댓글 0
등록된 댓글이 없습니다.
US Education Department to Cut Half its Staff As Trump Eyes Its > 자유게시판
US Education Department to Cut Half its Staff As Trump Eyes Its
작성일작성일: 2025-07-08 16:28
Department workplaces purchased closed down until Thursday
Agencies cut workers utilizing lump-sum payments, early retirement
Thursday is deadline to submit plans for large-scale layoffs
(Adds new 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 staff, a possible precursor to closing entirely, as federal government firms rushed to fulfill President Donald Trump's due date to send plans for a 2nd round of mass layoffs.
The terminations belong to the department's "final objective," it said in a news release, mentioning Trump's vow to eliminate the department, which supervises $1.6 trillion in college loans, enforces civil liberties laws in schools and supplies federal funding for clingy districts.
Asked on Fox News whether the firings would cause the department's dismantling, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon stated "yes," including that doing so "was the president's mandate." The layoffs would leave the department with 2,183 employees, down from 4,133 when Trump took office in January.
Before announcing the layoffs, the firm bought offices in the Washington area closed to personnel from Tuesday evening through Wednesday, according to an internal notice seen by Reuters. An Education Department representative did not instantly respond to concerns about the nature of the security concerns prompting the closures.
Similar closures served 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 safeguards Americans versus unethical lending institutions.
The layoffs are the 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 cut more than 100,000 tasks throughout the 2.3 million-member federal civilian bureaucracy, frozen most foreign aid and canceled thousands of programs and contracts, in spite of lots of lawsuits challenging the legality of those moves.
DOGE's blunt-force method has irritated numerous White House officials and Republican lawmakers, some of whom have actually challenged upset constituents at town halls. Trump informed department heads last week that they, not Musk, have the last say on staffing, his very first significant public move to restrain the Tesla CEO.
All U.S. federal government firms have been purchased to come up with large-scale layoff plans by Thursday, setting up the next phase of Trump's cost-cutting campaign. Several companies have actually used employees payments to retire early to fulfill Trump's demand.
Affected Education Department staff members 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 "extreme cuts."
"What is clear from the previous weeks of mass shootings, mayhem, and untreated 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 252.
Trump and Musk have argued that the government is inefficient and bloated. DOGE declares it has actually conserved $105 billion in cuts, however it has only publicly recorded a portion of those cost savings, and its accounting has been pestered by mistakes.
The federal government reported an estimated $162 billion in incorrect payments in 2024, according to a U.S. Government Accountability Office yearly report launched on Tuesday. The huge bulk were overpayments, the report stated. Total federal investments topped $6.75 trillion in that 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 firms have offered lump-sum payments of approximately $25,000 before tax to employees who consent 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 relieves eligibility requirements for early retirement, are being welcomed as a lower-friction way to assist meet the Thursday deadline, human resources professionals at several federal agencies told Reuters.
The Trump administration has been coming to grips with myriad claims after it fired countless probationary workers in a first wave of mass layoffs and basically took apart entire departments like USAID and CFPB.
The General Services Administration, which manages the federal government's residential or commercial property portfolio, is also seeking approval to provide the buyout payments to workers, according to an email sent by its acting head to personnel on Monday and seen by Reuters. The GSA might not be grabbed remark outside of U.S. service hours. The Securities and Exchange Commission has actually currently offered benefits of approximately $50,000, Reuters reported.
Personnels and public governance professionals said 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 deal to pay back the money if they take another government job within five years.
Only a number of firms have actually telegraphed how lots of staff members they plan to cut in the second 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 provided lump-sum payments to some 650 of its staff members, according to another individual with knowledge of the matter. Employees were given until March 12 to react.
On Monday, the HR department of the Fda sent an e-mail to all 19,000 staff members 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 prior deal by including 2 months of complete pay in addition to the bonus, according to a copy of the e-mail seen by Reuters. HHS might not be grabbed comment 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, writing by Nathan Layne and Joseph Ax; Editing by Scott Malone, David Gregorio and Muralikumar Anantharaman)