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

Department offices ordered shut down up until Thursday

Agencies cut employees using lump-sum payments, early retirement

Thursday is deadline to send prepare for massive layoffs

(Adds brand-new federal government report on incorrect payments, paragraphs 12-14)

By 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 staff, a possible precursor to closing altogether, as government companies scrambled to satisfy President Donald Trump’s due date to send prepare for a 2nd round of mass layoffs.

The terminations become part of the department’s “last mission,” it stated in a press release, mentioning Trump’s vow to get rid of the department, which manages $1.6 trillion in college loans, implements civil rights laws in schools and provides federal financing for clingy 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 employees, below 4,133 when Trump took workplace in January.

Before revealing the layoffs, the company bought offices 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 questions about the nature of the security concerns prompting the closures.

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

The layoffs are the current action in Trump’s sweeping effort to downsize the government, led by the world’s wealthiest person Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency. DOGE has cut more than 100,000 tasks throughout the 2.3 million-member federal civilian administration, frozen most foreign help and canceled thousands of programs and contracts, regardless of dozens of lawsuits challenging the legality of those relocations.

DOGE’s blunt-force method has frustrated a number of White House officials and Republican legislators, some of whom have faced upset constituents at city center. Trump informed department heads recently that they, not Musk, have the last word on staffing, his very first significant public relocate to limit the Tesla CEO.

All U.S. federal government agencies have been bought to come up with large-scale layoff plans by Thursday, establishing the next phase of Trump’s cost-cutting project. Several agencies have actually provided workers payments to retire early to satisfy Trump’s need.

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

The union representing more than 2,800 department workers said it would fight the “draconian cuts.”

“What is clear from the past weeks of mass shootings, chaos, and untreated unprofessionalism is that this routine has no respect for the thousands of workers who have dedicated their careers 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 government is inefficient and bloated. DOGE claims it has actually conserved $105 billion in cuts, however it has just openly recorded a fraction of those savings, and its accounting has been pestered by errors.

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

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

EARLY RETIREMENT OFFERS

Other firms have used lump-sum payments of approximately $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 Food and Drug Administration.

The buyout provides, combined with another program that alleviates eligibility requirements for early retirement, are being accepted as a lower-friction way to assist fulfill the Thursday due date, human resources experts at numerous federal firms told Reuters.

The Trump administration has been facing myriad lawsuits after it fired countless probationary workers in a very first wave of mass layoffs and essentially dismantled whole departments like USAID and CFPB.

The General Services Administration, which handles the government’s property portfolio, is also seeking approval to use the buyout payments to workers, according to an email sent by its acting head to personnel on Monday and seen by Reuters. The GSA might not be reached for remark outside of U.S. company hours. The Securities and Exchange Commission has actually already offered perks of approximately $50,000, Reuters reported.

Personnels and public governance professionals said the appeal of the buyout program is that it is voluntary and less susceptible to legal challenges. It likewise requires employees who have accepted the offer to pay back the cash if they take another government task within five years.

Only a number of agencies have telegraphed the number of workers they prepare to cut in the second 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 offered lump-sum payments to some 650 of its staff members, according to another individual with understanding of the matter. Employees were offered until March 12 to react.

On Monday, the HR department of the Fda sent an email to all 19,000 workers revealing 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 including 2 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 remark 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, composing by Nathan Layne and Joseph Ax; Editing by Scott Malone, David Gregorio and Muralikumar Anantharaman)