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

Department workplaces purchased closed down up until Thursday

Agencies cut workers utilizing lump-sum payments, early retirement

Thursday is deadline to submit strategies for large-scale 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 stated on Tuesday it would lay off nearly half its staff, a possible precursor to closing completely, as federal government companies scrambled to meet President Donald Trump’s deadline to submit prepare for a second round of mass layoffs.

The terminations become part of the department’s “final objective,” it said in a news release, mentioning Trump’s vow to eliminate the department, which manages $1.6 trillion in college loans, imposes civil rights laws in schools and supplies federal financing for needy districts.

Asked on Fox News whether the firings would cause the department’s taking apart, Secretary of 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 office in January.

Before revealing the layoffs, the company ordered offices in the Washington area near staff from Tuesday evening through Wednesday, according to an internal notice seen by Reuters. An Education Department spokesperson did not right away react to questions about the nature of the security concerns prompting the closures.

Similar closures functioned as a precursor to shuttering the head office of the U.S. Agency for International Development, the humanitarian help agency, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which safeguards Americans versus dishonest loan providers.

The layoffs are the latest action 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 tasks across the 2.3 million-member federal civilian administration, frozen most foreign help and canceled countless programs and agreements, in spite of lots of lawsuits challenging the legality of those moves.

DOGE’s blunt-force approach has actually frustrated several White House officials and Republican legislators, a few of whom have confronted upset constituents at town halls. Trump informed department heads last week that they, not Musk, have the final say on staffing, his first notable public transfer 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 companies have actually offered staff members payments to retire early to fulfill Trump’s need.

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

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

“What is clear from the previous weeks of mass shootings, turmoil, and unattended unprofessionalism is that this routine has no respect for the thousands of workers who have actually 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 federal government is inefficient and bloated. DOGE claims it has actually saved $105 billion in cuts, but it has actually just openly recorded a fraction of those cost savings, and its accounting has actually been afflicted by mistakes.

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

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

EARLY RETIREMENT OFFERS

Other companies 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 Food and Drug Administration.

The buyout offers, combined with another program that eases eligibility requirements for early retirement, are being embraced as a lower-friction method to help satisfy the Thursday deadline, human resources specialists at several federal companies told Reuters.

The Trump administration has actually been facing myriad suits 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 also seeking approval to offer the buyout payments to workers, according to an email sent by its acting head to staff on Monday and seen by Reuters. The GSA might not be grabbed comment outside of U.S. company hours. The Securities and Exchange Commission has actually currently used bonuses of as much as $50,000, Reuters reported.

Personnels and public governance specialists said the appeal of the buyout program is that it is voluntary and less vulnerable to legal obstacles. It likewise requires workers who have actually accepted the deal to repay the cash if they take another federal government task within five years.

Only a couple of agencies have telegraphed the number of staff members they plan 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 personnel.

OPM itself has actually provided 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 an email to all 19,000 employees revealing a Friday, March 14, due date for a buyout program. Those who accept would need to retire by April 19.

Late on Monday, HHS sweetened its prior deal by including 2 months of full pay in addition to the bonus, according to a copy of the e-mail seen by Reuters. HHS might not be grabbed remark outside of normal U.S. organization 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)