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

Department workplaces bought shut down until Thursday

Agencies cut employees utilizing lump-sum payments, early retirement

Thursday is due date to submit plans for massive layoffs

(Adds new 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 stated on Tuesday it would lay off nearly half its personnel, a possible precursor to closing altogether, as federal government firms scrambled to meet President Donald Trump’s due date to send plans for a second round of mass layoffs.

The terminations are part of the department’s « final objective, » it stated in a news release, mentioning Trump’s vow to get rid of the department, which supervises $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 lead to the department’s taking apart, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said « yes, » including that doing so « was the president’s mandate. » The layoffs would leave the department with 2,183 employees, below 4,133 when Trump took workplace in January.

Before announcing the layoffs, the company purchased offices in the Washington area closed to personnel from Tuesday evening through Wednesday, according to an internal notice seen by Reuters. An Education Department representative did not immediately respond to concerns about the nature of the security problems prompting the closures.

Similar closures acted 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 lending institutions.

The layoffs are the current step in Trump’s sweeping effort to downsize the government, led by the world’s richest person Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency. DOGE has actually cut more than 100,000 tasks across the 2.3 million-member federal civilian bureaucracy, frozen most foreign aid and canceled countless programs and agreements, regardless of dozens of claims challenging the legality of those relocations.

DOGE’s blunt-force method has annoyed a number of White House authorities and Republican legislators, some of whom have actually faced mad constituents at town halls. Trump told department heads recently that they, not Musk, have the final say on staffing, his first notable public move to limit the Tesla CEO.

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

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

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

« What is clear from the previous weeks of mass shootings, mayhem, and unattended unprofessionalism is that this program 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 conserved $105 billion in cuts, however it has only publicly documented a fraction of those savings, and its accounting has actually been plagued by mistakes.

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

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

EARLY RETIREMENT OFFERS

Other firms have provided lump-sum payments of up to $25,000 before tax to employees who agree 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 Food and Drug Administration.

The buyout provides, combined with another program that reduces eligibility requirements for early retirement, are being accepted as a lower-friction method to help fulfill the Thursday deadline, personnels specialists at a number of federal agencies informed Reuters.

The Trump administration has actually been facing myriad claims after it probationary employees in a first wave of mass layoffs and essentially dismantled entire departments like USAID and CFPB.

The General Services Administration, which handles the government’s home portfolio, is likewise seeking approval to offer the buyout payments to workers, according to an e-mail sent by its acting head to staff on Monday and seen by Reuters. The GSA might not be grabbed remark beyond U.S. business hours. The Securities and Exchange Commission has actually already offered perks of up to $50,000, Reuters reported.

Personnels and public governance professionals stated the appeal of the buyout program is that it is voluntary and less vulnerable to legal obstacles. It likewise needs workers who have accepted the deal to pay back the cash if they take another government job within five years.

Only a couple of companies have actually telegraphed how lots of employees they plan to cut in the second stage of layoffs. These include 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 staff.

OPM itself has actually offered lump-sum payments to some 650 of its staff members, according to another person with understanding of the matter. Employees were offered 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 deal by including two months of complete pay in addition to the perk, according to a copy of the email seen by Reuters. HHS might not be grabbed comment outside of regular U.S. business 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)