Department offices ordered shut down till Thursday

Agencies cut workers utilizing lump-sum payments, early retirement

Thursday is deadline to send prepare for large-scale layoffs

(Adds new federal government report on inappropriate 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 personnel, a possible precursor to closing completely, as federal government firms rushed to Donald Trump's deadline to send prepare for a second round of mass layoffs.

The terminations become part of the department's "last objective," it said in a news release, mentioning Trump's vow to eliminate the department, which manages $1.6 trillion in college loans, implements civil rights laws in schools and provides federal funding for clingy districts.

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

Before announcing the layoffs, the company bought offices in the Washington location near personnel from Tuesday evening through Wednesday, according to an internal notice seen by Reuters. An Education Department spokesperson did not right away respond to questions about the nature of the security problems prompting the closures.

Similar closures functioned 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 deceitful lenders.

The layoffs are the most recent action in Trump's sweeping effort to downsize the government, led by the world's richest person 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 bureaucracy, frozen most foreign aid and canceled countless programs and contracts, in spite of lots of suits challenging the legality of those moves.

DOGE's blunt-force approach has actually frustrated a number of White House officials and Republican legislators, a few of whom have challenged upset constituents at city center. Trump informed department heads last week that they, not Musk, have the last word on staffing, his very first noteworthy public relocate to limit the Tesla CEO.

All U.S. federal government agencies have actually been purchased to come up with massive layoff strategies by Thursday, establishing the next phase of Trump's cost-cutting project. Several firms have actually provided workers payments to retire early to fulfill Trump's demand.

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

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

"What is clear from the previous weeks of mass shootings, mayhem, and uncontrolled unprofessionalism is that this routine has no respect for the thousands of workers who have actually 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 actually argued that the federal government is wasteful and puffed up. DOGE declares it has saved $105 billion in cuts, however it has just openly recorded a portion of those savings, and its accounting has actually been plagued by mistakes.

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

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

EARLY RETIREMENT OFFERS

Other agencies have provided lump-sum payments of up to $25,000 before tax to employees 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 uses, integrated with another program that reduces eligibility requirements for early retirement, are being embraced as a lower-friction way to assist fulfill the Thursday due date, personnels experts at a number of federal companies told Reuters.

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

The General Services Administration, which manages the federal government's residential or commercial property portfolio, is likewise seeking approval to use 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 comment beyond U.S. service hours. The Securities and Exchange Commission has currently offered rewards of approximately $50,000, Reuters reported.

Human resources and public governance specialists stated the appeal of the buyout program is that it is voluntary and less susceptible to legal obstacles. It likewise requires workers who have accepted the deal to pay back the cash if they take another federal government job within 5 years.

Only a number of firms have actually telegraphed how numerous workers they prepare to cut in the 2nd stage of layoffs. These include 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 personnel.

OPM itself has offered 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 react.

On Monday, the HR department of the Fda sent an email to all 19,000 employees 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 prior deal by adding two months of complete pay in addition to the benefit, according to a copy of the e-mail seen by Reuters. HHS could not be reached for comment beyond normal 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)