Department offices purchased closed down up until Thursday

Agencies cut employees utilizing lump-sum payments, early retirement

Thursday is due date to submit strategies for massive 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 said on Tuesday it would lay off nearly half its personnel, a possible precursor to closing entirely, as government firms rushed to fulfill 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 objective," it said in a news release, alluding to Trump's vow to get rid of the department, which oversees $1.6 trillion in college loans, imposes civil liberties laws in schools and provides 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," adding that doing so "was the president's required." The layoffs would leave the department with 2,183 workers, down from 4,133 when Trump took office in January.

Before revealing the layoffs, the agency ordered offices in the Washington location near staff from Tuesday evening through Wednesday, according to an internal notification seen by Reuters. An Education Department spokesperson did not right away react to concerns about the nature of the security concerns triggering the closures.

Similar closures functioned as a precursor to the headquarters of the U.S. Agency for International Development, the humanitarian help company, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which safeguards Americans against deceitful lending institutions.

The layoffs are the newest action in Trump's sweeping effort to downsize the federal government, led by the world's wealthiest individual Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency. DOGE has 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 contracts, in spite of dozens of claims challenging the legality of those moves.

DOGE's blunt-force technique has irritated several White House authorities and Republican legislators, a few of whom have actually faced upset constituents at city center. Trump told department heads recently that they, not Musk, have the last word on staffing, his first noteworthy public transfer to limit the Tesla CEO.

All U.S. government firms have been ordered to come up with massive layoff plans by Thursday, establishing the next stage of Trump's cost-cutting campaign. Several firms have actually provided staff members payments to retire early to fulfill Trump's demand.

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

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

"What is clear from the past weeks of mass shootings, chaos, and unattended unprofessionalism is that this regime has no respect for the thousands of employees who have actually committed their careers to serve their fellow Americans," said Sheria Smith, president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 252.

Trump and Musk have argued that the federal government is inefficient and bloated. DOGE claims it has actually conserved $105 billion in cuts, however it has only publicly documented a fraction of those savings, and its accounting has actually been afflicted by mistakes.

The federal government reported an approximated $162 billion in incorrect payments in 2024, according to a U.S. Government Accountability Office yearly report launched on Tuesday. The large bulk were overpayments, the report stated. Total federal outlays topped $6.75 trillion in that , 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 firms have actually provided lump-sum payments of approximately $25,000 before tax to workers who agree 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 Fda.

The buyout provides, combined with another program that relieves eligibility requirements for early retirement, are being welcomed as a lower-friction way to help satisfy the Thursday due date, personnels specialists at a number of federal firms informed Reuters.

The Trump administration has actually been grappling with myriad lawsuits after it fired countless probationary employees in a first wave of mass layoffs and basically took apart whole departments like USAID and CFPB.

The General Services Administration, which handles the federal government's property portfolio, is also seeking approval to provide the buyout payments to employees, according to an e-mail sent by its acting head to personnel on Monday and seen by Reuters. The GSA might not be grabbed comment beyond U.S. company hours. The Securities and Exchange Commission has actually currently provided benefits of up to $50,000, Reuters reported.

Personnels and public governance specialists said the appeal of the buyout program is that it is voluntary and less vulnerable to legal obstacles. It also requires employees who have actually accepted the offer to repay the cash if they take another government job within five years.

Only a number of agencies have actually telegraphed how many staff members they prepare to cut in the 2nd 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 personnel.

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

On Monday, the HR department of the Fda sent an e-mail to all 19,000 employees announcing a Friday, March 14, deadline for a buyout program. Those who accept would need to retire by April 19.

Late on Monday, HHS sweetened its prior deal by including 2 months of complete pay in addition to the bonus offer, according to a copy of the e-mail seen by Reuters. HHS could not be grabbed comment outside of 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)