US Education Department to Cut Half its Staff As Trump Eyes Its
Department workplaces bought shut down until Thursday
Agencies cut employees utilizing lump-sum payments, early retirement
Thursday is deadline to submit strategies for massive 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 staff, a possible precursor to closing completely, as federal government companies rushed to meet President Donald Trump’s deadline to submit plans for a 2nd round of mass layoffs.
The terminations are part of the department’s “last objective,” it said in a news release, alluding to Trump’s vow to eliminate the department, which oversees $1.6 trillion in college loans, implements civil rights laws in schools and offers federal financing for clingy districts.
Asked on Fox News whether the firings would result in the department’s dismantling, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon stated “yes,” adding 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 workplace in January.
Before revealing the layoffs, the agency ordered offices in the Washington location near personnel from Tuesday night through Wednesday, according to an internal notification seen by Reuters. An Education Department representative did not immediately react to concerns about the nature of the security problems triggering the closures.
Similar closures acted as a precursor to shuttering the headquarters of the U.S. Agency for International Development, the humanitarian help agency, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which secures Americans versus dishonest loan providers.
The layoffs are the current action in Trump’s sweeping effort to scale down the federal government, led by the world’s richest individual Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency. DOGE has cut more than 100,000 jobs across the 2.3 million-member federal civilian bureaucracy, frozen most foreign aid and canceled countless programs and contracts, despite dozens of claims challenging the legality of those relocations.
DOGE’s blunt-force approach has frustrated numerous White House officials and Republican legislators, some of whom have challenged mad constituents at town halls. Trump informed department heads last week that they, not Musk, have the final say on staffing, his first notable public relocate to limit the Tesla CEO.
All U.S. federal government agencies have actually been bought to come up with massive layoff strategies by Thursday, setting up the next stage of Trump’s cost-cutting project. Several companies have actually provided workers payments to retire early to meet Trump’s demand.
Affected Education Department staff members will be placed on administrative leave beginning on March 21, the department stated.
The union representing more than 2,800 department employees stated it would battle the “draconian cuts.”
“What is clear from the previous weeks of mass shootings, chaos, and untreated unprofessionalism is that this routine has no respect for the countless workers who have actually dedicated their professions to serve their fellow Americans,” said Sheria Smith, president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 252.
Trump and Musk have actually argued that the government is wasteful and puffed up. DOGE claims it has saved $105 billion in cuts, however it has only openly documented a portion of those cost savings, and its accounting has actually been pestered by errors.
The federal government reported an estimated $162 billion in inappropriate payments in fiscal year 2024, according to a U.S. Government Accountability Office annual report released on Tuesday. The large bulk were overpayments, the report said. Total federal outlays topped $6.75 trillion because , according to the Congressional Budget Office.
The overall improper payments figure was down dramatically from 2023’s $236 billion, the GAO said.
EARLY RETIREMENT OFFERS
Other firms have used 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 Fda.
The buyout uses, combined with another program that relieves eligibility requirements for early retirement, are being accepted as a lower-friction method to help fulfill the Thursday deadline, human resources specialists at a number of federal companies told Reuters.
The Trump administration has been coming to grips with myriad claims after it fired thousands of probationary employees in a first wave of mass layoffs and basically took apart whole departments like USAID and CFPB.
The General Services Administration, which manages the federal government’s residential or commercial property portfolio, is also looking for approval to provide the buyout payments to employees, according to an e-mail sent by its acting head to personnel on Monday and seen by Reuters. The GSA might not be reached for remark outside of U.S. business hours. The Securities and Exchange Commission has actually already offered perks of up to $50,000, Reuters reported.
Personnels and public governance experts said the appeal of the buyout program is that it is voluntary and less vulnerable to legal obstacles. It also needs workers who have actually accepted the offer to pay back the cash if they take another government task within 5 years.
Only a number of companies have telegraphed the number of staff members 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 employees, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which is preparing to cut 1,029 personnel.
OPM itself has actually provided lump-sum payments to some 650 of its employees, according to another person with knowledge of the matter. Employees were offered until March 12 to respond.
On Monday, the HR department of the Fda sent an email to all 19,000 workers 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 previous offer by adding 2 months of full pay in addition to the benefit, according to a copy of the e-mail seen by Reuters. HHS could not be reached for remark outside of normal U.S. service 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; by Scott Malone, David Gregorio and Muralikumar Anantharaman)
