US Education Department To Cut Half Its Staff As Trump Eyes Its

Department workplaces ordered shut down up until Thursday

Agencies cut workers using lump-sum payments, early retirement

Thursday is deadline to submit strategies for large-scale layoffs

(Adds 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 said on Tuesday it would lay off almost half its staff, a possible precursor to closing entirely, as federal government agencies rushed to fulfill President Donald Trump's deadline to send strategies for a second round of mass layoffs.

The terminations become part of the department's "last mission," it stated in a press release, mentioning Trump's vow to eliminate the department, which manages $1.6 trillion in college loans, enforces civil rights laws in schools and provides federal financing for needy districts.

Asked on Fox News whether the shootings would cause the department's dismantling, 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 office in January.

Before announcing the layoffs, the agency bought workplaces in the Washington location near staff from Tuesday night through Wednesday, according to an internal notification seen by Reuters. An Education Department spokesperson did not right away react to questions about the nature of the security issues triggering the closures.

Similar closures acted as a precursor to shuttering the headquarters of the U.S. Agency for International Development, the humanitarian help company, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which safeguards Americans versus dishonest loan providers.

The layoffs are the most current action in Trump's sweeping effort to scale down the government, led by the world's wealthiest 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 aid and canceled thousands of programs and agreements, regardless of dozens of claims challenging the legality of those relocations.

DOGE's blunt-force approach has actually annoyed a number of White House authorities and Republican lawmakers, some of whom have actually confronted upset constituents at city center. Trump informed department heads last week that they, not Musk, have the last word on staffing, his very first noteworthy public relocate to restrain the Tesla CEO.

All U.S. federal government agencies have been purchased to come up with massive layoff plans by Thursday, establishing the next stage of Trump's cost-cutting campaign. Several firms have used employees payments to retire early to satisfy Trump's demand.

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

The union representing more than 2,800 department employees said it would fight the "exorbitant cuts."

"What is clear from the previous weeks of mass shootings, turmoil, and unattended unprofessionalism is that this routine has no respect for the countless employees who have dedicated their careers 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 government is wasteful and bloated. DOGE claims it has actually conserved $105 billion in cuts, however it has only openly recorded a portion of those savings, and its accounting has been afflicted by mistakes.

The federal government reported an estimated $162 billion in inappropriate payments in 2024, according to a U.S. Government Accountability Office yearly report released on Tuesday. The huge majority were overpayments, the report said. Total federal expenses topped $6.75 trillion in that , according to the Congressional Budget Office.

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

EARLY RETIREMENT OFFERS

Other companies have offered lump-sum payments of up to $25,000 before tax to workers who consent to 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 uses, integrated with another program that relieves eligibility requirements for early retirement, are being accepted as a lower-friction method to help satisfy the Thursday deadline, human resources specialists at numerous federal agencies informed Reuters.

The Trump administration has been grappling with myriad lawsuits after it fired countless 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 federal government's residential or commercial property portfolio, is likewise looking for approval to use the buyout payments to employees, according to an email sent out by its acting head to personnel on Monday and seen by Reuters. The GSA could not be reached for comment outside of U.S. organization hours. The Securities and Exchange Commission has currently used benefits of as much as $50,000, Reuters reported.

Human resources and public governance experts stated the appeal of the buyout program is that it is voluntary and less vulnerable to legal difficulties. It also requires workers who have accepted the deal to repay the money if they take another government task within 5 years.

Only a couple of firms have actually telegraphed how lots of employees they prepare to cut in the second phase of layoffs. These consist of the Department of Veterans Affairs, which is aiming 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 provided lump-sum payments to some 650 of its workers, according to another person with knowledge of the matter. Employees were given up until March 12 to respond.

On Monday, the HR department of the Food and Drug Administration sent out an e-mail to all 19,000 staff members revealing a Friday, March 14, due date for a buyout program. Those who accept would need to retire by April 19.

Late on Monday, HHS sweetened its prior offer by adding 2 months of complete pay in addition to the reward, according to a copy of the e-mail seen by Reuters. HHS could not be grabbed comment beyond typical U.S. company hours. (Reporting by Timothy Gardner, Alexandra Alper, Tim Reid and Marisa Taylor, additional reporting by Nathan Layne and Kanishka Singh, writing by Nathan Layne and Joseph Ax; Editing by Scott Malone, David Gregorio and Muralikumar Anantharaman)