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

Department workplaces bought 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 brand-new 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 stated on Tuesday it would lay off almost half its staff, a possible precursor to entirely, as government companies rushed to fulfill President Donald Trump’s deadline to send prepare for a second round of mass layoffs.

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

Asked on Fox News whether the shootings would result in the department’s dismantling, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon stated « yes, » adding that doing so « was the president’s mandate. » The layoffs would leave the department with 2,183 employees, below 4,133 when Trump took office in January.

Before announcing the layoffs, the company ordered workplaces in the Washington area closed 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 issues triggering the closures.

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

The layoffs are the most current step in Trump’s sweeping effort to scale down 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 tasks throughout the 2.3 million-member federal civilian administration, frozen most foreign aid and canceled countless programs and contracts, regardless of lots of lawsuits challenging the legality of those moves.

DOGE’s blunt-force method has irritated a number of White House officials and Republican legislators, some of whom have challenged mad constituents at city center. Trump told department heads recently that they, not Musk, have the last say on staffing, his very first notable public relocation to limit the Tesla CEO.

All U.S. federal government firms have actually been bought to come up with massive layoff plans by Thursday, establishing the next stage of Trump’s cost-cutting project. Several agencies have offered staff members payments to retire early to meet Trump’s need.

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

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

« What is clear from the previous weeks of mass shootings, turmoil, and untreated unprofessionalism is that this program has no respect for the thousands of employees who have actually dedicated their careers to serve their fellow Americans, » said 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 conserved $105 billion in cuts, but it has just openly recorded a fraction of those cost savings, and its accounting has actually 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 yearly report released on Tuesday. The huge bulk were overpayments, the report stated. Total federal expenses topped $6.75 trillion in that , according to the Congressional Budget Office.

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

EARLY RETIREMENT OFFERS

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

The buyout provides, combined 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, human resources experts at numerous federal agencies informed Reuters.

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

The General Services Administration, which manages the government’s home portfolio, is likewise seeking approval to provide the buyout payments to employees, according to an email sent out by its acting head to staff on Monday and seen by Reuters. The GSA could not be reached for remark outside of U.S. service hours. The Securities and Exchange Commission has actually currently used rewards of as much as $50,000, Reuters reported.

Human resources and public governance professionals stated the appeal of the buyout program is that it is voluntary and less susceptible to legal difficulties. It also needs employees who have accepted the deal to repay the cash if they take another government job within five years.

Only a number of companies have actually telegraphed the number of employees they prepare to cut in the 2nd phase of layoffs. These consist of the Department of Veterans Affairs, which is aiming to cut more than 80,000 employees, 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 workers, according to another individual with knowledge of the matter. Employees were given till March 12 to respond.

On Monday, the HR department of the Fda sent out an e-mail to all 19,000 employees announcing a Friday, March 14, due date for a buyout program. Those who accept would have to retire by April 19.

Late on Monday, HHS sweetened its previous offer by adding two 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 beyond regular U.S. company hours. (Reporting by Timothy Gardner, Alexandra Alper, Tim Reid and Marisa Taylor, additional reporting by Nathan Layne and Kanishka Singh, writing by Nathan Layne and Joseph Ax; Editing by Scott Malone, David Gregorio and Muralikumar Anantharaman)