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

Department workplaces purchased shut down till Thursday

Agencies cut workers utilizing lump-sum payments, early retirement

Thursday is deadline to send prepare for massive layoffs

(Adds 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 completely, as government agencies rushed to satisfy President Donald Trump's deadline to send prepare for a 2nd round of mass layoffs.

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

Asked on Fox News whether the firings would cause the department's dismantling, 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 workplace in January.

Before announcing the layoffs, the firm bought offices in the Washington area near to personnel from Tuesday night through Wednesday, according to an internal notice seen by Reuters. An Education Department spokesperson did not immediately react to questions about the nature of the security concerns prompting the closures.

Similar closures worked 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 protects Americans versus deceitful lending institutions.

The layoffs are the most recent step in Trump's sweeping effort to scale down the federal government, led by the world's wealthiest individual 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 help and canceled countless programs and contracts, regardless of dozens of lawsuits challenging the legality of those moves.

DOGE's blunt-force technique has irritated a number of White House officials and Republican legislators, a few of whom have confronted angry constituents at town halls. Trump informed 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 firms have actually been purchased to come up with massive layoff strategies by Thursday, establishing the next stage of Trump's cost-cutting campaign. Several companies have offered staff members payments to retire early to fulfill Trump's need.

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

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

"What is clear from the previous weeks of mass firings, turmoil, and unchecked unprofessionalism is that this regime has no regard for the countless workers who have actually 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 actually argued that the federal government is inefficient and puffed up. DOGE declares it has saved $105 billion in cuts, however it has actually only publicly recorded a portion of those cost savings, and its accounting has been afflicted by mistakes.

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

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

EARLY RETIREMENT OFFERS

Other firms have offered lump-sum payments 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 provides, integrated with another program that eases eligibility requirements for early retirement, are being welcomed as a lower-friction way to help meet the Thursday deadline, human resources specialists at numerous federal agencies informed Reuters.

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

The General Services Administration, which handles the federal government's residential or commercial property portfolio, is also seeking approval to use the to workers, according to an e-mail sent by its acting head to staff on Monday and seen by Reuters. The GSA might not be grabbed comment outside of U.S. company hours. The Securities and Exchange Commission has currently offered bonuses of approximately $50,000, Reuters reported.

Human resources and public governance specialists stated the appeal of the buyout program is that it is voluntary and less susceptible to legal challenges. It likewise needs employees who have actually accepted the offer to pay back the cash if they take another government job within 5 years.

Only a couple of companies have telegraphed the number of workers they plan 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 workers, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which is preparing to cut 1,029 personnel.

OPM itself has actually provided 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 email to all 19,000 workers 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 offer by adding 2 months of complete pay in addition to the perk, according to a copy of the email seen by Reuters. HHS could not be grabbed remark beyond normal U.S. company 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)