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

Department offices ordered shut down till Thursday

Agencies cut workers utilizing lump-sum payments, early retirement

Thursday is due date to send plans for large-scale layoffs

(Adds new 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 stated on Tuesday it would lay off nearly half its staff, a possible precursor to closing completely, as federal government agencies 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 “last mission,” it stated in a news release, alluding to Trump’s vow to eliminate the department, which manages $1.6 trillion in college loans, imposes civil liberties laws in schools and offers 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 said “yes,” including that doing so “was the president’s mandate.” The layoffs would leave the department with 2,183 workers, below 4,133 when Trump took office in January.

Before announcing the layoffs, the company bought offices in the Washington location near personnel from Tuesday evening through Wednesday, according to an internal notice seen by Reuters. An Education Department spokesperson did not right away respond to concerns about the nature of the security issues prompting the closures.

Similar closures functioned 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 current step 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 cut more than 100,000 tasks throughout the 2.3 million-member federal civilian administration, frozen most foreign aid and canceled countless programs and agreements, in spite of dozens of lawsuits challenging the legality of those relocations.

DOGE’s blunt-force method has actually irritated numerous White House officials and Republican legislators, some of whom have actually confronted upset constituents at city center. Trump informed department heads last week that they, not Musk, have the final say on staffing, his first significant public transfer to restrain the Tesla CEO.

All U.S. government firms have actually been bought to come up with massive layoff strategies by Thursday, setting up the next phase of Trump’s cost-cutting project. Several agencies have actually used to retire early to fulfill Trump’s need.

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 said it would fight the “heavy-handed cuts.”

“What is clear from the previous weeks of mass shootings, chaos, and unattended unprofessionalism is that this regime has no regard for the countless workers who have dedicated their careers 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 claims it has actually conserved $105 billion in cuts, but it has actually only publicly documented 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 released on Tuesday. The vast majority were overpayments, the report stated. Total federal outlays topped $6.75 trillion because financial year, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

The total inappropriate payments figure was down greatly from 2023’s $236 billion, the GAO stated.

EARLY RETIREMENT OFFERS

Other agencies have actually offered lump-sum payments of as much as $25,000 before tax to employees 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 provides, integrated with another program that eases eligibility requirements for early retirement, are being accepted as a lower-friction method to help meet the Thursday due date, human resources experts at several federal firms informed Reuters.

The Trump administration has actually 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 handles the federal government’s residential or commercial property portfolio, is likewise seeking approval to offer the buyout payments to workers, according to an email sent by its acting head to personnel on Monday and seen by Reuters. The GSA might not be grabbed remark outside of U.S. organization hours. The Securities and Exchange Commission has already used benefits of as much as $50,000, Reuters reported.

Human resources and public governance specialists stated the appeal of the buyout program is that it is voluntary and less vulnerable to legal challenges. It likewise needs employees who have actually accepted the deal to pay back the cash if they take another government job within 5 years.

Only a number of agencies have telegraphed how lots of staff members they plan to cut in the 2nd phase of layoffs. These consist of the Department of Veterans Affairs, which is intending 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 employees, according to another individual with understanding of the matter. Employees were offered up until March 12 to respond.

On Monday, the HR department of the Fda sent out an e-mail to all 19,000 employees announcing 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 deal by adding 2 months of full 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. business 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)