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

Department workplaces purchased shut down till Thursday

Agencies cut workers using lump-sum payments, early retirement

Thursday is due date to send prepare for large-scale layoffs

(Adds brand-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 said on Tuesday it would lay off almost half its staff, a possible precursor to closing completely, as government firms scrambled to fulfill President Donald Trump’s deadline to send strategies for a 2nd round of mass layoffs.

The terminations are part of the department’s “final mission,” it said in a news release, mentioning Trump’s vow to eliminate the department, which oversees $1.6 trillion in college loans, enforces civil liberties laws in schools and offers federal financing for needy districts.

Asked on Fox News whether the firings would cause the department’s taking apart, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon stated “yes,” that doing so “was the president’s mandate.” The layoffs would leave the department with 2,183 employees, down from 4,133 when Trump took office in January.

Before announcing the layoffs, the agency ordered workplaces in the Washington area near to personnel from Tuesday night through Wednesday, according to an internal notification seen by Reuters. An Education Department representative did not instantly respond to concerns about the nature of the security problems prompting the closures.

Similar closures functioned as a precursor to shuttering the headquarters of the U.S. Agency for International Development, the humanitarian help company, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which protects Americans against dishonest lending institutions.

The layoffs are the current action in Trump’s sweeping effort to downsize the government, led by the world’s wealthiest 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 contracts, in spite of lots of claims challenging the legality of those relocations.

DOGE’s blunt-force method has actually annoyed several White House officials and Republican lawmakers, a few of whom have actually confronted angry constituents at city center. Trump told department heads last week that they, not Musk, have the last word on staffing, his first noteworthy public transfer to limit the Tesla CEO.

All U.S. federal government agencies have actually been ordered to come up with massive layoff plans by Thursday, establishing the next phase of Trump’s cost-cutting campaign. Several companies have actually offered staff members payments to retire early to fulfill Trump’s need.

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

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

“What is clear from the past weeks of mass shootings, mayhem, and unattended unprofessionalism is that this program has no regard for the countless employees who have actually committed 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 puffed up. DOGE declares it has actually conserved $105 billion in cuts, however it has actually only publicly documented a portion of those savings, and its accounting has actually 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 annual report released on Tuesday. The vast bulk were overpayments, the report said. Total federal outlays topped $6.75 trillion in that financial year, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

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

EARLY RETIREMENT OFFERS

Other firms have used lump-sum payments of up to $25,000 before tax to workers who consent 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 welcomed as a lower-friction way to assist fulfill the Thursday due date, human resources professionals at numerous federal firms told Reuters.

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

The General Services Administration, which manages the government’s home portfolio, is likewise looking for 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 reached for comment outside of U.S. organization hours. The Securities and Exchange Commission has currently offered rewards of up to $50,000, Reuters reported.

Personnels and public governance specialists stated the appeal of the buyout program is that it is voluntary and less vulnerable to legal obstacles. It likewise needs employees who have actually accepted the deal to pay back the cash if they take another federal government job within 5 years.

Only a number of companies have actually telegraphed the number of staff members they prepare to cut in the 2nd phase of layoffs. These include the Department of Veterans Affairs, which is intending to cut more than 80,000 workers, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which is preparing to cut 1,029 personnel.

OPM itself has used lump-sum payments to some 650 of its employees, according to another person with knowledge of the matter. Employees were given until March 12 to respond.

On Monday, the HR department of the Fda sent an email 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 prior deal 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 grabbed remark beyond typical 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)