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

Department offices purchased closed down till Thursday

Agencies cut employees using lump-sum payments, early retirement

Thursday is deadline to submit plans for large-scale layoffs

(Adds brand-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 almost half its personnel, a possible precursor to closing completely, as federal government companies rushed to meet President Donald Trump’s due date to send prepare for a second 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 manages $1.6 trillion in college loans, implements civil liberties laws in schools and offers federal financing for clingy districts.

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

Before revealing the layoffs, the company bought workplaces in the Washington location near staff from Tuesday night through Wednesday, according to an internal notice seen by Reuters. An Education Department spokesperson did not instantly respond to concerns about the nature of the security problems triggering the closures.

Similar closures functioned as a precursor to shuttering the headquarters of the U.S. Agency for International Development, the humanitarian aid agency, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which safeguards Americans against unscrupulous loan providers.

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

DOGE’s blunt-force technique has annoyed numerous White House authorities and Republican legislators, a few of whom have actually challenged angry constituents at city center. Trump informed department heads last week that they, not Musk, have the last say on staffing, his very first notable public relocation to limit the Tesla CEO.

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

Affected Education Department staff members will be put on administrative leave starting on March 21, the department said.

The union representing more than 2,800 department employees stated it would battle the “oppressive cuts.”

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

Trump and Musk have actually argued that the government is inefficient and puffed up. DOGE claims it has conserved $105 billion in cuts, but it has only publicly recorded a fraction of those cost savings, and its accounting has actually been pestered by errors.

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

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

EARLY RETIREMENT OFFERS

Other firms have offered lump-sum payments of up to $25,000 before tax to employees 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 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, personnels specialists at several federal companies told Reuters.

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

The General Services Administration, which manages the government’s residential or commercial property portfolio, is also looking for approval to offer the buyout payments to workers, according to an email sent by its acting head to personnel on Monday and seen by Reuters. The GSA could not be reached for remark outside of U.S. company hours. The Securities and Exchange Commission has currently provided perks of approximately $50,000, Reuters reported.

Personnels and public governance professionals said the appeal of the buyout program is that it is voluntary and less susceptible to legal challenges. It likewise needs employees who have actually accepted the offer to pay back the cash if they take another federal government task within 5 years.

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

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

On Monday, the HR department of the Food and Drug Administration sent an e-mail to all 19,000 employees revealing 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 complete pay in addition to the bonus, according to a copy of the email seen by Reuters. HHS might not be reached for comment outside of regular U.S. organization 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)