The US Education Department announced Tuesday that it will cut nearly half of its workforce, as President Donald Trump has proposed abolishing the agency entirely.
Hundreds will be laid off beginning Tuesday evening, in addition to those who accepted voluntary “buyouts.” These actions will reduce the department’s workforce of approximately 4,100 at the start of the Trump administration by half.
“Today’s force reduction reflects the Department of Education’s commitment to efficiency, accountability, and ensuring that resources are directed where they matter the most: to students, parents, and teachers,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a statement. “I value the efforts of dedicated public servants and their contributions to the Department.
McMahon said later Tuesday that the cuts are the first step toward shutting down the agency, which Trump has promised to do, though she acknowledged that fully eliminating the department would require Congress to act. Last week, CNN reported that White House officials had prepared an executive order directing McMahon to begin the process of dismantling the department.
When asked on Fox News if the layoffs were “the first step to a total shutdown,” McMahon replied, “Yes, actually, because that was the president’s mandate as directed to me clearly, to shut down the Department of Education.” She went on to say that the layoffs were “eliminating what I think is bureaucratic bloat.”
According to senior agency officials, the approximately 1,300 employees who have been notified of their layoff will be terminated within 90 days. Employees who have been fired will begin teleworking on Wednesday and will be placed on paid administrative leave on March 21, according to officials, with severance pay based on length of service.
The cuts come on top of the 63 probationary employees who were fired as part of a White House directive last month, according to officials. More than 300 employees also received voluntary separation incentives of up to $25,000, while approximately 260 accepted a deferred resignation package.
Tuesday’s layoffs follow similar ones at other federal agencies as part of Trump and the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency’s ongoing efforts to reduce the size of the federal government.
‘Significant changes to the way that we work’
Senior officials told reporters that the cuts would have no effect on federal student aid “in any way, shape, or form,” despite experts’ concerns about the agency’s ability to carry out its normal duties with such a massive reduction.
The officials also stated that the layoffs were the reason for an earlier memo sent to employees informing them that the agency’s offices would be temporarily closed for unspecified “security reasons.” The earlier memo, obtained by CNN, directed employees to work remotely until Thursday.
According to one senior official, the laid-off employees will telework beginning Wednesday until March 21 “for safety reasons to protect the 2,183 employees that are going to remain after” the reduction in force is completed.
As part of the changes, officials announced that several of their offices across the country, including those in San Francisco and New York, would be closed. The agency intends to eventually consolidate into a single office in Washington, DC, where it currently operates three.
Minutes before employees were required to leave the building, security guards were seen locking the doors of the Department of Education headquarters in Washington, DC. Offices are expected to reopen Thursday.
Longtime department employees told CNN that they can not recall a time when all offices were closed, even when high-profile VIPs were present.
Several Department of Education employees previously told CNN that they were concerned about impending mass layoffs and a potential executive order from Trump.
In an email sent to employees unaffected by the cuts and obtained by CNN, the agency stated, “There will need to be significant changes to the way that we work.”
“While your position was not directly affected, I understand that seeing valued colleagues and friends depart is never easy,” the agency’s chief human capital officer wrote in an email, adding, “What we choose to prioritize, and in turn, not prioritize, will be critical in this transition.”
Unions stress impact of cuts on students
Unions representing Department of Education employees and teachers reacted quickly to the cuts on Tuesday, expressing concern about the workforce and the effects on tens of millions of students served by the agency.
“What is clear from the past weeks of mass firings, chaos, and unchecked unprofessionalism is that this regime has no respect for the thousands of workers who have dedicated their careers to serve their fellow Americans,” Sheria Smith, president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 252, said in a statement.
“It is also clear that there is a rampant disinformation campaign to mislead Americans about the actual services, resources, grants, and programs that the U.S. Department of Education provides to all Americans.”
Another major teachers’ union slammed Trump and Elon Musk for reshaping the federal government, which resulted in Tuesday’s cuts. “The real victims will be our most vulnerable students,” Becky Pringle, president of the National Education Association, said in a statement.
One expert previously told CNN that such a significant reduction “is cause for concern.”
“If [Trump] says, ‘We are going to have a 50% reduction in staff,’ there is reason to be concerned about how the system will work: Is that enough people?” According to Neal McCluskey, director of the Cato Institute’s Center for Educational Freedom. “We are going to learn whether or not they can do the job with fewer of them.”
