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

Department offices purchased closed down until Thursday

Agencies cut workers utilizing lump-sum payments, early retirement

Thursday is due date to submit 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 said on Tuesday it would lay off almost half its personnel, a possible precursor to closing altogether, as government agencies scrambled to satisfy President Donald Trump’s deadline to submit strategies for a 2nd round of mass layoffs.

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

Asked on Fox News whether the shootings would cause the department’s taking apart, 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 workplace in January.

Before announcing the layoffs, the firm purchased workplaces in the Washington location near to personnel from Tuesday night through Wednesday, according to an internal notification seen by Reuters. An Education Department spokesperson did not instantly react to concerns about the nature of the security issues triggering the closures.

Similar closures served as a precursor to shuttering the headquarters of the U.S. Agency for International Development, the humanitarian help agency, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which secures Americans versus unscrupulous lenders.

The layoffs are the most current action in Trump’s sweeping effort to downsize the federal 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 aid and canceled countless programs and contracts, despite dozens of suits challenging the legality of those relocations.

DOGE’s blunt-force method has actually irritated several White House officials and Republican legislators, a few of whom have faced angry constituents at town halls. Trump told department heads recently that they, not Musk, have the last word on staffing, his first noteworthy public transfer to restrain the Tesla CEO.

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

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

The union representing more than 2,800 department employees said it would battle the « extreme cuts. »

« What is clear from the previous weeks of mass shootings, mayhem, and uncontrolled unprofessionalism is that this regime 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 wasteful and bloated. DOGE declares it has actually conserved $105 billion in cuts, but it has actually just publicly documented a fraction of those savings, and its accounting has actually been afflicted by mistakes.

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

The total inappropriate 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 approximately $25,000 before tax to who agree 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 Fda.

The buyout provides, combined with another program that alleviates eligibility requirements for early retirement, are being embraced as a lower-friction method to help fulfill the Thursday due date, personnels specialists at numerous federal companies informed Reuters.

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

The General Services Administration, which manages the federal government’s home 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 could not be grabbed remark beyond U.S. business hours. The Securities and Exchange Commission has already provided perks of as much as $50,000, Reuters reported.

Personnels and public governance experts said the appeal of the buyout program is that it is voluntary and less susceptible to legal difficulties. It likewise needs workers who have accepted the offer to pay back the cash if they take another federal government task within 5 years.

Only a number of agencies have telegraphed how numerous staff members they prepare to cut in the second phase of layoffs. These include the Department of Veterans Affairs, which is intending to cut more than 80,000 employees, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which is planning to cut 1,029 personnel.

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

On Monday, the HR department of the Food and Drug Administration sent out an e-mail to all 19,000 workers 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 could not be reached for comment beyond normal U.S. company hours. (Reporting by Timothy Gardner, Alexandra Alper, Tim Reid and Marisa Taylor, extra reporting by Nathan Layne and Kanishka Singh, writing by Nathan Layne and Joseph Ax; Editing by Scott Malone, David Gregorio and Muralikumar Anantharaman)