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Department workplaces ordered closed down until Thursday

Agencies cut employees utilizing lump-sum payments, early retirement

Thursday is due date to submit plans for large-scale 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 stated on Tuesday it would lay off almost half its staff, a possible precursor to closing completely, as government firms rushed to fulfill President Donald Trump's due date to submit plans for a 2nd round of mass layoffs.

The terminations belong to the department's "final mission," it stated in a news release, pointing to Trump's vow to eliminate the department, which manages $1.6 trillion in college loans, implements civil liberties laws in schools and offers 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 workers, below 4,133 when Trump took workplace in January.

Before announcing the layoffs, the agency bought offices in the Washington area near staff from Tuesday evening through Wednesday, according to an internal notification seen by Reuters. An Education Department spokesperson did not instantly respond to questions about the nature of the security concerns triggering the closures.

Similar closures worked 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 protects Americans against unethical loan providers.

The layoffs are the latest action in Trump's sweeping effort to downsize the federal government, led by the world's richest 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 administration, frozen most foreign help and canceled thousands of programs and agreements, regardless of dozens of lawsuits challenging the legality of those moves.

DOGE's blunt-force approach has irritated numerous White House authorities and Republican legislators, some of whom have faced angry constituents at town halls. Trump informed department heads recently that they, not Musk, have the final say on staffing, his very first significant public relocation to limit the Tesla CEO.

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

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 "severe cuts."

"What is clear from the previous weeks of mass firings, turmoil, and uncontrolled unprofessionalism is that this routine has no regard for the thousands of employees who have 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 argued that the federal government is wasteful and bloated. DOGE claims it has saved $105 billion in cuts, however it has actually only publicly documented a fraction of those savings, and its accounting has actually been afflicted by mistakes.

The federal government reported an approximated $162 billion in incorrect payments in fiscal year 2024, according to a U.S. Government Accountability Office annual report launched on Tuesday. The large majority were overpayments, the report stated. Total federal investments topped $6.75 trillion because fiscal year, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

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

EARLY RETIREMENT OFFERS

Other firms have actually used lump-sum payments of as much as $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, combined with another program that relieves 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 been coming to grips with myriad suits after it fired thousands of probationary workers in a first wave of mass layoffs and essentially dismantled entire departments like USAID and CFPB.

The General Services Administration, which manages the government's residential or commercial property portfolio, is also looking for approval to offer the buyout payments to workers, according to an email sent by its acting head to personnel on Monday and seen by Reuters. The GSA might not be reached for remark outside of U.S. business hours. The Securities and Exchange Commission has actually currently offered rewards of up to $50,000, Reuters reported.

Human resources and public governance specialists stated the appeal of the buyout program is that it is voluntary and less vulnerable to legal obstacles. It likewise requires employees who have actually accepted the offer to repay the money if they take another government task within 5 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 preparing to cut 1,029 staff.

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

On Monday, the HR department of the Fda sent an e-mail to all 19,000 staff members announcing a Friday, March 14, deadline for a . Those who accept would have to retire by April 19.

Late on Monday, HHS sweetened its prior deal by adding 2 months of complete pay in addition to the perk, according to a copy of the email seen by Reuters. HHS could not be grabbed comment beyond normal U.S. service 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)