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

Department workplaces ordered closed down till Thursday

Agencies cut employees utilizing lump-sum payments, early retirement

Thursday is due date to submit plans for large-scale 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 altogether, as federal government firms scrambled to satisfy President Donald Trump’s due date to submit plans for a second round of mass layoffs.

The terminations belong to the department’s “final mission,” it said in a press release, pointing to Trump’s vow to eliminate the department, which supervises $1.6 trillion in college loans, implements civil liberties laws in schools and provides federal funding for clingy districts.

Asked on Fox News whether the firings would cause the department’s taking apart, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon stated “yes,” adding that doing so “was the president’s mandate.” The layoffs would leave the department with 2,183 workers, below 4,133 when Trump took office in January.

Before revealing the layoffs, the agency bought workplaces in the Washington area near to personnel from Tuesday night through Wednesday, according to an internal notice seen by Reuters. An Education Department representative did not instantly react to concerns about the nature of the security concerns prompting the closures.

Similar closures functioned as a precursor to shuttering the head office of the U.S. Agency for International Development, the humanitarian aid company, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which secures Americans versus dishonest lenders.

The layoffs are the most recent action in Trump’s sweeping effort to downsize the federal government, led by the world’s richest person 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 aid and canceled thousands of programs and contracts, in spite of dozens of claims challenging the legality of those relocations.

DOGE’s blunt-force technique has actually frustrated several White House authorities and Republican lawmakers, some of whom have confronted mad constituents at town halls. Trump informed department heads last week that they, not Musk, have the final say on staffing, his first significant public transfer to restrain the Tesla CEO.

All U.S. federal government firms have actually been ordered to come up with massive layoff plans by Thursday, establishing the next phase of Trump’s cost-cutting project. Several firms have actually used workers 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 it would battle the “exorbitant cuts.”

“What is clear from the previous weeks of mass firings, mayhem, and unattended unprofessionalism is that this routine has no regard for the countless workers who have 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 argued that the federal government is inefficient and puffed up. DOGE claims it has saved $105 billion in cuts, however it has actually just publicly recorded a portion of those savings, and its accounting has actually been pestered by mistakes.

The federal government reported an approximated $162 billion in incorrect payments in 2024, according to a U.S. Government Accountability Office annual report released on Tuesday. The large bulk were overpayments, the report said. 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 stated.

EARLY RETIREMENT OFFERS

Other agencies have actually offered lump-sum payments of approximately $25,000 before tax to employees who accept 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, combined with another program that eases eligibility requirements for early retirement, are being accepted as a lower-friction method to help satisfy the Thursday deadline, human resources specialists at a number of federal companies informed Reuters.

The Trump administration has been grappling with myriad lawsuits after it fired thousands of probationary employees 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 seeking 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 grabbed remark outside of U.S. organization hours. The Securities and Exchange Commission has actually currently offered perks of as much as $50,000, Reuters reported.

Personnels and public governance professionals said the appeal of the buyout program is that it is voluntary and less vulnerable to legal difficulties. It likewise requires workers who have accepted the deal to repay the cash if they take another government job within five years.

Only a number of agencies have actually telegraphed how numerous staff members they plan to cut in the second phase of layoffs. These include the Department of Veterans Affairs, which is intending 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 used lump-sum payments to some 650 of its employees, according to another person with knowledge of the matter. Employees were offered till March 12 to respond.

On Monday, the HR department of the Fda sent out an email to all 19,000 staff members announcing a Friday, March 14, deadline for a buyout program. Those who accept would have to retire by April 19.

Late on Monday, HHS sweetened its prior 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 remark outside of 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)