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

Department offices bought closed down up until Thursday

Agencies cut workers utilizing lump-sum payments, early retirement

Thursday is deadline to send plans for large-scale layoffs

(Adds brand-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 personnel, a possible precursor to closing entirely, as government firms rushed to meet President Donald Trump’s deadline to send plans for a second round of mass layoffs.

The terminations become part of the department’s “final objective,” it stated in a news release, mentioning Trump’s vow to get rid of the department, which oversees $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 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 employees, down from 4,133 when Trump took workplace in January.

Before announcing the layoffs, the company purchased offices in the Washington area near to staff from Tuesday evening through Wednesday, according to an internal notification seen by Reuters. An Education Department spokesperson did not immediately react to concerns about the nature of the security concerns prompting the closures.

Similar closures served as a precursor to shuttering the head office of the U.S. Agency for International Development, the humanitarian aid agency, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which safeguards Americans against unscrupulous lenders.

The layoffs are the newest step in Trump’s sweeping effort to 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 throughout the 2.3 million-member federal civilian administration, frozen most foreign help and canceled countless programs and contracts, despite lots of lawsuits challenging the legality of those relocations.

DOGE’s blunt-force approach has irritated several White House authorities and Republican lawmakers, some of whom have faced angry constituents at city center. Trump informed department heads recently that they, not Musk, have the last word on staffing, his very first significant public relocation to restrain the Tesla CEO.

All U.S. government agencies have been bought to come up with massive layoff strategies by Thursday, setting up the next stage of Trump’s cost-cutting project. Several companies have actually used employees payments to retire early to satisfy Trump’s demand.

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

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

“What is clear from the past weeks of mass shootings, turmoil, and unattended unprofessionalism is that this regime has no regard for the countless workers who have devoted their careers to serve their fellow Americans,” stated Sheria Smith, president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 252.

Trump and Musk have argued that the government is wasteful and bloated. DOGE claims it has saved $105 billion in cuts, but it has just openly recorded a portion of those cost savings, and its accounting has been plagued by errors.

The federal government reported an estimated $162 billion in incorrect payments in 2024, according to a U.S. Government Accountability Office annual report launched on Tuesday. The large majority 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 stated.

EARLY RETIREMENT OFFERS

Other companies have actually used lump-sum payments of approximately $25,000 before tax to employees who consent to 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, integrated with another program that alleviates eligibility requirements for early retirement, are being accepted as a lower-friction way to help fulfill the Thursday deadline, personnels specialists at several federal companies told Reuters.

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

The General Services Administration, which manages the government’s residential or commercial property portfolio, is likewise looking for approval to offer the buyout payments to workers, according to an email sent out by its acting head to staff on Monday and seen by Reuters. The GSA could not be grabbed remark outside of U.S. service hours. The Securities and Exchange Commission has actually already provided bonus offers of up to $50,000, Reuters reported.

Personnels and public governance specialists stated the appeal of the buyout program is that it is voluntary and less susceptible to legal difficulties. It also needs workers who have accepted the deal to pay back the cash if they take another federal government task within 5 years.

Only a number of companies 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 workers, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which is planning to cut 1,029 personnel.

OPM itself has offered lump-sum payments to some 650 of its staff members, according to another individual with knowledge of the matter. Employees were provided up until March 12 to react.

On Monday, the HR department of the Fda sent an e-mail to all 19,000 employees 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 two months of full pay in addition to the bonus, according to a copy of the email seen by Reuters. HHS might not be reached for remark beyond normal U.S. company hours. (Reporting by Timothy Gardner, Alexandra Alper, Tim Reid and Marisa Taylor, additional reporting by Nathan Layne and Kanishka Singh, composing by Nathan Layne and Joseph Ax; Editing by Scott Malone, David Gregorio and Muralikumar Anantharaman)