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

Department workplaces bought closed down till Thursday

Agencies cut employees using lump-sum payments, early retirement

Thursday is due date to send strategies for massive layoffs

(Adds new federal government report on inappropriate 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 firms scrambled to satisfy President Donald Trump’s due date to send plans for a 2nd round of mass layoffs.

The terminations belong to the department’s “last mission,” it said in a news 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 needy districts.

Asked on Fox News whether the shootings would result in the department’s dismantling, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said “yes,” adding that doing so “was the president’s required.” 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 ordered workplaces in the Washington location closed to staff from Tuesday night through Wednesday, according to an internal notification seen by Reuters. An Education Department representative did not right away react to concerns about the nature of the security problems prompting the closures.

Similar closures worked 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 deceitful lenders.

The layoffs are the 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 help and canceled countless programs and agreements, regardless of dozens of claims challenging the legality of those relocations.

DOGE’s blunt-force approach has actually frustrated numerous White House authorities and Republican lawmakers, some of whom have faced angry constituents at town halls. Trump told department heads last week that they, not Musk, have the last word on staffing, his first significant public relocation to restrain the Tesla CEO.

All U.S. government agencies have actually been ordered to come up with large-scale layoff plans by Thursday, establishing the next stage of Trump’s cost-cutting campaign. Several firms have used staff members payments to retire early to fulfill Trump’s demand.

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

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

“What is clear from the past weeks of mass firings, turmoil, and untreated unprofessionalism is that this program has no regard for the countless employees who have 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 government is wasteful and bloated. DOGE claims it has actually conserved $105 billion in cuts, but it has just openly documented a portion of those savings, and its accounting has been afflicted by mistakes.

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

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

EARLY RETIREMENT OFFERS

Other agencies have actually provided lump-sum payments of approximately $25,000 before tax to workers who accept 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 uses, with another program that alleviates eligibility requirements for early retirement, are being accepted as a lower-friction method to assist meet the Thursday due date, personnels professionals at a number of federal companies informed Reuters.

The Trump administration has actually been facing myriad lawsuits after it fired countless probationary workers in a very first wave of mass layoffs and basically took apart entire departments like USAID and CFPB.

The General Services Administration, which handles the federal government’s residential or commercial property portfolio, is also seeking approval to offer the buyout payments to workers, according to an email sent out by its acting head to staff on Monday and seen by Reuters. The GSA could not be reached for comment outside of U.S. service hours. The Securities and Exchange Commission has actually currently provided bonuses of as much as $50,000, Reuters reported.

Human resources and public governance experts stated the appeal of the buyout program is that it is voluntary and less susceptible to legal obstacles. It likewise needs employees who have actually accepted the offer to repay the cash if they take another federal government task within five years.

Only a number of agencies have telegraphed how numerous employees they plan to cut in the 2nd stage of layoffs. These include 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 actually provided lump-sum payments to some 650 of its employees, according to another individual with knowledge of the matter. Employees were given until March 12 to respond.

On Monday, the HR department of the Fda sent out an e-mail to all 19,000 staff members 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 adding two months of full pay in addition to the bonus, according to a copy of the email seen by Reuters. HHS could not be reached for comment outside of typical 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)