US Education Department to Cut Half its Staff As Trump Eyes Its
Department offices ordered closed down up until Thursday
Agencies cut workers utilizing lump-sum payments, early retirement
Thursday is due date to send plans for massive layoffs
(Adds new federal 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 said on Tuesday it would lay off nearly half its personnel, a possible precursor to closing altogether, as government companies rushed to fulfill President Donald Trump's due date to send strategies for a 2nd round of mass layoffs.
The terminations belong to the department's "final mission," it said in a press release, pointing to Trump's vow to eliminate the department, which oversees $1.6 trillion in college loans, enforces civil rights laws in schools and offers 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 workplace in January.
Before revealing the layoffs, the firm bought workplaces in the Washington location near staff from Tuesday evening 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 problems triggering the closures.
Similar closures worked 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 secures Americans against dishonest lending institutions.
Department offices ordered closed down up until Thursday
Agencies cut workers utilizing lump-sum payments, early retirement
Thursday is due date to send plans for massive layoffs
(Adds new federal 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 said on Tuesday it would lay off nearly half its personnel, a possible precursor to closing altogether, as government companies rushed to fulfill President Donald Trump's due date to send strategies for a 2nd round of mass layoffs.
The terminations belong to the department's "final mission," it said in a press release, pointing to Trump's vow to eliminate the department, which oversees $1.6 trillion in college loans, enforces civil rights laws in schools and offers 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 workplace in January.
Before revealing the layoffs, the firm bought workplaces in the Washington location near staff from Tuesday evening 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 problems triggering the closures.
Similar closures worked 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 secures Americans against dishonest lending institutions.