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

Department workplaces ordered closed down up until Thursday

Agencies cut employees using lump-sum payments, early retirement

Thursday is due date to submit strategies for massive layoffs

(Adds new federal government report on incorrect 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 government companies scrambled to satisfy President Donald Trump’s due date to submit strategies for a 2nd round of mass layoffs.

The terminations become part of the department’s «final objective,» it said in a press release, pointing to Trump’s vow to eliminate the department, which oversees $1.6 trillion in college loans, enforces civil liberties laws in schools and offers federal financing for clingy districts.

Asked on Fox News whether the firings would result in the department’s taking apart, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon stated «yes,» adding 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 firm bought workplaces in the Washington area closed to staff from Tuesday evening through Wednesday, according to an internal notification seen by Reuters. An Education Department representative did not immediately react to questions about the nature of the security concerns triggering the closures.

Similar closures functioned as a precursor to shuttering the headquarters of the U.S. Agency for International Development, the humanitarian help agency, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which secures Americans versus unscrupulous lending institutions.

The layoffs are the most current 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 cut more than 100,000 jobs throughout the 2.3 million-member federal civilian bureaucracy, frozen most foreign help and canceled countless programs and agreements, regardless of dozens of suits challenging the legality of those relocations.

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

All U.S. federal government companies have actually been bought to come up with large-scale layoff strategies by Thursday, establishing the next stage of Trump’s cost-cutting project. Several companies have actually provided staff members payments to retire early to meet 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 «exorbitant cuts.»

«What is clear from the past weeks of mass shootings, mayhem, and unattended unprofessionalism is that this program has no respect for the countless workers who have committed 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 government is inefficient and puffed up. DOGE declares it has actually saved $105 billion in cuts, but it has just publicly recorded a portion of those cost savings, and its accounting has actually been plagued by mistakes.

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

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

EARLY RETIREMENT OFFERS

Other companies have used lump-sum payments of approximately $25,000 before tax to workers 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 uses, combined with another program that relieves eligibility requirements for early retirement, are being welcomed as a lower-friction method to assist fulfill the Thursday due date, human resources experts at numerous federal agencies told Reuters.

The Trump administration has been coming to grips with myriad lawsuits after it fired thousands of probationary employees in a first wave of mass layoffs and basically dismantled entire departments like USAID and CFPB.

The General Services Administration, which manages the government’s home portfolio, is likewise seeking approval to offer 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 comment beyond U.S. organization hours. The Securities and Exchange Commission has actually already provided bonuses of approximately $50,000, Reuters reported.

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

Only a couple of firms have telegraphed the number of staff members they plan to cut in the second phase 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 offered lump-sum payments to some 650 of its employees, according to another individual with understanding of the matter. Employees were offered till March 12 to react.

On Monday, the of the Fda sent an email to all 19,000 staff members revealing 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 previous deal by adding 2 months of complete pay in addition to the benefit, according to a copy of the e-mail seen by Reuters. HHS might not be reached for remark outside of normal U.S. organization hours. (Reporting by Timothy Gardner, Alexandra Alper, Tim Reid and Marisa Taylor, extra reporting by Nathan Layne and Kanishka Singh, writing by Nathan Layne and Joseph Ax; Editing by Scott Malone, David Gregorio and Muralikumar Anantharaman)