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

Department workplaces ordered shut down up until Thursday

Agencies cut workers utilizing lump-sum payments, early retirement

Thursday is deadline to send plans for massive layoffs

(Adds brand-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 said on Tuesday it would lay off almost half its staff, a possible precursor to closing completely, as government agencies rushed to meet President deadline to send prepare for a 2nd round of mass layoffs.

The terminations become part of the department’s “last objective,” it stated in a press release, pointing to Trump’s vow to eliminate the department, which oversees $1.6 trillion in college loans, imposes civil liberties laws in schools and offers federal funding for needy districts.

Asked on Fox News whether the firings would result in 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 workers, down from 4,133 when Trump took workplace in January.

Before revealing the layoffs, the company ordered workplaces in the Washington area closed to personnel from Tuesday night through Wednesday, according to an internal notice seen by Reuters. An Education Department spokesperson did not immediately react to questions about the nature of the security issues triggering the closures.

Similar closures worked as a precursor to shuttering the head office of the U.S. Agency for International Development, the humanitarian aid agency, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which safeguards Americans against dishonest lending institutions.

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

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

All U.S. government companies have been bought to come up with large-scale layoff strategies by Thursday, setting up the next stage of Trump’s cost-cutting project. Several agencies have used staff members payments to retire early to meet Trump’s demand.

Affected Education Department workers 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 “drastic cuts.”

“What is clear from the previous weeks of mass shootings, mayhem, and uncontrolled unprofessionalism is that this routine has no respect for the thousands of employees who have 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 wasteful and puffed up. DOGE claims it has actually saved $105 billion in cuts, but it has actually just publicly documented a portion of those savings, and its accounting has been plagued by errors.

The federal government reported an approximated $162 billion in improper payments in 2024, according to a U.S. Government Accountability Office yearly report launched 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 incorrect payments figure was down dramatically from 2023’s $236 billion, the GAO said.

EARLY RETIREMENT OFFERS

Other agencies have actually provided lump-sum payments of approximately $25,000 before tax to employees who consent 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 offers, integrated with another program that eases eligibility requirements for early retirement, are being welcomed as a lower-friction way to help fulfill the Thursday due date, human resources experts at numerous federal agencies informed Reuters.

The Trump administration has been coming to grips with myriad lawsuits after it fired countless 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 property portfolio, is also seeking approval to offer the buyout payments to employees, according to an email sent by its acting head to staff on Monday and seen by Reuters. The GSA could not be grabbed remark beyond U.S. company hours. The Securities and Exchange Commission has already used bonus offers of as much as $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 obstacles. It also needs workers who have accepted the deal to pay back the cash if they take another federal government task within 5 years.

Only a couple of agencies have actually telegraphed the number of staff members they prepare to cut in the 2nd stage of layoffs. These include the Department of Veterans Affairs, which is aiming to cut more than 80,000 workers, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which is preparing to cut 1,029 personnel.

OPM itself has used lump-sum payments to some 650 of its workers, according to another person with understanding of the matter. Employees were given 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 need to retire by April 19.

Late on Monday, HHS sweetened its prior offer by including two months of complete pay in addition to the bonus, according to a copy of the email seen by Reuters. HHS could not be reached for comment beyond normal 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)