WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Education on Tuesday said “a significant number of agency staff is cutting “the ‘” out.Reducing power” Process, when President Donald Trump took office, introduced about half the number of departmental workforce.
About 1,315 employees will be eligible for the initiative, according to senior department officials who spoke to reporters about their background on Tuesday evening. Officials said they will earn a full 90-day salary and benefits starting Tuesday, and will be working remotely from Wednesday until March 21 when they take administrative leave.
The drastic cuts are part of a government-wide effort by Trump and billionaire White House adviser Elon Musk to reduce government spending and the federal workforce to reduce what they consider waste.
When Trump took office, the department had 4,133 employees. Following the announcement Tuesday, the agency said about 2,183 workers remained. In the past few weeks, nearly 600 workers have received voluntary resignation opportunities or retirements. Tuesday evening press release.
Also, department officials said they ended 63 probation employees in February.
The senior officials have made it clear that this staffing cut will not affect civil rights investigations, the rollout of federal student aid applications, Title I funding for low-income school districts, and the ability to hold other mandatory functions required by the legislature.
The senior official previously reported in advance that the Washington area office building was closed on Tuesday evening for safety reasons and would reopen on Thursday.
“Today’s power cuts reflect the Department of Education’s efficiency, accountability and its commitment to ensuring that it is directed to students, parents and teachers in places that matter most.
“We appreciate the work and contributions of our dedicated civil servants to the department. This is an important step in restoring the greatness of the American education system.”
Dems says in the layoff gut division.
Congressional Democrats and union leaders denounced the cuts on Tuesday.
“The exclusion of staff today is illegal, and they are slaps in the faces of dedicated civil servants who work to ensure that American children have access to quality education.” “The president or members of the administrative department have no authority to end public education, violate the law, and unilaterally steal dollars promised to students.”
Sen. Patty Murray, a Democrat of Washington, who is vice-chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, said the cuts were intended to hamper the legislative difficulties of removing the department itself.
“Donald Trump and Linda McMahon know they can’t abolish the Department of Education themselves, but they drive it to the heart of it and fire all those who run programs that help students, families and teachers, and you could have the same devastating outcome,” she said.
“In the end, it’s clear that they want to do. They fire people who help our children and burn funds for students, teachers and schools. This is to break the government for working families and enrich billionaires like themselves in the process.”
“Removing agents so that it cannot work effectively is the most coronavirus way to dismantle it,” said Randy Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers.
“The substantial cuts in the education sector are an attack on opportunity, hampering our ability to support institutions and students and throw federal education programs into disruptions across the country,” said Weingarten, who heads one of the nation’s largest teachers’ unions.
Department overhaul
Trump has repeatedly pledged to specifically target the education sector in his spending reduction initiative and shut down the 45-year-old institution in his quest to “return to the state.”
The division had already seen dramatic changes in the weeks since Trump took office. Major contract reductions, Staff acquisition.
Other departments and agencies, Includes the Department of Veterans AffairsWe have also seen a widespread decline in personnel under Trump.
Last week, McMahon Emailed to department employees Regarding the agency’s “final mission,” she detailed plans to “overhaul” the federal agency.
The former World Wrestling Entertainment executive told employees the department’s “role in a new era of accountability is to restore the legitimate role of national supervision in education and end the overreach from Washington.”
“This recovery will have a significant impact on staff, budgets and agency operations in this sector,” McMahon said.
Congress will be difficult to act
Even if Trump signs an executive order by dismantling the department, only Congress has the power to close it. The bill to shut down government agencies will face extreme challenges through the narrow Senate controlled by the GOP.
In her statement, Delauro dared to remove Republican lawmakers from the department through legislation.
“For my Republican colleagues: If you want to eliminate the Department of Education, put your name in the bill to do that,” she said. “Let your members see it. Let’s discuss it. Let’s deliberate on us and the people of America.
Trump’s push to “return education back to the state” is because much of the school’s funding and oversight is already occurring at the state and local levels. Legally, the department cannot control the curriculum of schools across the country.
Last updated at 6:52pm, March 11, 2025
