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 deadline to send prepare for large-scale 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 nearly half its personnel, a possible precursor to closing entirely, as federal government agencies rushed to meet President Donald Trump's deadline to submit plans for a 2nd round of mass layoffs.

The terminations belong to the department's "final mission," it said in a press release, mentioning Trump's vow to remove the department, which oversees $1.6 trillion in college loans, enforces civil liberties laws in schools and offers federal financing for needy districts.

Asked on Fox News whether the firings would result in the department's dismantling, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon stated "yes," including that doing so "was the president's mandate." 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 ordered offices in the Washington area near staff from Tuesday evening through Wednesday, according to an internal notice seen by Reuters. An Education Department representative 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 headquarters of the U.S. Agency for International Development, the humanitarian aid firm, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which protects Americans against deceitful lenders.

The layoffs are the newest action in Trump's sweeping effort to downsize the government, led by the world's wealthiest individual Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency. DOGE has actually cut more than 100,000 tasks across the 2.3 million-member federal civilian bureaucracy, frozen most foreign help and canceled countless programs and contracts, in spite of dozens of lawsuits challenging the legality of those moves.

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

All U.S. government companies have actually been purchased to come up with massive layoff strategies by Thursday, setting up the next stage of Trump's cost-cutting campaign. Several firms have actually offered employees payments to retire early to satisfy 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 said it would battle the "draconian cuts."

"What is clear from the previous weeks of mass shootings, mayhem, and untreated unprofessionalism is that this program has no regard for the countless employees who have dedicated 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 government is inefficient and bloated. DOGE declares it has saved $105 billion in cuts, however it has actually just publicly documented a fraction of those savings, and its accounting has been afflicted by errors.

The federal government reported an estimated $162 billion in inappropriate payments in 2024, according to a U.S. Government Accountability Office annual report released on Tuesday. The large majority were overpayments, the report said. Total federal expenses topped $6.75 trillion because fiscal year, 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 have actually used lump-sum payments of approximately $25,000 before tax to employees 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 Fda.

The buyout offers, combined with another program that eases eligibility requirements for early retirement, are being welcomed as a lower-friction way to help satisfy the Thursday due date, personnels specialists at numerous federal agencies told Reuters.

The Trump administration has been grappling with myriad suits after it fired thousands of probationary employees in a first wave of mass layoffs and basically took apart entire departments like USAID and CFPB.

The General Services Administration, which manages the federal government's home portfolio, is likewise seeking approval to provide the buyout payments to employees, according to an email sent by its acting head to personnel on Monday and seen by Reuters. The GSA might not be reached for comment beyond U.S. organization hours. The Securities and Exchange Commission has already used rewards of as much as $50,000, Reuters reported.

Personnels and public governance specialists said the appeal of the buyout program is that it is voluntary and less vulnerable to legal challenges. It also requires employees who have actually accepted the deal to pay back the money if they take another federal government job within 5 years.

Only a couple of agencies have telegraphed how numerous 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 workers, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which is preparing to cut 1,029 personnel.

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

On Monday, the HR department of the Fda sent out an e-mail to all 19,000 employees 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 previous offer by including 2 months of complete pay in addition to the reward, according to a copy of the e-mail seen by Reuters. HHS could not be reached for remark outside of typical 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)