About Us

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

Department offices ordered closed down until Thursday

Agencies cut employees utilizing lump-sum payments, early retirement

Thursday is deadline to submit prepare for large-scale layoffs

(Adds brand-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 personnel, a possible precursor to closing altogether, as government firms scrambled to satisfy President Donald Trump’s due date to send prepare for a second round of mass layoffs.

The terminations are part of the department’s « final objective, » it said in a press release, mentioning Trump’s vow to get rid of the department, which oversees $1.6 trillion in college loans, imposes civil rights laws in schools and provides federal financing for clingy districts.

Asked on Fox News whether the firings would cause the department’s dismantling, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said « 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 workplace in January.

Before revealing the layoffs, the firm purchased workplaces in the Washington area near staff from Tuesday evening through Wednesday, according to an internal notice seen by Reuters. An Education Department representative did not right away respond to questions about the nature of the security issues prompting the closures.

Similar closures served 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 dishonest lenders.

The layoffs are the latest step 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 across the 2.3 million-member federal civilian bureaucracy, frozen most foreign help and canceled countless programs and agreements, regardless of lots of suits challenging the legality of those moves.

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

All U.S. government agencies have actually been bought to come up with massive layoff plans by Thursday, setting up the next stage of Trump’s cost-cutting campaign. Several agencies have actually offered workers payments to retire early to meet Trump’s demand.

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

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

« What is clear from the previous weeks of mass shootings, mayhem, and uncontrolled unprofessionalism is that this routine has no respect for the countless workers 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 actually argued that the federal government is wasteful and puffed up. DOGE declares it has saved $105 billion in cuts, however it has just openly documented a portion of those cost savings, and its accounting has actually been afflicted by mistakes.

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

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

EARLY RETIREMENT OFFERS

Other firms have actually offered 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 Fda.

The buyout provides, combined with another program that eases eligibility requirements for early retirement, are being welcomed as a lower-friction way to help fulfill the Thursday due date, personnels specialists at a number of federal firms informed Reuters.

The Trump administration has actually been coming to grips with myriad claims after it fired countless probationary employees in a first wave of mass layoffs and essentially took apart whole 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 e-mail sent out by its acting head to personnel 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 already provided benefits 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 vulnerable to legal challenges. It likewise requires employees who have actually accepted the deal to pay back the cash if they take another within 5 years.

Only a number of agencies have actually telegraphed the number of staff members they plan to cut in the second stage of layoffs. These include the Department of Veterans Affairs, which is intending 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 provided lump-sum payments to some 650 of its workers, according to another person with knowledge of the matter. Employees were given till March 12 to react.

On Monday, the HR department of the Fda sent an e-mail to all 19,000 staff members revealing 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 deal by adding 2 months of full pay in addition to the bonus offer, according to a copy of the email seen by Reuters. HHS might not be grabbed comment beyond 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)