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

Department offices ordered closed down until Thursday

Agencies cut employees using lump-sum payments, early retirement

Thursday is due date to submit prepare for massive 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 nearly half its personnel, a possible precursor to closing altogether, as federal government agencies rushed to meet President Donald Trump’s due date to send strategies for a 2nd round of mass layoffs.

The terminations become part of the department’s “last objective,” it stated in a press release, mentioning Trump’s vow to eliminate the department, which oversees $1.6 trillion in college loans, implements civil rights laws in schools and offers federal financing 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 required.” The layoffs would leave the department with 2,183 employees, down from 4,133 when Trump took workplace in January.

Before revealing the layoffs, the firm ordered workplaces in the Washington area near staff from Tuesday evening through Wednesday, according to an internal notification seen by Reuters. An Education Department spokesperson did not right away react to concerns about the nature of the security concerns triggering the closures.

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

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

DOGE’s blunt-force approach has frustrated several White House officials and Republican lawmakers, some of whom have actually faced angry constituents at city center. Trump told department heads last week that they, not Musk, have the final say on staffing, his very first significant public relocate to limit the Tesla CEO.

All U.S. government firms have actually been bought to come up with large-scale layoff strategies by Thursday, setting up the next phase of Trump’s cost-cutting project. Several companies have used workers 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 stated.

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

“What is clear from the previous weeks of mass firings, chaos, and untreated unprofessionalism is that this routine has no respect 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 federal government is inefficient and bloated. DOGE claims it has saved $105 billion in cuts, however it has actually just openly documented a portion of those cost savings, and its accounting has actually been afflicted 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 vast bulk were overpayments, the report stated. Total federal expenses topped $6.75 trillion in that financial year, 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 agencies have actually provided lump-sum payments of up to $25,000 before tax to workers 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 provides, integrated with another program that reduces eligibility requirements for early retirement, are being welcomed as a lower-friction way to assist meet the Thursday due date, human resources experts at a number of federal agencies told Reuters.

The Trump administration has actually been grappling with myriad lawsuits after it fired thousands of probationary employees in a very first wave of mass layoffs and essentially took apart entire departments like USAID and CFPB.

The General Services Administration, which handles the government’s home 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 reached for remark outside of U.S. business hours. The Securities and Exchange Commission has currently used bonuses of approximately $50,000, Reuters reported.

Human resources and public governance specialists said the appeal of the buyout program is that it is voluntary and less vulnerable to legal difficulties. It likewise requires workers who have actually accepted the offer to pay back the cash if they take another government task within five years.

Only a couple of firms have telegraphed how numerous 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 personnel.

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 given up until March 12 to react.

On Monday, the HR department of the Fda sent an e-mail to all 19,000 workers 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 including 2 months of full pay in addition to the reward, according to a copy of the e-mail seen by Reuters. HHS might not be grabbed remark outside of typical 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)