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

Department offices bought closed down until Thursday

Agencies cut workers utilizing lump-sum payments, early retirement

Thursday is deadline to send prepare for massive layoffs

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

The terminations are part of the department's "final objective," it stated in a press release, mentioning Trump's vow to remove the department, which supervises $1.6 trillion in college loans, enforces civil liberties laws in schools and offers federal funding for clingy districts.

Asked on Fox News whether the shootings would cause 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, below 4,133 when Trump took office in January.

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

Similar closures served 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 protects Americans versus deceitful lenders.

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

DOGE's blunt-force approach has actually annoyed several White House authorities and Republican legislators, some of whom have actually confronted upset constituents at town halls. Trump told department heads last week that they, not Musk, have the last word on staffing, his very first notable public move to restrain the Tesla CEO.

All U.S. federal government firms have actually been bought to come up with massive layoff strategies by Thursday, establishing the next stage of Trump's cost-cutting project. Several companies have actually used workers payments to retire early to fulfill Trump's need.

Affected Education Department workers will be put on administrative leave beginning on March 21, the department said.

The union representing more than 2,800 department workers said it would combat the "drastic cuts."

"What is clear from the previous weeks of mass shootings, mayhem, and unchecked unprofessionalism is that this program has no regard for the thousands of workers who have actually devoted their professions to serve their fellow Americans," stated Sheria Smith, president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 252.

Trump and Musk have actually argued that the federal government is wasteful and puffed up. DOGE declares it has actually saved $105 billion in cuts, however it has actually only openly 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 yearly report released on Tuesday. The vast majority were overpayments, the report stated. Total federal investments topped $6.75 trillion in that financial year, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

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

EARLY RETIREMENT OFFERS

Other agencies have provided lump-sum payments of as much as $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 Fda.

The buyout uses, combined with another program that relieves eligibility requirements for early retirement, are being embraced as a lower-friction method to assist meet the Thursday deadline, human resources experts at several federal firms informed Reuters.

The Trump administration has been facing myriad suits after it fired countless probationary workers in a first wave of mass layoffs and basically took apart entire departments like USAID and CFPB.

The General Services Administration, which handles the government's property portfolio, is also looking for approval to use the buyout payments to workers, according to an e-mail sent by its acting head to personnel on Monday and seen by Reuters. The GSA could not be reached for comment outside of U.S. service hours. The Securities and Exchange Commission has actually currently used rewards of up to $50,000, Reuters reported.

Personnels and public governance experts said the appeal of the buyout program is that it is voluntary and less susceptible to legal difficulties. It also requires workers who have the offer to repay the cash if they take another government job within five years.

Only a couple of firms have telegraphed how numerous 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 personnel.

OPM itself has actually provided lump-sum payments to some 650 of its workers, according to another individual with understanding of the matter. Employees were provided until March 12 to respond.

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

Late on Monday, HHS sweetened its prior deal by including two months of complete pay in addition to the reward, according to a copy of the email seen by Reuters. HHS could not be reached for comment 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)