MARCH 11, 2025
A view of the U.S. Department of Education building in Washington, D.C., on February 1, 2025. – Annabelle Gordon, REUTERS
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Roughly half of the employees at the U.S. Department of Education will be terminated as the agency moves forward with mass layoffs, an administration official said Tuesday.
About 2,100 workers will start receiving termination notices Tuesday, the official said. The layoffs come as President Donald Trump is considering an executive order attempting to dismantle the agency.
An email sent to employees at 1 p.m. on Tuesday instructed workers at offices in Washington, D.C., to vacate by 6 p.m. “for security reasons.” The email, obtained by USA TODAY, said all Education Department buildings in the nation’s capital and across the country would be closed on Wednesday and would reopen Thursday.
The message did not provide any other details on the reasons for the one-day closures, and spokespeople for the Education Department did not immediately respond to questions on Tuesday.
A spokesperson for the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department said Tuesday that law enforcement was unaware of security issues at the Education Department’s main headquarters, or the Federal Student Aid office. A spokesperson for the city’s Fire and Emergency Medical Service Department also said no concerns had been reported at the locations.
Some staffers worried the closure could be related to an impending workforce reduction, according to four employees who declined to be identified for fear of retribution. An agency-wide email offering $25,000 buyouts on Feb. 28 warned of “very significant” cuts coming to the agency’s workforce.
Sheria Smith, the president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 252, a union representing more than 2,800 workers at the Education Department, denounced the cuts as “draconian” in a statement on Tuesday.
“Do you need financial aid for college? Are you a fellow civil servant that relies on student loan forgiveness? Does your school district offset property taxes with federal funding? If yes, then you rely on the Department of Education, and the services you rely on and the employees who support them are under attack,” she said.
President Donald Trump does not have the unilateral authority to dismantle federal agencies. Congressional approval would be needed to shutter the Education Department, whose functions are protected by statutes.
USA TODAY reported in early February that the White House was mulling an executive action related to the future of the Education Department. A preliminary draft of the executive order obtained by USA TODAY directed Linda McMahon, the newly installed education secretary, to dismantle her agency to “the maximum extent appropriate and permitted by law.”
The agency, which has long been the target of conservative ire, is already reeling from waves of employee suspensions, resignations and broader policy shifts affecting students and schools.
Courtesy/Source: This article originally appeared on USA TODAY
