Department workplaces ordered closed down up until Thursday

Agencies cut employees using lump-sum payments, early retirement

Thursday is deadline to submit prepare 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 stated on Tuesday it would lay off almost half its personnel, a possible precursor to closing completely, as government companies scrambled to satisfy President Donald Trump's deadline to send strategies for a second round of mass layoffs.

The terminations belong to the department's "last mission," it said in a news release, mentioning Trump's vow to get rid of the department, which supervises $1.6 trillion in college loans, imposes civil liberties laws in schools and supplies federal funding for needy districts.

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

Before revealing the layoffs, the agency ordered offices in the Washington area near to staff from Tuesday night through Wednesday, according to an internal notification seen by Reuters. An Education Department representative did not instantly react to questions about the nature of the security problems prompting the closures.

Similar closures acted as a precursor to shuttering the headquarters of the U.S. Agency for International Development, the humanitarian help company, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which safeguards Americans against dishonest loan providers.

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

DOGE's blunt-force technique has actually frustrated several White House officials and Republican legislators, some 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 first noteworthy public relocation to limit the Tesla CEO.

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

Affected Education Department staff members will be placed on administrative leave starting on March 21, the department said.

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

"What is clear from the past weeks of mass shootings, mayhem, and uncontrolled unprofessionalism is that this routine has no respect for the countless employees who have devoted 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 government is wasteful and puffed up. DOGE declares it has saved $105 billion in cuts, but it has actually just publicly recorded a portion of those savings, and its accounting has actually been pestered by mistakes.

The federal government reported an approximated $162 billion in incorrect payments in fiscal year 2024, according to a U.S. Government Accountability Office annual report released on Tuesday. The vast majority were overpayments, the report said. Total federal investments 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 said.

EARLY RETIREMENT OFFERS

Other companies have actually offered lump-sum payments of as much as $25,000 before tax to workers who concur 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 uses, integrated with another program that alleviates eligibility requirements for early retirement, are being accepted as a lower-friction method to assist satisfy the Thursday due date, personnels experts at a number of federal agencies informed Reuters.

The Trump administration has been grappling with myriad claims after it fired countless probationary workers 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 residential or commercial property portfolio, is likewise seeking approval to provide the buyout payments to workers, according to an email sent out by its acting head to personnel on Monday and seen by Reuters. The GSA could not be grabbed comment beyond U.S. organization hours. The Securities and Exchange Commission has already used perks of approximately $50,000, Reuters reported.

Human resources and public governance professionals stated the appeal of the buyout program is that it is voluntary and less susceptible to legal challenges. It also needs employees who have actually accepted the offer to repay the money if they take another federal government job within 5 years.

Only a couple of firms have actually telegraphed the number of staff members they plan to cut in the second phase 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 used lump-sum payments to some 650 of its workers, according to another person with knowledge of the matter. Employees were offered up until March 12 to respond.

On Monday, the HR department of the Fda sent out an e-mail to all 19,000 workers announcing 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 reward, according to a copy of the email seen by Reuters. HHS could not be grabbed comment outside of normal U.S. organization 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)