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

Department workplaces ordered closed down till Thursday

Agencies cut employees using 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 government firms rushed to fulfill President Donald Trump’s deadline to send prepare for a second round of mass layoffs.

The terminations belong to the department’s « last objective, » it said in a press release, pointing to Trump’s vow to get rid of the department, which manages $1.6 trillion in college loans, imposes civil liberties 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, » adding 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 bought offices in the Washington area closed to personnel from Tuesday evening through Wednesday, according to an internal notification seen by Reuters. An Education Department spokesperson did not right away react to questions about the nature of the security issues triggering the closures.

Similar closures functioned 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 unethical lenders.

The layoffs are the newest step in Trump’s sweeping effort to scale down the government, led by the world’s wealthiest 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 bureaucracy, frozen most foreign help and canceled countless programs and agreements, regardless of dozens of lawsuits challenging the legality of those moves.

DOGE’s blunt-force method has actually frustrated several White House authorities and Republican legislators, a few of whom have actually faced upset constituents at . Trump informed department heads last week that they, not Musk, have the last say on staffing, his very first notable public relocation to limit the Tesla CEO.

All U.S. government firms have been bought to come up with large-scale layoff plans by Thursday, establishing the next stage of Trump’s cost-cutting campaign. Several agencies have actually used employees payments to retire early to meet Trump’s demand.

Affected Education Department staff members 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 battle the « extreme cuts. »

« What is clear from the past weeks of mass firings, chaos, and unchecked unprofessionalism is that this routine has no respect for the countless employees who have actually committed 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 federal government is wasteful and bloated. DOGE declares it has actually saved $105 billion in cuts, however it has only openly documented a portion of those cost savings, and its accounting has been pestered by mistakes.

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

The overall inappropriate payments figure was down greatly from 2023’s $236 billion, the GAO said.

EARLY RETIREMENT OFFERS

Other companies have actually provided lump-sum payments of up to $25,000 before tax to employees who concur 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 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 assist satisfy the Thursday deadline, human resources experts at several federal companies informed Reuters.

The Trump administration has actually been grappling with myriad claims after it fired countless probationary employees in a first wave of mass layoffs and basically took apart 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 offer the buyout payments to employees, according to an email sent by its acting head to staff on Monday and seen by Reuters. The GSA might not be grabbed remark outside of U.S. service hours. The Securities and Exchange Commission has already 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 susceptible to legal difficulties. It also requires workers who have accepted the deal to pay back the cash if they take another government job within 5 years.

Only a number of agencies have actually telegraphed the number of 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 used lump-sum payments to some 650 of its workers, according to another person with understanding of the matter. Employees were offered 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 announcing a Friday, March 14, deadline for a buyout program. Those who accept would need to retire by April 19.

Late on Monday, HHS sweetened its prior offer by including two months of full pay in addition to the reward, according to a copy of the e-mail seen by Reuters. HHS might not be reached for comment beyond typical U.S. business 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)