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

Department workplaces bought closed down until Thursday

Agencies cut workers utilizing lump-sum payments, early retirement

Thursday is due date to send strategies for massive layoffs

(Adds 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 staff, a possible precursor to closing altogether, as government agencies rushed to satisfy President Donald Trump's deadline to submit prepare for a 2nd round of mass layoffs.

The terminations are part of the department's "final objective," it stated in a press release, mentioning Trump's vow to get rid of the department, which manages $1.6 trillion in college loans, implements civil rights laws in schools and offers federal funding for needy districts.

Asked on Fox News whether the shootings would lead to the department's dismantling, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said "yes," including that doing so "was the president's mandate." The layoffs would leave the department with 2,183 employees, down from 4,133 when Trump took office in January.

Before announcing the layoffs, the agency bought offices in the Washington location near staff from Tuesday night through Wednesday, according to an internal notification seen by Reuters. An Education Department spokesperson did not instantly react to concerns 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 company, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which protects Americans versus unethical loan providers.

The layoffs are the current 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 cut more than 100,000 tasks across the 2.3 million-member federal civilian administration, frozen most foreign aid and canceled thousands of programs and agreements, regardless of dozens of suits challenging the legality of those relocations.

DOGE's blunt-force method has actually irritated a number of White House authorities and Republican lawmakers, some of whom have faced upset constituents at city center. Trump told department heads recently that they, not Musk, have the last say on staffing, his very first noteworthy public transfer to restrain the Tesla CEO.

All U.S. federal government firms have actually been bought to come up with large-scale layoff plans by Thursday, establishing the next phase of Trump's cost-cutting campaign. Several firms have actually offered employees payments to retire early to satisfy Trump's need.

Affected Education Department employees will be positioned on administrative leave beginning on March 21, the department stated.

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

"What is clear from the previous weeks of mass shootings, mayhem, and uncontrolled unprofessionalism is that this program has no regard for the countless workers who have actually devoted their careers to serve their fellow Americans," said 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 conserved $105 billion in cuts, but it has just publicly recorded a portion of those savings, and its accounting has actually been afflicted by mistakes.

The federal government reported an estimated $162 billion in incorrect payments in 2024, according to a U.S. Government Accountability Office yearly report launched on Tuesday. The vast bulk were overpayments, the report said. Total federal expenses topped $6.75 trillion because , 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 agencies have offered lump-sum payments of up to $25,000 before tax to workers who agree 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 Food and Drug Administration.

The buyout provides, combined with another that eases eligibility requirements for early retirement, are being accepted as a lower-friction way to help satisfy the Thursday due date, personnels experts at numerous federal firms told Reuters.

The Trump administration has actually been grappling with myriad lawsuits after it fired countless probationary employees in a first wave of mass layoffs and basically dismantled entire departments like USAID and CFPB.

The General Services Administration, which handles the government's property portfolio, is also looking for approval to offer 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 remark beyond U.S. service hours. The Securities and Exchange Commission has already offered bonus offers of up to $50,000, Reuters reported.

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

Only a number of agencies have telegraphed how lots of workers they plan to cut in the 2nd stage 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 planning to cut 1,029 staff.

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

On Monday, the HR department of the Fda sent an email to all 19,000 staff members announcing a Friday, March 14, deadline for a buyout program. Those who accept would need to retire by April 19.

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