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

Department offices purchased closed down up until Thursday

Agencies cut workers using lump-sum payments, early retirement

Thursday is deadline to send strategies for massive layoffs

(Adds new 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 stated on Tuesday it would lay off almost half its personnel, a possible precursor to closing completely, as federal government companies scrambled to meet President Donald Trump’s deadline to send prepare for a 2nd round of mass layoffs.

The terminations belong to the department’s “last mission,” it said in a news release, mentioning Trump’s vow to eliminate the department, which supervises $1.6 trillion in college loans, implements civil liberties laws in schools and supplies federal financing for needy districts.

Asked on Fox News whether the shootings would result in the department’s taking apart, 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 workers, below 4,133 when Trump took office in January.

Before announcing the layoffs, the firm bought workplaces in the Washington location near to staff from Tuesday evening through Wednesday, according to an internal notice seen by Reuters. An Education Department spokesperson did not instantly respond to questions about the nature of the security issues prompting the closures.

Similar closures served 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 protects Americans versus deceitful loan providers.

The layoffs are the most recent action in Trump’s sweeping effort to scale down the federal 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 throughout the 2.3 million-member federal civilian administration, frozen most foreign aid and canceled countless programs and contracts, in spite of dozens of suits challenging the legality of those relocations.

DOGE’s blunt-force technique has actually annoyed numerous White House officials and Republican legislators, a few of whom have confronted mad constituents at town halls. Trump told department heads last week that they, not Musk, have the last word on staffing, his first noteworthy public relocate to restrain the Tesla CEO.

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

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

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

“What is clear from the previous weeks of mass firings, mayhem, and unchecked unprofessionalism is that this routine has no regard for the countless employees who have actually devoted 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 government is inefficient and bloated. DOGE declares it has actually saved $105 billion in cuts, however it has only publicly recorded a fraction of those savings, and its accounting has actually been plagued by errors.

The federal government reported an estimated $162 billion in improper payments in fiscal year 2024, according to a U.S. Government Accountability Office yearly report released on Tuesday. The large bulk were overpayments, the report stated. Total federal investments topped $6.75 trillion because financial year, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

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

EARLY RETIREMENT OFFERS

Other companies have actually offered lump-sum payments of up to $25,000 before tax to workers who agree 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 Food and Drug Administration.

The buyout uses, integrated with another program that relieves eligibility requirements for early retirement, are being embraced as a lower-friction method to assist meet the Thursday due date, personnels professionals at several federal companies told Reuters.

The Trump administration has actually been facing 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 handles the government’s residential or commercial property portfolio, is likewise seeking approval to offer the buyout payments to workers, according to an e-mail sent out by its acting head to personnel on Monday and seen by Reuters. The GSA might not be reached for remark beyond U.S. business hours. The Securities and Exchange Commission has already offered perks of as much as $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 challenges. It also needs workers who have accepted the deal to repay the cash if they take another federal government task within 5 years.

Only a couple of agencies have actually telegraphed how numerous staff members they prepare to cut in the 2nd stage 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 personnel.

OPM itself has actually provided lump-sum payments to some 650 of its workers, according to another individual with understanding of the matter. Employees were provided until March 12 to react.

On Monday, the HR department of the Fda sent an e-mail to all 19,000 employees revealing a Friday, March 14, deadline 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 complete pay in addition to the perk, according to a copy of the email seen by Reuters. HHS could not be grabbed comment outside of regular U.S. company hours. (Reporting by Timothy Gardner, Alexandra Alper, and Marisa Taylor, additional reporting by Nathan Layne and Kanishka Singh, writing by Nathan Layne and Joseph Ax; Editing by Scott Malone, David Gregorio and Muralikumar Anantharaman)