Department workplaces purchased closed down until Thursday
Agencies cut employees utilizing lump-sum payments, early retirement
Thursday is due date to send prepare for large-scale layoffs
(Adds new federal 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 entirely, as federal government agencies scrambled to meet President Donald Trump's due date to submit prepare for a 2nd round of mass layoffs.
The terminations become part of the department's "last mission," it said in a press release, pointing to Trump's vow to eliminate the department, which oversees $1.6 trillion in college loans, enforces civil liberties laws in schools and supplies federal financing for clingy districts.
Asked on Fox News whether the firings would lead to 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 workers, below 4,133 when Trump took office in January.
Before announcing the layoffs, the agency ordered offices in the Washington location near staff from Tuesday night through Wednesday, according to an internal notification seen by Reuters. An Education Department representative did not instantly respond to questions about the nature of the security concerns prompting the closures.
Similar closures worked as a precursor to shuttering the headquarters of the U.S. Agency for International Development, the humanitarian help firm, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which protects Americans versus unscrupulous lenders.
The layoffs are the newest step in Trump's sweeping effort to downsize 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 across the 2.3 million-member federal civilian administration, frozen most foreign help and canceled countless programs and agreements, in spite of dozens of suits 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 confronted mad constituents at city center. Trump informed department heads last week that they, not Musk, have the final say on staffing, his very first notable public relocate to restrain the Tesla CEO.
All U.S. government companies have been bought to come up with massive layoff strategies by Thursday, setting up the next stage of Trump's cost-cutting project. Several agencies have offered staff members payments to retire early to fulfill Trump's demand.
Affected Education Department workers will be positioned on administrative leave starting on March 21, the department stated.
The union representing more than 2,800 department workers said it would battle the "oppressive cuts."
"What is clear from the previous weeks of mass firings, chaos, and untreated unprofessionalism is that this regime 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 wasteful and puffed up. DOGE claims it has conserved $105 billion in cuts, however it has only openly documented a portion of those cost savings, and its accounting has been pestered by errors.
The federal government reported an estimated $162 billion in incorrect payments in financial year 2024, according to a U.S. Government Accountability Office annual report released on Tuesday. The large majority were overpayments, the report said. Total federal outlays topped $6.75 trillion because fiscal year, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
The total inappropriate payments figure was down dramatically from 2023's $236 billion, the GAO stated.
EARLY RETIREMENT OFFERS
Other firms have offered lump-sum payments of as much as $25,000 before tax to employees who consent to leave their jobs. 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 eases eligibility requirements for early retirement, are being welcomed as a lower-friction way to assist fulfill the Thursday due date, personnels specialists at numerous federal firms told Reuters.
The Trump administration has been facing myriad claims after it fired thousands of probationary employees in a first wave of mass layoffs and essentially dismantled whole departments like USAID and CFPB.
The General Services Administration, which handles the federal government's home portfolio, is also looking for approval to provide the buyout payments to workers, according to an e-mail 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 actually 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 susceptible to legal challenges. It likewise requires employees who have accepted the deal to pay back the cash if they take another government task within five years.
Only a number of firms have telegraphed the number of workers they prepare to cut in the 2nd stage 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 individual with understanding of the matter. Employees were offered until March 12 to respond.
On Monday, the HR department of the Fda sent out an e-mail to all 19,000 workers 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 previous deal by including two months of full pay in addition to the reward, according to a copy of the e-mail seen by Reuters. HHS might not be reached for remark outside of typical U.S. organization hours. (Reporting by Timothy Gardner, Alexandra Alper, Tim Reid and Marisa Taylor, extra reporting by Nathan Layne and Kanishka Singh, composing by Nathan Layne and Joseph Ax; Editing by Scott Malone, David Gregorio and Muralikumar Anantharaman)
