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

Department workplaces bought closed down till Thursday

Agencies cut employees using lump-sum payments, early retirement

Thursday is due date to submit prepare for massive layoffs

(Adds new government report on inappropriate payments, paragraphs 12-14)

By Timothy Gardner, Tim Reid, Alexandra Alper and Marisa Taylor

WASHINGTON, March 11 (Reuters) – The U.S. Department of Education said on Tuesday it would lay off almost half its personnel, a possible precursor to closing entirely, as federal government firms rushed to meet President Donald Trump’s due date to send strategies for a second round of mass layoffs.

The terminations are part of the department’s “last mission,” it said in a press release, alluding 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 lead to the department’s taking apart, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon stated “yes,” including that doing so “was the president’s mandate.” 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 firm purchased offices in the Washington area closed to staff from Tuesday evening 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 problems triggering the closures.

Similar closures acted 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 versus unscrupulous lenders.

The layoffs are the most recent step in Trump’s sweeping effort to scale down the federal government, led by the world’s richest person Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency. DOGE has cut more than 100,000 jobs across the 2.3 million-member federal civilian administration, frozen most foreign help and canceled countless programs and agreements, despite dozens of claims challenging the legality of those relocations.

DOGE’s blunt-force technique has actually frustrated a number of White House officials and Republican legislators, some of whom have actually confronted upset constituents at town halls. Trump informed department heads last week that they, not Musk, have the last word on staffing, his first noteworthy public transfer to limit the Tesla CEO.

All U.S. federal government companies have actually been bought to come up with massive layoff plans by Thursday, setting up the next phase of Trump’s cost-cutting campaign. Several companies have offered staff members payments to retire early to fulfill Trump’s demand.

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

The union representing more than 2,800 department workers said it would combat the “draconian cuts.”

“What is clear from the previous weeks of mass shootings, mayhem, and uncontrolled unprofessionalism is that this regime has no respect for the countless workers who have devoted 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 federal government is inefficient and bloated. DOGE declares it has actually saved $105 billion in cuts, however it has actually just openly recorded a fraction of those cost savings, and its accounting has been afflicted by mistakes.

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

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

EARLY RETIREMENT OFFERS

Other firms have offered lump-sum payments of up to $25,000 before tax to employees who accept leave their jobs. Among these are the Office of Management, the Social Security Administration and the Department of Health and Human Services, including its Food and Drug Administration.

The buyout offers, combined with another program that alleviates eligibility requirements for early retirement, are being accepted as a lower-friction way to help satisfy the Thursday deadline, human resources professionals at a number of federal agencies told Reuters.

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

The General Services Administration, which manages the federal government’s residential or commercial property portfolio, is also seeking approval to provide the buyout payments to workers, according to an e-mail sent by its acting head to staff on Monday and seen by Reuters. The GSA could not be grabbed remark beyond U.S. business hours. The Securities and Exchange Commission has already provided bonuses 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 challenges. It likewise requires employees who have actually accepted the offer to repay the cash if they take another federal government job within 5 years.

Only a couple of companies have actually telegraphed the number of staff members they prepare to cut in the 2nd 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 actually provided lump-sum payments to some 650 of its staff members, according to another individual with understanding of the matter. Employees were offered up until March 12 to react.

On Monday, the HR department of the Fda sent an e-mail to all 19,000 staff members announcing 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 previous offer by adding two months of complete pay in addition to the bonus offer, according to a copy of the e-mail seen by Reuters. HHS might not be reached for 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, composing by Nathan Layne and Joseph Ax; Editing by Scott Malone, David Gregorio and Muralikumar Anantharaman)