Department workplaces ordered closed down until Thursday

Agencies cut workers utilizing lump-sum payments, early retirement

Thursday is due date to submit 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 stated on Tuesday it would lay off nearly half its staff, a possible precursor to closing entirely, as federal government companies scrambled to meet President Donald Trump's deadline to send prepare for a 2nd round of mass layoffs.

The terminations are part of the department's "last mission," it stated in a news release, mentioning Trump's vow to eliminate the department, which manages $1.6 trillion in college loans, enforces civil rights laws in schools and supplies federal financing for clingy districts.

Asked on Fox News whether the firings 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 employees, below 4,133 when Trump took office in January.

Before revealing the layoffs, the company ordered workplaces in the Washington location near to staff from Tuesday evening through Wednesday, according to an internal notification seen by Reuters. An Education Department spokesperson did not immediately react to questions about the nature of the security concerns triggering the closures.

Similar closures acted as a precursor to shuttering the head office of the U.S. Agency for International Development, the humanitarian help agency, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which secures Americans against deceitful lenders.

The layoffs are the most current step in Trump's sweeping effort to scale down the federal government, led by the world's wealthiest person Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency. DOGE has actually cut more than 100,000 jobs throughout the 2.3 million-member federal civilian administration, frozen most foreign aid and canceled countless programs and agreements, despite lots of lawsuits challenging the legality of those relocations.

DOGE's blunt-force method has irritated several White House authorities and Republican lawmakers, a few of whom have actually confronted mad constituents at town halls. Trump informed department heads recently that they, not Musk, have the final say on staffing, his very first noteworthy public relocate to restrain the Tesla CEO.

All U.S. federal government agencies have actually been bought to come up with large-scale layoff strategies by Thursday, setting up the next stage of Trump's cost-cutting campaign. Several companies have actually used staff members payments to retire early to fulfill Trump's need.

Affected Education Department workers will be put on administrative leave starting on March 21, the department said.

The union representing more than 2,800 department workers stated it would fight the "drastic cuts."

"What is clear from the past weeks of mass firings, chaos, and unchecked unprofessionalism is that this program has no respect for the countless employees who have 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 actually argued that the government is inefficient and bloated. DOGE claims it has conserved $105 billion in cuts, but it has actually only openly recorded a fraction of those cost savings, and its accounting has actually been pestered by errors.

The federal government reported an estimated $162 billion in inappropriate payments in fiscal year 2024, according to a U.S. Government Accountability Office annual report released on Tuesday. The large majority were overpayments, the report said. Total federal investments topped $6.75 trillion in that financial year, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

The overall improper payments figure was down greatly from 2023's $236 billion, the GAO stated.

EARLY RETIREMENT OFFERS

Other companies have actually provided 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 Food and Drug Administration.

The buyout offers, combined with another program that alleviates eligibility requirements for early retirement, are being embraced as a lower-friction method to help fulfill the Thursday due date, human resources specialists at numerous federal companies told Reuters.

The Trump administration has actually been facing myriad claims after it fired countless probationary workers in a first wave of mass layoffs and essentially dismantled entire departments like USAID and CFPB.

The General Services Administration, which handles the government's residential or commercial property portfolio, is likewise looking for approval to use the buyout payments to employees, according to an e-mail sent by its acting head to personnel on Monday and seen by Reuters. The GSA might not be grabbed comment beyond U.S. organization hours. The Securities and Exchange Commission has actually currently provided rewards of up to $50,000, Reuters reported.

Personnels and public governance experts stated the appeal of the buyout program is that it is voluntary and less vulnerable to legal obstacles. It likewise requires employees who have the offer to repay the cash if they take another government task within 5 years.

Only a couple of firms have actually telegraphed the number of staff members they prepare to cut in the second 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 preparing to cut 1,029 staff.

OPM itself has actually offered lump-sum payments to some 650 of its workers, according to another person with understanding of the matter. Employees were provided up until March 12 to react.

On Monday, the HR department of the Fda sent out an e-mail to all 19,000 employees 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 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 reached for remark beyond normal 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)