Hal Simmonds asked 1 ден ago
Department workplaces ordered closed down until Thursday
Agencies cut workers utilizing lump-sum payments, early retirement
Thursday is due date to submit prepare 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 stated on Tuesday it would lay off almost half its personnel, a possible precursor to closing altogether, as government firms scrambled to satisfy President Donald Trump’s due date to send plans for a 2nd round of mass layoffs.
The terminations belong to the department’s “last mission,” it stated in a press release, mentioning Trump’s vow to eliminate the department, which manages $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 cause the department’s taking apart, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon stated “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 office in January.
Before revealing the layoffs, the company ordered offices in the Washington area near personnel from Tuesday evening through Wednesday, according to an internal notice seen by Reuters. An Education Department spokesperson did not right away react to questions about the nature of the security problems prompting the closures.
Similar closures functioned as a precursor to shuttering the headquarters of the U.S. Agency for International Development, the humanitarian aid company, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which secures Americans against dishonest loan providers.
The layoffs are the newest action in Trump’s sweeping effort to scale down the federal government, led by the world’s richest individual Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency. DOGE has cut more than 100,000 tasks across the 2.3 million-member federal civilian bureaucracy, frozen most foreign aid and canceled countless programs and contracts, in spite of dozens of lawsuits challenging the legality of those moves.
DOGE’s blunt-force approach has actually frustrated a number of White House officials and Republican lawmakers, some of whom have actually challenged angry constituents at city center. Trump told department heads last week that they, not Musk, have the last word on staffing, his very first noteworthy public relocation to restrain the Tesla CEO.
All U.S. government agencies have been bought to come up with large-scale layoff strategies by Thursday, establishing the next stage of Trump’s cost-cutting project. Several companies have used workers payments to retire early to satisfy Trump’s need.
Affected Education Department staff members will be put on administrative leave starting on March 21, the .
The union representing more than 2,800 department employees stated it would fight the “extreme cuts.”
“What is clear from the previous weeks of mass shootings, mayhem, and uncontrolled unprofessionalism is that this program has no regard for the countless employees who have devoted their careers to serve their fellow Americans,” said Sheria Smith, president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 252.
Trump and Musk have argued that the government is wasteful and bloated. DOGE declares it has actually saved $105 billion in cuts, but it has actually only openly documented a portion of those cost savings, and its accounting has been afflicted by mistakes.
The federal government reported an estimated $162 billion in incorrect payments in fiscal year 2024, according to a U.S. Government Accountability Office annual report released on Tuesday. The large majority were overpayments, the report stated. Total federal outlays topped $6.75 trillion because , according to the Congressional Budget Office.
The total inappropriate payments figure was down dramatically from 2023’s $236 billion, the GAO stated.
EARLY RETIREMENT OFFERS
Other agencies have actually offered lump-sum payments of approximately $25,000 before tax to workers who agree 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 offers, combined with another program that reduces eligibility requirements for early retirement, are being welcomed as a lower-friction method to help fulfill the Thursday deadline, human resources experts at a number of federal agencies informed Reuters.
The Trump administration has been coming to grips with myriad suits after it fired thousands of probationary employees in a first wave of mass layoffs and basically took apart entire departments like USAID and CFPB.
The General Services Administration, which handles the government’s home portfolio, is also seeking approval to use the buyout payments to workers, according to an e-mail sent by its acting head to staff on Monday and seen by Reuters. The GSA could not be reached for comment beyond U.S. company hours. The Securities and Exchange Commission has actually currently provided benefits of up to $50,000, Reuters reported.
Personnels and public governance professionals said 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 deal to repay the money if they take another federal government task within 5 years.
Only a couple of companies have actually telegraphed the number of employees they prepare to cut in the 2nd phase of layoffs. These consist of the Department of Veterans Affairs, which is intending to cut more than 80,000 employees, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which is planning to cut 1,029 personnel.
OPM itself has actually offered lump-sum payments to some 650 of its workers, according to another individual with understanding of the matter. Employees were offered until March 12 to respond.
