Department workplaces bought closed down until Thursday

Agencies cut employees utilizing lump-sum payments, early retirement

Thursday is deadline to send prepare for massive layoffs

(Adds brand-new 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 said on Tuesday it would lay off almost half its personnel, a possible precursor to closing entirely, as federal government companies rushed to satisfy President Donald Trump's deadline 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, mentioning Trump's vow to get rid of the department, which manages $1.6 trillion in college loans, implements civil liberties laws in schools and offers federal funding for clingy districts.

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

Before announcing the layoffs, the firm ordered offices in the Washington area near to personnel from Tuesday evening through Wednesday, according to an internal notice seen by Reuters. An Education Department spokesperson did not instantly react to questions about the nature of the security concerns triggering the closures.

Similar closures acted as a precursor to shuttering the head office of the U.S. Agency for International Development, the humanitarian help company, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which safeguards Americans versus unscrupulous lending institutions.

The layoffs are the most current step in Trump's sweeping effort to downsize 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 jobs across the 2.3 million-member federal civilian bureaucracy, frozen most foreign help and canceled thousands of programs and contracts, in spite of lots of claims challenging the legality of those relocations.

DOGE's blunt-force method has annoyed numerous White House officials and Republican legislators, a few of whom have actually confronted mad constituents at town halls. Trump informed department heads last week that they, not Musk, have the last say on staffing, his very first significant public relocate to restrain the Tesla CEO.

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

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

The union representing more than 2,800 department workers stated it would battle the "extreme 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 workers who have actually dedicated their careers 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 government is inefficient and bloated. DOGE claims it has saved $105 billion in cuts, however it has actually only publicly recorded a fraction of those cost savings, and its accounting has actually been plagued by errors.

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 large bulk were overpayments, the report said. Total federal expenses topped $6.75 trillion in that 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 companies have used lump-sum payments of up to $25,000 before tax to workers who concur 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 provides, combined with another program that relieves eligibility requirements for early retirement, are being accepted as a lower-friction way to assist meet the Thursday due date, personnels professionals at numerous federal agencies told Reuters.

The has actually been coming to grips with myriad claims after it fired thousands of 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 home portfolio, is also seeking approval to provide the buyout payments to employees, according to an email sent out by its acting head to staff on Monday and seen by Reuters. The GSA could not be reached for remark outside of U.S. service hours. The Securities and Exchange Commission has already provided rewards of up to $50,000, Reuters reported.

Human resources and public governance specialists said the appeal of the buyout program is that it is voluntary and less susceptible to legal difficulties. It also requires workers who have actually accepted the offer to repay the money if they take another federal government job within five years.

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

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

On Monday, the HR department of the Fda sent an email to all 19,000 staff members announcing a Friday, March 14, due date for a buyout program. Those who accept would have to retire by April 19.

Late on Monday, HHS sweetened its prior offer by adding two 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 beyond typical U.S. business hours. (Reporting by Timothy Gardner, Alexandra Alper, Tim Reid and Marisa Taylor, additional reporting by Nathan Layne and Kanishka Singh, writing by Nathan Layne and Joseph Ax; Editing by Scott Malone, David Gregorio and Muralikumar Anantharaman)