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Department workplaces ordered shut down till Thursday

Agencies cut employees utilizing lump-sum payments, early retirement

Thursday is due date to send plans for large-scale layoffs

(Adds brand-new federal 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 completely, as federal government agencies rushed to satisfy President Donald Trump's deadline to submit strategies for a second round of mass layoffs.

The terminations belong to the department's "final mission," it stated in a news release, alluding to Trump's vow to eliminate the department, which manages $1.6 trillion in college loans, implements civil liberties laws in schools and provides federal financing for needy districts.

Asked on Fox News whether the firings would lead to 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 workers, down from 4,133 when Trump took workplace in January.

Before revealing the layoffs, the company purchased workplaces in the Washington location near personnel from Tuesday evening through Wednesday, according to an internal notification seen by Reuters. An Education Department spokesperson did not instantly react to questions about the nature of the security concerns prompting 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 safeguards Americans against dishonest lending institutions.

The layoffs are the most current action in Trump's sweeping effort to downsize 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 across the 2.3 million-member federal civilian bureaucracy, frozen most foreign help and canceled countless programs and contracts, regardless of dozens of claims challenging the legality of those moves.

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

All U.S. federal government firms have actually been bought to come up with massive layoff plans by Thursday, setting up the next phase of Trump's cost-cutting project. Several agencies have actually used staff members payments to retire early to meet Trump's need.

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

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

"What is clear from the past weeks of mass firings, turmoil, and uncontrolled unprofessionalism is that this routine has no respect for the thousands of workers who have 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 inefficient and puffed up. DOGE declares it has actually saved $105 billion in cuts, however it has just publicly documented a portion of those savings, and its accounting has actually been pestered by errors.

The federal government reported an estimated $162 billion in incorrect payments in 2024, according to a U.S. Government Accountability Office annual report released on Tuesday. The huge bulk were overpayments, the report stated. Total federal investments topped $6.75 trillion because , according to the Congressional Budget Office.

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

EARLY RETIREMENT OFFERS

Other firms have actually used lump-sum payments of as much as $25,000 before tax to employees 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 Food and Drug Administration.

The buyout uses, integrated with another program that relieves eligibility requirements for early retirement, are being welcomed as a lower-friction way to assist fulfill the Thursday deadline, personnels experts at a number of federal agencies told Reuters.

The Trump administration has actually been grappling with myriad suits 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 federal government's residential or commercial property portfolio, is likewise looking for approval to provide 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 grabbed comment outside of U.S. service hours. The Securities and Exchange Commission has currently provided bonus offers of approximately $50,000, Reuters reported.

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

Only a number of firms have telegraphed how lots of staff members they prepare to cut in the 2nd stage of layoffs. These consist of the Department of Veterans Affairs, which is aiming 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 used lump-sum payments to some 650 of its workers, according to another individual with understanding of the matter. Employees were offered till March 12 to respond.

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

Late on Monday, HHS sweetened its previous deal by including two 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 comment outside of typical U.S. service hours. (Reporting by Timothy Gardner, Alexandra Alper, Tim Reid and Marisa Taylor, by Nathan Layne and Kanishka Singh, writing by Nathan Layne and Joseph Ax; Editing by Scott Malone, David Gregorio and Muralikumar Anantharaman)