US Education Department to Cut Half its Staff As Trump Eyes Its > 자유게시판

Department offices purchased closed down until Thursday

Agencies cut workers using lump-sum payments, early retirement

Thursday is due date to submit plans for massive layoffs

(Adds 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 said on Tuesday it would lay off nearly half its personnel, a possible precursor to closing altogether, as government agencies scrambled to fulfill President Donald Trump's deadline to submit plans for a second round of mass layoffs.

The terminations are part of the department's "final mission," it stated in a press release, alluding to Trump's vow to remove the department, which manages $1.6 trillion in college loans, enforces civil rights laws in schools and provides federal financing for clingy districts.

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

Before revealing the layoffs, the firm bought offices in the Washington area closed to staff from Tuesday night through Wednesday, according to an internal notice seen by Reuters. An Education Department spokesperson did not immediately react to concerns about the nature of the security concerns prompting the closures.

Similar closures served as a precursor to shuttering the head office of the U.S. Agency for International Development, the humanitarian help agency, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which protects Americans against dishonest lending institutions.

The layoffs are the latest action in Trump's sweeping effort to scale down the federal government, led by the world's wealthiest person 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 bureaucracy, frozen most foreign help and canceled countless programs and contracts, despite dozens of lawsuits challenging the legality of those moves.

DOGE's blunt-force technique has actually frustrated a number of White House officials and Republican lawmakers, some of whom have confronted upset constituents at town halls. Trump told department heads recently that they, not Musk, have the final say on staffing, his first noteworthy public transfer to limit the Tesla CEO.

All U.S. government firms have actually been ordered to come up with massive layoff plans by Thursday, setting up the next stage of Trump's cost-cutting campaign. Several companies have provided workers payments to retire early to fulfill Trump's demand.

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

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

"What is clear from the previous weeks of mass shootings, turmoil, and uncontrolled unprofessionalism is that this program has no respect for the thousands of workers who have actually committed their professions to serve their fellow Americans," stated Sheria Smith, president of the American Federation of Local 252.

Trump and Musk have actually argued that the government is wasteful and puffed up. DOGE claims it has conserved $105 billion in cuts, however it has actually only publicly recorded a fraction of those cost savings, and its accounting has been pestered by errors.

The federal government reported an approximated $162 billion in improper payments in 2024, according to a U.S. Government Accountability Office yearly report launched 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 overall incorrect payments figure was down greatly from 2023's $236 billion, the GAO said.

EARLY RETIREMENT OFFERS

Other companies have actually provided lump-sum payments of as much as $25,000 before tax to employees who accept 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 Food and Drug Administration.

The buyout uses, combined with another program that alleviates eligibility requirements for early retirement, are being accepted as a lower-friction method to help satisfy the Thursday deadline, personnels specialists at a number of federal firms informed Reuters.

The Trump administration has been grappling with myriad lawsuits after it fired thousands of probationary workers in a very first wave of mass layoffs and basically dismantled whole 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 workers, according to an e-mail sent by its acting head to personnel on Monday and seen by Reuters. The GSA could not be grabbed comment outside of U.S. service hours. The Securities and Exchange Commission has actually currently provided benefits of approximately $50,000, Reuters reported.

Personnels and public governance experts said the appeal of the buyout program is that it is voluntary and less vulnerable to legal obstacles. It also requires workers who have accepted the offer to pay back the money if they take another federal government task within five years.

Only a number of agencies have telegraphed the number of workers they plan to cut in the 2nd phase of layoffs. These include 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 personnel.

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

On Monday, the HR department of the Food and Drug Administration sent an email 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 deal by including two months of complete pay in addition to the bonus, according to a copy of the e-mail seen by Reuters. HHS might not be grabbed remark beyond regular U.S. company 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)