Department offices bought shut down until Thursday

Agencies cut employees utilizing lump-sum payments, early retirement

Thursday is deadline to send strategies for large-scale layoffs

(Adds brand-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 almost half its staff, a possible precursor to closing completely, as government firms scrambled to fulfill President Donald Trump's due date to send strategies for a second round of mass layoffs.

The terminations become part of the department's "last mission," it stated in a news release, mentioning Trump's vow to eliminate the department, which supervises $1.6 trillion in college loans, imposes civil rights laws in schools and supplies federal financing for clingy districts.

Asked on Fox News whether the firings would cause the department's taking apart, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said "yes," adding 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 workplace in January.

Before revealing the layoffs, the firm ordered offices in the Washington location near to personnel from Tuesday night through Wednesday, according to an internal notice seen by Reuters. An Education Department spokesperson did not right away react to concerns about the nature of the security issues prompting the closures.

Similar closures worked as a precursor to shuttering the headquarters of the U.S. Agency for International Development, the humanitarian aid agency, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which secures Americans against dishonest lending institutions.

The layoffs are the current step in Trump's sweeping effort to downsize the federal government, led by the world's richest individual Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency. DOGE has actually cut more than 100,000 jobs across 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 method has frustrated numerous White House officials and Republican lawmakers, some of whom have actually confronted angry constituents at town halls. Trump told department heads recently that they, not Musk, have the last word on staffing, his first significant public transfer to limit the Tesla CEO.

All U.S. federal government agencies have been purchased to come up with massive layoff plans by Thursday, setting up the next stage of Trump's cost-cutting campaign. Several agencies have offered staff members payments to retire early to satisfy Trump's need.

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

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

"What is clear from the previous weeks of mass firings, mayhem, and uncontrolled unprofessionalism is that this regime has no respect for the thousands of employees who have devoted their careers to serve their fellow Americans," said Sheria Smith, 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 conserved $105 billion in cuts, but it has actually only publicly recorded a portion of those savings, and its accounting has been plagued 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 vast majority were overpayments, the report stated. Total federal investments topped $6.75 trillion because financial year, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

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

EARLY RETIREMENT OFFERS

Other agencies have actually used lump-sum payments of approximately $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, combined with another program that reduces eligibility requirements for early retirement, are being embraced as a lower-friction method to help satisfy the Thursday due date, personnels experts at numerous federal firms told Reuters.

The Trump administration has actually been coming to grips with myriad lawsuits after it fired countless probationary employees in a very first wave of mass layoffs and basically dismantled entire departments like USAID and CFPB.

The General Services Administration, which handles the government's residential or commercial property portfolio, is also seeking approval to provide the buyout payments to employees, according to an email sent out by its acting head to personnel on Monday and seen by Reuters. The GSA might not be grabbed remark beyond U.S. business hours. The Securities and Exchange Commission has actually currently offered benefits of approximately $50,000, Reuters reported.

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

Only a number of companies have actually telegraphed how lots of workers they plan to cut in the 2nd stage of layoffs. These include the Department of Veterans Affairs, which is intending to cut more than 80,000 workers, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which is planning to cut 1,029 personnel.

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

On Monday, the HR department of the Fda sent out an email to all 19,000 workers announcing 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 previous offer by adding 2 months of complete pay in addition to the reward, according to a copy of the e-mail seen by Reuters. HHS might not be grabbed remark outside of normal U.S. organization hours. (Reporting by Timothy Gardner, Alexandra Alper, Tim Reid and Marisa Taylor, extra reporting by Nathan Layne and Kanishka Singh, writing by Nathan Layne and Joseph Ax; Editing by Scott Malone, David Gregorio and Muralikumar Anantharaman)