Department offices purchased closed down until Thursday

Agencies cut employees using lump-sum payments, early retirement

Thursday is due date to submit plans for massive layoffs

(Adds brand-new 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 almost half its staff, a possible precursor to closing entirely, as federal government companies rushed to satisfy President Donald Trump's due date to submit plans for a second round of mass layoffs.

The terminations are part of the department's "final mission," it said in a press release, mentioning Trump's vow to remove the department, which manages $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 shootings would result in the department's dismantling, 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 employees, down from 4,133 when Trump took workplace in January.

Before announcing the layoffs, the firm purchased workplaces in the Washington area near to staff from Tuesday evening through Wednesday, according to an internal notice seen by Reuters. An Education Department representative did not right away react to concerns about the nature of the security issues triggering the closures.

Similar closures served as a precursor to shuttering the head office of the U.S. Agency for International Development, the humanitarian help firm, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which safeguards Americans versus unethical lenders.

The layoffs are the most recent step 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 tasks throughout the 2.3 million-member federal civilian administration, frozen most foreign aid and canceled countless programs and contracts, regardless of lots of suits challenging the legality of those moves.

DOGE's blunt-force method has actually frustrated a number of White House authorities and Republican lawmakers, a few of whom have faced upset constituents at town halls. Trump informed department heads last week that they, not Musk, have the final say on staffing, his very first significant public transfer to limit the Tesla CEO.

All U.S. federal government companies have actually been purchased to come up with massive layoff strategies by Thursday, establishing the next stage of Trump's cost-cutting campaign. Several agencies have provided workers payments to retire early to meet Trump's need.

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 workers said it would combat the "draconian cuts."

"What is clear from the past weeks of mass firings, mayhem, and unattended unprofessionalism is that this program has no respect for the countless employees who have actually committed their professions to serve their fellow Americans," stated Sheria Smith, president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 252.

Trump and Musk have actually argued that the government is wasteful and puffed up. DOGE claims it has actually saved $105 billion in cuts, however it has actually just openly documented a portion of those savings, and its accounting has been plagued by mistakes.

The federal government reported an estimated $162 billion in incorrect payments in 2024, according to a U.S. Government Accountability Office annual report released on Tuesday. The vast bulk were overpayments, the report said. Total federal expenses 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 stated.

EARLY RETIREMENT OFFERS

Other agencies have provided lump-sum payments of up to $25,000 before tax to employees who accept 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 uses, integrated with another program that reduces eligibility requirements for early retirement, are being embraced as a lower-friction way to help fulfill the Thursday deadline, personnels specialists at numerous federal firms told Reuters.

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

The General Services Administration, which manages the federal government's property portfolio, is likewise looking for approval to provide the buyout payments to workers, according to an e-mail sent by its acting head to staff on Monday and seen by Reuters. The GSA could not be grabbed comment outside of U.S. business hours. The Securities and Exchange Commission has already provided bonus offers of up to $50,000, Reuters reported.

Personnels and public governance experts stated the appeal of the buyout program is that it is voluntary and less susceptible to legal difficulties. It likewise requires employees who have accepted the deal to pay back the cash if they take another federal government job within five years.

Only a couple of agencies have telegraphed how numerous employees they plan to cut in the second 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 used lump-sum payments to some 650 of its workers, according to another person with understanding of the matter. Employees were given till March 12 to react.

On Monday, the HR department of the Fda sent out an e-mail to all 19,000 staff members revealing 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 offer by including 2 months of complete pay in addition to the bonus, according to a copy of the e-mail seen by Reuters. HHS could not be grabbed comment outside of typical U.S. company 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)