Department workplaces ordered closed down until Thursday

Agencies cut workers using lump-sum payments, early retirement

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

(Adds new federal government report on improper payments, paragraphs 12-14)

By 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 completely, as government firms scrambled to meet President Donald Trump's due date to send prepare for a 2nd round of mass layoffs.

The terminations belong to the department's "final mission," it said in a press release, alluding to Trump's vow to eliminate the department, which oversees $1.6 trillion in college loans, enforces civil rights laws in schools and supplies federal financing for clingy districts.

Asked on Fox News whether the firings would lead to the department's taking apart, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon stated "yes," including that doing so "was the president's mandate." The layoffs would leave the department with 2,183 workers, down from 4,133 when Trump took office in January.

Before announcing the layoffs, the company ordered workplaces in the Washington area near to personnel from Tuesday night through Wednesday, according to an internal notice seen by Reuters. An Education Department representative did not right away react 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 agency, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which protects Americans versus dishonest loan providers.

The layoffs are the newest action in Trump's sweeping effort to scale down 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 throughout the 2.3 million-member federal civilian administration, frozen most foreign aid and canceled countless programs and agreements, despite dozens of claims challenging the legality of those relocations.

DOGE's blunt-force technique has actually annoyed several White House officials and Republican legislators, a few of whom have challenged upset constituents at city center. Trump informed department heads recently that they, not Musk, have the last say on staffing, his first noteworthy public transfer to restrain the Tesla CEO.

All U.S. government companies have been purchased to come up with large-scale layoff plans by Thursday, setting up the next phase of Trump's cost-cutting campaign. Several companies have actually offered employees payments to retire early to meet Trump's need.

Affected Education Department employees 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 battle the "heavy-handed cuts."

"What is clear from the past weeks of mass shootings, chaos, and untreated unprofessionalism is that this routine has no regard for the thousands of workers who have devoted their professions 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 saved $105 billion in cuts, but it has actually just publicly recorded a portion of those cost savings, and its accounting has been afflicted by errors.

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

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

EARLY RETIREMENT OFFERS

Other companies have used 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 Food and Drug Administration.

The buyout offers, integrated with another program that reduces eligibility requirements for early retirement, are being embraced as a lower-friction method to assist satisfy the Thursday deadline, personnels specialists at several federal agencies told Reuters.

The Trump administration has been coming to grips with myriad claims after it fired countless probationary workers in a very first wave of mass layoffs and essentially took apart entire departments like USAID and CFPB.

The General Services Administration, which handles the federal government's home portfolio, is likewise looking for 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 could not be grabbed remark beyond U.S. company hours. The Securities and Exchange Commission has actually currently used benefits of up to $50,000, Reuters reported.

Personnels and public governance professionals said the appeal of the buyout program is that it is voluntary and less vulnerable to legal challenges. It likewise requires workers who have accepted the deal to repay the cash if they take another government task within five years.

Only a couple of agencies have actually telegraphed the number of staff members they plan 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 staff.

OPM itself has provided lump-sum payments to some 650 of its staff members, according to another individual with knowledge of the matter. Employees were provided till 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, deadline for a buyout program. Those who accept would have to retire by April 19.

Late on Monday, HHS sweetened its prior deal by adding 2 months of full pay in addition to the perk, according to a copy of the e-mail seen by Reuters. HHS could not be reached for comment beyond typical U.S. service 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)