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

Department workplaces ordered closed down up until Thursday

Agencies cut employees utilizing lump-sum payments, early retirement

Thursday is deadline to send prepare for large-scale layoffs

(Adds brand-new 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 government agencies scrambled to meet 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 objective,” it said in a press release, pointing to Trump’s vow to get rid of the department, which manages $1.6 trillion in college loans, implements civil liberties laws in schools and provides federal financing for needy districts.

Asked on Fox News whether the shootings would lead to 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, down from 4,133 when Trump took office in January.

Before announcing the layoffs, the firm ordered offices in the Washington area closed to staff from Tuesday night through Wednesday, according to an internal notice seen by Reuters. An Education Department representative did not instantly react to concerns about the nature of the security issues prompting the closures.

Similar closures served as a precursor to shuttering the head office of the U.S. Agency for International Development, the humanitarian aid company, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which secures Americans versus deceitful loan providers.

The layoffs are the current step in Trump’s sweeping effort to scale down 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 jobs throughout the 2.3 million-member federal civilian administration, frozen most foreign help and canceled countless programs and agreements, regardless of dozens of lawsuits challenging the legality of those moves.

DOGE’s blunt-force method has annoyed several White House officials and Republican lawmakers, some of whom have faced angry constituents at town halls. Trump informed department heads last week that they, not Musk, have the last say on staffing, his very first noteworthy public move to limit the Tesla CEO.

All U.S. federal government agencies have been purchased to come up with large-scale layoff strategies by Thursday, establishing the next phase of Trump’s cost-cutting campaign. Several firms have actually used employees payments to retire early to meet Trump’s need.

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

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

“What is clear from the previous weeks of mass shootings, mayhem, and unattended unprofessionalism is that this routine has no regard for the thousands of employees who have committed 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 declares it has actually saved $105 billion in cuts, however it has only openly recorded a fraction of those cost savings, and its accounting has actually been pestered by errors.

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

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

EARLY RETIREMENT OFFERS

Other agencies have actually used lump-sum payments of as much as $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 uses, integrated with another program that relieves eligibility requirements for early retirement, are being welcomed as a lower-friction way to assist fulfill the Thursday due date, human resources experts at numerous federal companies told Reuters.

The Trump administration has actually been coming to grips with myriad claims after it fired countless probationary employees in a very first wave of mass layoffs and basically dismantled whole departments like USAID and CFPB.

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

Human resources and public governance professionals said the appeal of the buyout program is that it is voluntary and less vulnerable to legal challenges. It also requires employees who have accepted the offer to repay the cash if they take another federal government task within five years.

Only a number of firms have actually telegraphed the number of staff members they plan to cut in the 2nd stage of layoffs. These consist of the Department of Veterans Affairs, which is intending to cut more than 80,000 employees, 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 workers, according to another person with knowledge of the matter. Employees were offered until March 12 to respond.

On Monday, the HR department of the Food and Drug Administration sent out an e-mail 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 adding two 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 beyond regular U.S. organization hours. (Reporting by Timothy Gardner, Alexandra Alper, Tim Reid and Marisa Taylor, extra reporting by Nathan Layne and Kanishka Singh, composing by Nathan Layne and Joseph Ax; Editing by Scott Malone, David Gregorio and Muralikumar Anantharaman)