Department Of Education Layoffs: Nearly 50% Of Workforce Cut At DOE, Trump Administration Wants Complete Shutdown

“Today’s reduction in force reflects the Department of Education’s commitment to efficiency, accountability, and ensuring that resources are directed where they matter most: to students, parents, and teachers,” Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said in a press release. “I appreciate the work of the dedicated public servants and their contributions to the Department. This is a significant step toward restoring the greatness of the United States education system.”

All divisions of the Department are impacted, with several “requiring significant reorganization to better serve students, parents, educators, and taxpayers.”

Staff impacted by the decision will be placed on administrative leave starting March 21. Employees will receive full pay and benefits until June 9, as well as severance pay or retirement benefits based on how long they served, per the release.

The news comes as the Department of Education also terminated leases on some of its buildings in New York, Boston, Chicago and Cleveland, The Guardian reported. It also comes as nearly 600 employees accepted to resign voluntarily and retire since Trump was sworn in as president.

McMahon said these steps precede the administration’s efforts to ultimately shut down the Department of Education. She was asked on Fox News if the layoffs were “the first step to a total shutdown,” according to CNN.

“Yes, actually it is, because that was the president’s mandate as directed to me clearly is to shut down the Department of Education,” she replied, before adding that the layoffs are “eliminating what I think is bureaucratic bloat.”

Congress would have the final say on whether or not the agency can be eliminated.

Some Democrats have been criticizing the administration’s efforts to dismantle various aspects of public education.

“Presidents Trump and Musk and their billionaire buddies are so detached from how Americans live that they cannot see how ending public education and canceling these contracts kills the American Dream,” Rosa DeLauro, the U.S. Representative for Connecticut, said in a February 11 press release. “This is not about Democrats versus Republicans. This is about billionaires versus the middle class. If kids from working class families do not have access to schools, how can they build a future?”

DeLauro highlighted the importance of the Department of Education in providing learning for school children and federal grants for college education.

“This critical agency supports all stages of student learning, from the 25 million elementary and secondary students who have teachers in their classrooms thanks to Title I funding to the 7 million students that rely on Pell Grants to pay for college,” she said. “While President Trump and Republicans want nothing more than to abandon our obligations to America’s children and families through his Project 2025 schemes to eliminate the Department of Education one program at a time, they must confront reality — no President or member of the executive branch has the authority to end public education, violate the law, and unilaterally steal dollars promised to students.”