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

Department offices bought shut down until Thursday

Agencies cut workers utilizing lump-sum payments, early retirement

Thursday is due date to submit prepare 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 almost half its personnel, a possible precursor to closing completely, as government agencies scrambled to meet President Donald Trump’s due date to submit strategies for a second round of mass layoffs.

The terminations belong to the department’s “final objective,” it stated in a news release, mentioning Trump’s vow to eliminate the department, which manages $1.6 trillion in college loans, imposes civil liberties laws in schools and offers federal financing for needy districts.

Asked on Fox News whether the shootings would cause the department’s dismantling, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said “yes,” including 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 revealing the layoffs, the company ordered offices in the Washington area near to personnel from Tuesday evening through Wednesday, according to an internal notification seen by Reuters. An Education Department spokesperson did not right away react to questions about the nature of the security problems triggering the closures.

Similar closures acted as a precursor to shuttering the of the U.S. Agency for International Development, the humanitarian help firm, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which safeguards Americans versus dishonest lending institutions.

The layoffs are the latest action in Trump’s sweeping effort to scale down the government, led by the world’s richest individual 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 countless programs and contracts, regardless of dozens of lawsuits challenging the legality of those moves.

DOGE’s blunt-force approach has irritated several White House authorities and Republican lawmakers, a few of whom have actually challenged angry constituents at town halls. Trump told department heads last week that they, not Musk, have the last say on staffing, his first notable public relocation to restrain the Tesla CEO.

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

Affected Education Department workers will be placed on administrative leave beginning on March 21, the department stated.

The union representing more than 2,800 department employees said it would fight the “drastic cuts.”

“What is clear from the previous weeks of mass firings, chaos, and unchecked unprofessionalism is that this regime has no regard for the countless employees who have actually devoted their professions 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 saved $105 billion in cuts, but it has just openly documented a portion of those cost savings, and its accounting has been afflicted 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 expenses 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 actually offered lump-sum payments of up to $25,000 before tax to workers 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 Food and Drug Administration.

The buyout offers, combined with another program that alleviates eligibility requirements for early retirement, are being welcomed as a lower-friction way to help fulfill the Thursday deadline, personnels professionals at several federal firms told Reuters.

The Trump administration has been grappling with myriad claims after it fired thousands of probationary workers in a first wave of mass layoffs and essentially dismantled entire departments like USAID and CFPB.

The General Services Administration, which manages the federal government’s home portfolio, is also seeking approval to use the buyout payments to employees, according to an e-mail sent out by its acting head to personnel on Monday and seen by Reuters. The GSA could not be reached for remark beyond U.S. company hours. The Securities and Exchange Commission has actually already offered benefits of up to $50,000, Reuters reported.

Personnels and public governance specialists said the appeal of the buyout program is that it is voluntary and less vulnerable to legal difficulties. It likewise needs workers who have actually accepted the offer to repay the cash if they take another federal government job within 5 years.

Only a number of agencies have telegraphed how lots of staff members they prepare to cut in the second 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 planning to cut 1,029 personnel.

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

On Monday, the HR department of the Fda sent out an email to all 19,000 workers announcing 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 offer by including two months of full pay in addition to the bonus, according to a copy of the email seen by Reuters. HHS might not be grabbed remark beyond typical 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; Editing by Scott Malone, David Gregorio and Muralikumar Anantharaman)