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

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Department offices ordered shut down till Thursday

Department offices ordered shut down up until Thursday


Agencies cut employees using lump-sum payments, early retirement


Thursday is deadline to send strategies for massive 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 stated on Tuesday it would lay off nearly half its personnel, a possible precursor to closing altogether, as government companies scrambled to meet President Donald Trump's due date to send prepare for a 2nd round of mass layoffs.


The terminations become part of the department's "final objective," it said in a press release, mentioning Trump's vow to get rid of the department, which manages $1.6 trillion in college loans, enforces civil liberties laws in schools and provides federal funding for clingy districts.


Asked on Fox News whether the firings would cause the department's dismantling, 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 employees, below 4,133 when Trump took workplace in January.


Before revealing the layoffs, the agency bought offices in the Washington area closed to personnel from Tuesday night through Wednesday, according to an internal notification seen by Reuters. An Education Department spokesperson did not instantly respond to questions about the nature of the security concerns triggering the closures.


Similar closures served as a precursor to shuttering the headquarters of the U.S. Agency for International Development, the humanitarian help agency, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which secures Americans against dishonest loan providers.


The layoffs are the most recent step in Trump's sweeping effort to downsize the government, led by the world's richest individual Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency. DOGE has actually cut more than 100,000 tasks across the 2.3 million-member federal civilian administration, frozen most foreign aid and canceled thousands of programs and contracts, despite dozens of lawsuits challenging the legality of those moves.


DOGE's blunt-force approach has annoyed numerous White House authorities and Republican legislators, a few of whom have confronted mad constituents at city center. Trump informed department heads recently that they, not Musk, have the last word on staffing, his first significant public relocation to restrain the Tesla CEO.


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


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


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


"What is clear from the previous weeks of mass firings, turmoil, and uncontrolled unprofessionalism is that this routine has no respect for the countless workers who have dedicated their professions 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 puffed up. DOGE claims it has actually conserved $105 billion in cuts, but it has actually only publicly recorded a portion of those savings, and its accounting has actually been pestered by mistakes.


The federal government reported an estimated $162 billion in improper payments in 2024, according to a U.S. Government Accountability Office annual report released on Tuesday. The large majority were overpayments, the report stated. Total federal expenses topped $6.75 trillion in that financial year, according to the Congressional Budget Office.


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


EARLY RETIREMENT OFFERS


Other firms 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 Fda.


The buyout provides, integrated with another program that eases eligibility requirements for early retirement, are being welcomed as a lower-friction method to help satisfy the Thursday due date, human resources professionals at a number of federal firms informed 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 whole departments like USAID and CFPB.


The General Services Administration, which handles the federal government's property portfolio, is likewise looking for approval to use the buyout payments to workers, according to an e-mail 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. company hours. The Securities and Exchange Commission has actually already used benefits 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 susceptible to legal challenges. It likewise needs employees who have accepted the offer to pay back the cash if they take another federal government task within 5 years.


Only a couple of companies have actually telegraphed the number of workers 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 employees, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which is preparing to cut 1,029 staff.


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


On Monday, the HR department of the Fda sent out 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 previous deal by adding 2 months of full pay in addition to the benefit, according to a copy of the email seen by Reuters. HHS might not be grabbed comment beyond regular 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)

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