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

Department workplaces ordered shut down till Thursday

Agencies cut workers using lump-sum payments, early retirement

Thursday is due date to send plans for large-scale layoffs

(Adds new federal 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 nearly half its staff, a possible precursor to closing completely, as federal government firms scrambled to satisfy President Donald Trump’s due date to submit strategies for a 2nd round of mass layoffs.

The terminations are part of the department’s «last objective,» it said in a news release, mentioning Trump’s vow to get rid of the department, which supervises $1.6 trillion in college loans, imposes civil rights laws in schools and provides 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,» including that doing so «was the president’s required.» The layoffs would leave the department with 2,183 employees, down from 4,133 when Trump took office in January.

Before announcing the layoffs, the company bought offices in the Washington area near staff from Tuesday evening through Wednesday, according to an internal notification seen by Reuters. An Education Department representative did not instantly respond to concerns about the nature of the security concerns 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 firm, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which secures Americans versus unethical lenders.

The layoffs are the current 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 cut more than 100,000 jobs throughout the 2.3 million-member federal civilian administration, frozen most foreign help and canceled countless programs and agreements, in spite of lots of claims challenging the of those moves.

DOGE’s blunt-force approach has actually irritated numerous White House authorities and Republican legislators, a few of whom have confronted upset constituents at town halls. Trump informed department heads recently that they, not Musk, have the last say on staffing, his first significant public relocate to restrain the Tesla CEO.

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

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

The union representing more than 2,800 department workers said it would combat the «severe cuts.»

«What is clear from the previous weeks of mass firings, turmoil, and unattended unprofessionalism is that this routine has no respect for the thousands of workers who have actually 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 inefficient and bloated. DOGE claims it has actually conserved $105 billion in cuts, but it has just publicly recorded a fraction of those savings, and its accounting has actually been afflicted by errors.

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

The total improper payments figure was down greatly from 2023’s $236 billion, the GAO stated.

EARLY RETIREMENT OFFERS

Other agencies have actually provided lump-sum payments of as much as $25,000 before tax to employees 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, combined with another program that alleviates eligibility requirements for early retirement, are being embraced as a lower-friction method to help satisfy the Thursday deadline, human resources professionals at numerous federal firms told Reuters.

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

The General Services Administration, which handles the government’s property portfolio, is likewise looking for approval to provide the buyout payments to workers, according to an email sent out by its acting head to personnel on Monday and seen by Reuters. The GSA might not be reached for remark outside of U.S. business hours. The Securities and Exchange Commission has already offered perks of approximately $50,000, Reuters reported.

Personnels and public governance experts stated the appeal of the buyout program is that it is voluntary and less susceptible to legal difficulties. It likewise needs workers who have accepted the deal to pay back the cash if they take another government job within five years.

Only a number of firms have actually telegraphed the number of employees they prepare to cut in the 2nd phase of layoffs. These include the Department of Veterans Affairs, which is intending to cut more than 80,000 employees, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which is planning to cut 1,029 staff.

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

On Monday, the HR department of the Food and Drug Administration sent out an email to all 19,000 staff members announcing 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 previous deal by adding 2 months of complete pay in addition to the bonus offer, according to a copy of the e-mail seen by Reuters. HHS could not be reached for comment beyond normal U.S. company 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)