On Monday, the HR department of the Food and Drug Administration sent an email to all 19,000 workers revealing 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 two months of full pay in addition to the perk, according to a copy of the e-mail seen by Reuters. HHS could not be reached for remark outside of regular 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)
Agencies cut workers utilizing lump-sum payments, early retirement
Thursday is due date to submit prepare 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 stated on Tuesday it would lay off almost half its personnel, a possible precursor to closing altogether, as government firms scrambled to satisfy President Donald Trump’s due date to send plans for a 2nd round of mass layoffs.
The terminations belong to the department’s “last mission,” it stated in a press release, mentioning Trump’s vow to eliminate the department, which manages $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 cause the department’s taking apart, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon stated “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 office in January.
Before revealing the layoffs, the company ordered offices in the Washington area near personnel from Tuesday evening through Wednesday, according to an internal notice seen by Reuters. An Education Department spokesperson did not right away react to questions about the nature of the security problems prompting the closures.
Similar closures functioned as a precursor to shuttering the headquarters of the U.S. Agency for International Development, the humanitarian aid company, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which secures Americans against dishonest loan providers.
The layoffs are the newest action in Trump’s sweeping effort to scale down the federal government, led by the world’s richest individual Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency. DOGE has cut more than 100,000 tasks across the 2.3 million-member federal civilian bureaucracy, frozen most foreign aid and canceled countless programs and contracts, in spite of dozens of lawsuits challenging the legality of those moves.
DOGE’s blunt-force approach has actually frustrated a number of White House officials and Republican lawmakers, some of whom have actually challenged angry constituents at city center. Trump told department heads last week that they, not Musk, have the last word on staffing, his very first noteworthy public relocation to restrain the Tesla CEO.
All U.S. government agencies have been bought to come up with large-scale layoff strategies by Thursday, establishing the next stage of Trump’s cost-cutting project. Several companies have used workers payments to retire early to satisfy Trump’s need.
Affected Education Department staff members will be put on administrative leave starting on March 21, the .
The union representing more than 2,800 department employees stated it would fight the “extreme cuts.”
“What is clear from the previous weeks of mass shootings, mayhem, and uncontrolled unprofessionalism is that this program has no regard for the countless employees who have devoted their careers to serve their fellow Americans,” said Sheria Smith, president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 252.
Trump and Musk have argued that the government is wasteful and bloated. DOGE declares it has actually saved $105 billion in cuts, but it has actually only openly documented a portion of those cost savings, and its accounting has been afflicted by mistakes.
The federal government reported an estimated $162 billion in incorrect payments in fiscal year 2024, according to a U.S. Government Accountability Office annual report released on Tuesday. The large majority were overpayments, the report stated. Total federal outlays topped $6.75 trillion because , according to the Congressional Budget Office.
The total inappropriate payments figure was down dramatically from 2023’s $236 billion, the GAO stated.
EARLY RETIREMENT OFFERS
Other agencies have actually offered lump-sum payments of approximately $25,000 before tax to workers who agree 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 offers, combined with another program that reduces eligibility requirements for early retirement, are being welcomed as a lower-friction method to help fulfill the Thursday deadline, human resources experts at a number of federal agencies informed Reuters.
The Trump administration has been coming to grips with myriad suits after it fired thousands of probationary employees in a first wave of mass layoffs and basically took apart entire departments like USAID and CFPB.
The General Services Administration, which handles the government’s home portfolio, is also seeking approval to use the buyout payments to workers, according to an e-mail sent by its acting head to staff on Monday and seen by Reuters. The GSA could not be reached for comment beyond U.S. company hours. The Securities and Exchange Commission has actually currently provided benefits of up to $50,000, Reuters reported.
Personnels and public governance professionals said 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 deal to repay the money if they take another federal government task within 5 years.
Only a couple of companies have actually telegraphed the number of employees they prepare to cut in the 2nd phase of layoffs. These consist of the Department of Veterans Affairs, which is intending to cut more than 80,000 employees, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which is planning to cut 1,029 personnel.
OPM itself has actually offered lump-sum payments to some 650 of its workers, according to another individual with understanding of the matter. Employees were offered until March 12 to respond.
On Monday, the HR department of the Food and Drug Administration sent an email to all 19,000 workers revealing 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 two months of full pay in addition to the perk, according to a copy of the e-mail seen by Reuters. HHS could not be reached for remark outside of regular 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)
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