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

Department offices ordered shut down until Thursday

Agencies cut employees using lump-sum payments, early retirement

Thursday is deadline to send plans for large-scale layoffs

(Adds new federal government report on incorrect 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 personnel, a possible to closing entirely, as federal government companies rushed to meet President Donald Trump’s due date to send prepare for a second round of mass layoffs.

The terminations are part of the department’s “final objective,” it stated in a press release, mentioning Trump’s vow to remove the department, which manages $1.6 trillion in college loans, implements civil liberties laws in schools and supplies federal financing for clingy districts.

Asked on Fox News whether the shootings would lead to the department’s taking apart, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon stated “yes,” including 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 revealing the layoffs, the firm ordered offices in the Washington location near staff from Tuesday evening through Wednesday, according to an internal notice seen by Reuters. An Education Department spokesperson did not instantly react to questions about the nature of the security problems triggering the closures.

Similar closures functioned as a precursor to shuttering the headquarters of the U.S. Agency for International Development, the humanitarian help firm, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which safeguards Americans against deceitful lenders.

The layoffs are the most recent step in Trump’s sweeping effort to downsize the government, led by the world’s richest person 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 administration, frozen most foreign help and canceled thousands of programs and contracts, in spite of dozens of lawsuits challenging the legality of those relocations.

DOGE’s blunt-force approach has actually frustrated a number of White House officials and Republican lawmakers, a few of whom have challenged angry constituents at city center. Trump told department heads recently that they, not Musk, have the final say on staffing, his very first significant public relocate to restrain the Tesla CEO.

All U.S. government companies have actually been purchased to come up with large-scale layoff strategies by Thursday, setting up the next stage of Trump’s cost-cutting campaign. Several firms have provided workers payments to retire early to meet Trump’s need.

Affected Education Department staff members will be put on administrative leave starting on March 21, the department stated.

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

“What is clear from the previous weeks of mass firings, turmoil, and unchecked unprofessionalism is that this program has no respect for the countless employees who have actually 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 argued that the federal government is inefficient and puffed up. DOGE declares it has actually conserved $105 billion in cuts, however it has actually just publicly documented a fraction of those cost 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 annual report launched on Tuesday. The huge majority were overpayments, the report said. Total federal expenses topped $6.75 trillion because financial year, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

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

EARLY RETIREMENT OFFERS

Other companies have actually used lump-sum payments of up to $25,000 before tax to employees who agree 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 Fda.

The buyout offers, integrated with another program that eases eligibility requirements for early retirement, are being embraced as a lower-friction way to help satisfy the Thursday due date, human resources professionals at numerous federal firms told Reuters.

The Trump administration has actually been coming to grips with myriad lawsuits after it fired thousands of probationary workers in a very first wave of mass layoffs and essentially dismantled entire departments like USAID and CFPB.

The General Services Administration, which manages the federal government’s property portfolio, is also seeking approval to use the buyout payments to workers, according to an e-mail 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. company hours. The Securities and Exchange Commission has already used bonuses of as much as $50,000, Reuters reported.

Human resources and public governance specialists said the appeal of the buyout program is that it is voluntary and less susceptible to legal challenges. It likewise requires workers who have accepted the deal to pay back the cash if they take another government job within five years.

Only a number of firms have telegraphed the number of employees they prepare to cut in the 2nd phase of layoffs. These consist of the Department of Veterans Affairs, which is aiming to cut more than 80,000 employees, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which is preparing to cut 1,029 staff.

OPM itself has actually used 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 respond.

On Monday, the HR department of the Fda sent an e-mail to all 19,000 employees 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 prior deal by adding 2 months of full pay in addition to the bonus, according to a copy of the email seen by Reuters. HHS could not be grabbed comment outside of regular U.S. organization hours. (Reporting by Timothy Gardner, Alexandra Alper, Tim Reid and Marisa Taylor, extra reporting by Nathan Layne and Kanishka Singh, writing by Nathan Layne and Joseph Ax; Editing by Scott Malone, David Gregorio and Muralikumar Anantharaman)