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

Department offices bought closed down up until Thursday

Agencies cut employees utilizing lump-sum payments, early retirement

Thursday is deadline to send prepare for massive layoffs

(Adds brand-new federal government report on incorrect payments, paragraphs 12-14)

By 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 staff, a possible precursor to closing entirely, as government companies scrambled to satisfy President Donald Trump’s deadline to send prepare for a 2nd round of mass layoffs.

The terminations are part of the department’s “last objective,” it stated in a news release, alluding to Trump’s vow to remove the department, which oversees $1.6 trillion in college loans, enforces civil liberties laws in schools and offers federal financing for needy districts.

Asked on Fox News whether the shootings would lead to the department’s taking apart, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said “yes,” including that doing so “was the president’s mandate.” The layoffs would leave the department with 2,183 employees, below 4,133 when Trump took workplace in January.

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

Similar closures worked as a precursor to shuttering the headquarters of the U.S. Agency for International Development, the humanitarian aid company, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which protects Americans versus unscrupulous loan providers.

The layoffs are the current action in Trump’s sweeping effort to downsize the federal government, led by the world’s richest individual 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 bureaucracy, frozen most foreign help and canceled thousands of programs and agreements, despite lots of lawsuits challenging the legality of those relocations.

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

All U.S. federal government firms have actually been ordered to come up with large-scale layoff plans by Thursday, establishing the next phase of Trump’s cost-cutting campaign. Several firms have used staff members payments to retire early to satisfy Trump’s need.

Affected Education Department employees will be positioned on administrative leave starting on March 21, the department stated.

The union representing more than 2,800 department employees stated it would fight the “heavy-handed cuts.”

“What is clear from the previous weeks of mass shootings, chaos, and untreated unprofessionalism is that this routine has no regard for the thousands of employees who have committed their professions to serve their fellow Americans,” stated Sheria Smith, president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 252.

Trump and Musk have actually argued that the federal government is wasteful and puffed up. DOGE claims it has conserved $105 billion in cuts, however it has only publicly documented a portion of those cost savings, and its accounting has actually been plagued by errors.

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

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

EARLY RETIREMENT OFFERS

Other agencies have provided lump-sum payments of approximately $25,000 before tax to workers 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 offers, combined with another program that eases eligibility requirements for early retirement, are being welcomed as a lower-friction way to assist satisfy the Thursday due date, human resources experts at a number of federal agencies informed Reuters.

The Trump administration has actually been grappling with myriad suits 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 handles the government’s 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 staff on Monday and seen by Reuters. The GSA might not be grabbed remark beyond U.S. organization hours. The Securities and Exchange Commission has actually already provided benefits of up to $50,000, Reuters reported.

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

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

OPM itself has used lump-sum payments to some 650 of its staff members, according to another individual with understanding of the matter. Employees were provided till March 12 to respond.

On Monday, the HR department of the Fda sent an email to all 19,000 staff members 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 deal by including two months of full pay in addition to the benefit, according to a copy of the e-mail seen by Reuters. HHS might not be grabbed comment beyond normal U.S. business hours. (Reporting by Timothy Gardner, Alexandra Alper, Tim Reid and Marisa Taylor, additional reporting by Nathan Layne and Kanishka Singh, composing by Nathan Layne and Joseph Ax; Editing by Scott Malone, David Gregorio and Muralikumar Anantharaman)