benefits 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 obstacles. It likewise needs employees who have accepted the offer to pay back the cash if they take another federal government job within five years.

Only a couple of companies have actually telegraphed the number of workers 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 personnel.

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

On Monday, the HR department of the Food and Drug Administration sent an e-mail 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 prior offer by adding two months of full pay in addition to the benefit, according to a copy of the email seen by Reuters. HHS could not be reached for remark outside of regular U.S. service 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)