US Education Department to Cut Half its Staff As Trump Eyes Its
Department workplaces bought closed down up until Thursday
Agencies cut workers using lump-sum payments, early retirement
Thursday is deadline to submit prepare for massive layoffs
(Adds brand-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 said on Tuesday it would lay off almost half its personnel, a possible precursor to closing altogether, as federal government agencies rushed to meet President Donald Trump’s deadline to send strategies for a second round of mass layoffs.
The terminations are part of the department’s “final mission,” it stated in a news release, alluding to Trump’s vow to get rid of the department, which oversees $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 firings would result in the department’s dismantling, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon stated “yes,” including that doing so “was the president’s mandate.” The layoffs would leave the department with 2,183 workers, down from 4,133 when Trump took workplace in January.
Before revealing the layoffs, the firm purchased offices in the Washington location near to staff 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 prompting the closures.
Similar closures acted 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 safeguards Americans against unscrupulous lending institutions.
The layoffs are the most recent step in Trump’s sweeping effort to downsize the federal government, led by the world’s wealthiest individual Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency. DOGE has cut more than 100,000 tasks across the 2.3 million-member federal civilian administration, frozen most foreign aid and canceled thousands of programs and agreements, in spite of lots of suits challenging the legality of those moves.
DOGE’s blunt-force technique has actually irritated several White House authorities and Republican legislators, a few of whom have actually faced upset constituents at city center. Trump informed department heads last week that they, not Musk, have the last word on staffing, his very first noteworthy public transfer to restrain the Tesla CEO.
All U.S. federal government agencies have been bought to come up with large-scale layoff plans by Thursday, establishing the next stage of Trump’s cost-cutting campaign. Several companies 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 department said.
The union representing more than 2,800 department employees said it would fight the “heavy-handed cuts.”
“What is clear from the past weeks of mass shootings, chaos, and untreated unprofessionalism is that this program has no regard for the countless employees who have actually committed their careers to serve their fellow Americans,” stated Sheria Smith, president of the American Federation of Local 252.
Trump and Musk have argued that the government is inefficient and bloated. DOGE declares it has actually saved $105 billion in cuts, however it has just publicly documented a fraction of those cost savings, and its accounting has been pestered by mistakes.
The federal government reported an estimated $162 billion in incorrect payments in 2024, according to a U.S. Government Accountability Office yearly report launched on Tuesday. The large majority were overpayments, the report said. Total federal investments topped $6.75 trillion in that , 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 agencies have provided lump-sum payments of as much as $25,000 before tax to employees who concur to 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, integrated with another program that relieves eligibility requirements for early retirement, are being accepted as a lower-friction way to help meet the Thursday deadline, personnels specialists at a number of federal companies informed Reuters.
The Trump administration has actually been facing myriad suits after it fired thousands of probationary workers in a very first wave of mass layoffs and essentially dismantled whole departments like USAID and CFPB.
The General Services Administration, which handles the federal government’s property portfolio, is likewise seeking approval to use the buyout payments to employees, according to an email sent by its acting head to staff on Monday and seen by Reuters. The GSA might not be grabbed remark outside of U.S. business hours. The Securities and Exchange Commission has actually already used rewards of up to $50,000, Reuters reported.
Human resources and public governance experts said the appeal of the buyout program is that it is voluntary and less susceptible to legal challenges. It also requires workers who have accepted the deal to repay the cash if they take another government task within 5 years.
Only a number of companies have telegraphed the number of employees 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 planning to cut 1,029 staff.
OPM itself has used lump-sum payments to some 650 of its staff members, according to another person with understanding of the matter. Employees were given up until March 12 to react.
On Monday, the HR department of the Fda 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 have to retire by April 19.
Late on Monday, HHS sweetened its previous deal by adding 2 months of full pay in addition to the bonus, according to a copy of the e-mail seen by Reuters. HHS could not be reached for comment beyond regular U.S. service 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)
