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Department offices bought closed down until Thursday

Agencies cut employees using lump-sum payments, early retirement

Thursday is deadline to submit prepare for massive layoffs

(Adds brand-new federal government report on improper 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 personnel, a possible precursor to closing altogether, as government companies scrambled to satisfy President Donald Trump's due date to submit prepare for a 2nd round of mass layoffs.

The terminations are part of the department's "last objective," it stated in a news release, pointing to Trump's vow to get rid of the department, which supervises $1.6 trillion in college loans, imposes civil liberties laws in schools and offers federal financing for clingy districts.

Asked on Fox News whether the firings would cause the department's taking apart, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said "yes," including that doing so "was the president's required." The layoffs would leave the department with 2,183 employees, below 4,133 when Trump took office in January.

Before revealing the layoffs, the firm bought workplaces 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 immediately react to questions about the nature of the security problems prompting the closures.

Similar closures served 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 secures Americans versus dishonest lending institutions.

The layoffs are the current step in Trump's sweeping effort to downsize the government, led by the world's richest individual Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency. DOGE has cut more than 100,000 jobs across the 2.3 million-member federal civilian administration, frozen most foreign aid and canceled thousands of programs and contracts, regardless of dozens of lawsuits challenging the legality of those moves.

DOGE's blunt-force approach has actually irritated numerous White House authorities and Republican legislators, some of whom have confronted upset constituents at town halls. Trump told department heads recently that they, not Musk, have the last say on staffing, his very first noteworthy public transfer to limit the Tesla CEO.

All U.S. government companies have actually been bought to come up with large-scale layoff strategies by Thursday, setting up the next phase of Trump's cost-cutting campaign. Several companies have actually provided workers payments to retire early to satisfy Trump's need.

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

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

"What is clear from the previous weeks of mass shootings, turmoil, and unattended unprofessionalism is that this routine has no regard for the thousands of workers who have actually committed their professions 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 government is inefficient and puffed up. DOGE declares it has conserved $105 billion in cuts, but it has just publicly documented a portion of those cost savings, and its accounting has actually been plagued by errors.

The federal government reported an estimated $162 billion in improper payments in 2024, according to a U.S. Government Accountability Office yearly report launched on Tuesday. The vast majority were overpayments, the report said. Total federal outlays topped $6.75 trillion because financial 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 agencies have provided of approximately $25,000 before tax to workers who concur 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, integrated with another program that alleviates eligibility requirements for early retirement, are being welcomed as a lower-friction way to help satisfy the Thursday due date, personnels experts at a number of federal firms informed Reuters.

The Trump administration has actually been coming to grips with myriad lawsuits after it fired thousands of probationary employees in a first wave of mass layoffs and basically dismantled whole departments like USAID and CFPB.

The General Services Administration, which handles the federal government's home portfolio, is also looking for approval to use the buyout payments to workers, according to an email sent by its acting head to staff on Monday and seen by Reuters. The GSA might not be reached for remark beyond U.S. business hours. The Securities and Exchange Commission has currently used perks of as much as $50,000, Reuters reported.

Personnels and public governance professionals stated the appeal of the buyout program is that it is voluntary and less vulnerable to legal challenges. It likewise requires workers who have accepted the offer to repay the money if they take another government job within five years.

Only a number of firms have actually telegraphed the number of staff members they plan to cut in the second stage of layoffs. These include the Department of Veterans Affairs, which is aiming 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 offered lump-sum payments to some 650 of its employees, according to another individual with understanding of the matter. Employees were given up until March 12 to respond.

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 buyout program. Those who accept would need to retire by April 19.

Late on Monday, HHS sweetened its prior deal by adding two months of full pay in addition to the bonus, according to a copy of the e-mail seen by Reuters. HHS might not be grabbed remark beyond typical U.S. company 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)