Department offices ordered closed down up until Thursday
Agencies cut employees utilizing lump-sum payments, early retirement
Thursday is due date to send prepare for large-scale layoffs
(Adds brand-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 entirely, as government companies scrambled to satisfy President Donald Trump's deadline to send prepare for a second round of mass layoffs.
The terminations are part of the department's "final objective," it stated in a news release, pointing to Trump's vow to remove the department, which oversees $1.6 trillion in college loans, implements civil rights laws in schools and provides federal financing for needy districts.
Asked on Fox News whether the shootings would result in the department's dismantling, 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, down from 4,133 when Trump took workplace in January.
Before announcing the layoffs, the company ordered offices in the Washington location near to staff from Tuesday night through Wednesday, according to an internal notice seen by Reuters. An Education Department representative did not instantly react to concerns about the nature of the security concerns prompting the closures.
Similar closures acted as a precursor to shuttering the head office of the U.S. Agency for International Development, the humanitarian aid firm, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which protects Americans versus deceitful 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 across the 2.3 million-member federal civilian administration, frozen most foreign aid and canceled countless programs and contracts, regardless of dozens of suits challenging the legality of those relocations.
DOGE's blunt-force method has actually frustrated several White House officials and Republican lawmakers, a few of whom have challenged mad constituents at town halls. Trump informed department heads last week that they, not Musk, have the last word on staffing, his first noteworthy public transfer to restrain the Tesla CEO.
All U.S. government firms have actually been ordered to come up with large-scale layoff plans by Thursday, establishing the next phase of Trump's cost-cutting project. Several firms have actually provided workers payments to retire early to meet Trump's demand.
Affected Education Department staff members will be put on administrative leave starting on March 21, the department stated.
The union representing more than 2,800 department employees said it would fight the "exorbitant cuts."
"What is clear from the past weeks of mass firings, chaos, and unchecked unprofessionalism is that this routine has no respect 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 federal government is wasteful and puffed up. DOGE declares it has saved $105 billion in cuts, but it has just openly documented a fraction of those cost savings, and its accounting has been plagued by errors.
The federal government reported an estimated $162 billion in improper payments in fiscal year 2024, according to a U.S. Government Accountability Office yearly report launched on Tuesday. The large bulk were overpayments, the report stated. Total federal expenses topped $6.75 trillion because fiscal year, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
The overall incorrect payments figure was down sharply from 2023's $236 billion, the GAO stated.
EARLY RETIREMENT OFFERS
Other firms have actually offered lump-sum payments of approximately $25,000 before tax to workers who agree to 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 Fda.
The buyout uses, combined with another program that relieves eligibility requirements for early retirement, are being embraced as a lower-friction method to assist satisfy the Thursday due date, personnels experts at a number of federal companies informed Reuters.
The Trump administration has been coming to grips with myriad claims 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 home portfolio, is likewise looking for approval to offer the buyout payments to employees, according to an email sent by its acting head to staff on Monday and seen by Reuters. The GSA could not be grabbed remark outside of U.S. organization hours. The Securities and Exchange Commission has actually already provided rewards of up to $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 likewise needs workers who have the offer to repay the cash if they take another government task within five years.
Only a couple of agencies have telegraphed how many staff members 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 employees, according to another individual with knowledge of the matter. Employees were given up until March 12 to respond.
On Monday, the HR department of the Fda sent an email to all 19,000 staff members revealing 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 previous offer by including 2 months of full pay in addition to the bonus offer, according to a copy of the e-mail seen by Reuters. HHS could not be grabbed remark beyond regular U.S. company 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)
