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

Department offices purchased closed down until Thursday

Agencies cut workers using lump-sum payments, early retirement

Thursday is due date to submit prepare 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 staff, a possible precursor to closing completely, as government companies scrambled to satisfy President Donald Trump’s due date to send prepare for a 2nd round of mass layoffs.

The terminations become part of the department’s “final mission,” it stated in a press release, pointing to Trump’s vow to remove the department, which manages $1.6 trillion in college loans, enforces civil rights laws in schools and provides federal funding for needy districts.

Asked on Fox News whether the shootings would lead to the department’s dismantling, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon stated “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 workplace in January.

Before revealing the layoffs, the company bought offices in the Washington area near personnel from Tuesday evening through Wednesday, according to an internal notification seen by Reuters. An Education Department representative did not right away respond to concerns about the nature of the security concerns triggering the closures.

Similar closures served 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 protects Americans versus unscrupulous lending institutions.

The layoffs are the current 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 actually cut more than 100,000 tasks across the 2.3 million-member federal civilian bureaucracy, frozen most foreign help and canceled countless programs and agreements, despite dozens of lawsuits challenging the legality of those moves.

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

All U.S. federal government agencies have actually been bought to come up with large-scale layoff strategies by Thursday, establishing the next stage of Trump’s cost-cutting campaign. Several agencies have actually offered staff members payments to retire early to satisfy Trump’s demand.

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

The union representing more than 2,800 department workers said it would battle the “heavy-handed cuts.”

“What is clear from the previous weeks of mass firings, chaos, and uncontrolled unprofessionalism is that this regime has no respect for the countless employees who have dedicated their careers to serve their fellow Americans,” said Sheria Smith, president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 252.

Trump and Musk have argued that the federal government is wasteful and puffed up. DOGE declares it has actually conserved $105 billion in cuts, but it has only publicly recorded a fraction of those savings, and its accounting has actually been plagued by mistakes.

The federal government reported an estimated $162 billion in incorrect payments in financial year 2024, according to a U.S. Government Accountability Office annual report launched on Tuesday. The large majority were overpayments, the report said. Total federal outlays topped $6.75 trillion in that , according to the Congressional Budget Office.

The overall inappropriate payments figure was down sharply from 2023’s $236 billion, the GAO stated.

EARLY RETIREMENT OFFERS

Other firms have actually offered lump-sum payments of up to $25,000 before tax to employees who consent to leave their jobs. 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, integrated with another program that eases eligibility requirements for early retirement, are being accepted as a lower-friction way to assist meet the Thursday deadline, human resources professionals at numerous federal firms informed Reuters.

The Trump administration has actually been grappling with myriad claims 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 use the buyout payments to workers, according to an email sent by its acting head to staff on Monday and seen by Reuters. The GSA could not be grabbed remark outside of U.S. business hours. The Securities and Exchange Commission has currently provided bonus offers of up to $50,000, Reuters reported.

Human resources and public governance specialists said the appeal of the buyout program is that it is voluntary and less susceptible to legal obstacles. It also requires workers who have actually accepted the deal to repay the money if they take another federal government task within 5 years.

Only a number of companies have actually telegraphed the number of employees they prepare to cut in the second phase of layoffs. These consist of 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 staff.

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

On Monday, the HR department of the Food and Drug Administration sent an e-mail to all 19,000 workers 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 prior deal by including 2 months of complete pay in addition to the bonus, according to a copy of the email seen by Reuters. HHS could not be grabbed remark beyond regular U.S. business hours. (Reporting by Timothy Gardner, Alexandra Alper, Tim Reid and Marisa Taylor, extra reporting by Nathan Layne and Kanishka Singh, by Nathan Layne and Joseph Ax; Editing by Scott Malone, David Gregorio and Muralikumar Anantharaman)