Mass layoffs are hitting the Department of Education on Wednesday as the Trump administration continues its deep cuts to the federal workforce.
The department will be closed for the day, and “reduction in force” notices are expected to go out and affect nearly half the agency’s employees, the agency wrote in a press release.
Employees were told to leave the department’s Washington, D.C., headquarters by 6 p.m. on Tuesday ahead of the layoffs and one-day building closure. There are roughly 4,200 Education Department employees nationwide.
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“Today, we are beginning the process to cut the total number of staff at the Department of Education roughly in half via a reduction in force,” an Education Department official said on a call with reporters.
Of 4,133 total staff the Trump administration inherited, 259 accepted the deferred “fork in the road” resignations, 313 accepted separation payment of $25,000, 63 probationary employees were let go last month, and another 1,315 will now be laid off.
Anyone let go will get 90 days of full pay and benefits, plus one week of pay for every year of service up to 10 years and two weeks of pay for every year of service beyond 10 years. Department officials described the severance package as “extremely generous” and said the agency will reopen on Thursday.
“We are focused on eliminating full teams whose operations are either redundant or not necessary to the functioning of the department,” the department official told reporters on Tuesday while declining questions.
The announcement comes as President Donald Trump and the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency aim to cut government spending by reducing the workforce in Washington, D.C.
While multiple agencies have been affected, the Department of Education has faced particular scrutiny from Republicans since the agency was founded in 1980. Republicans see the entire department as a vehicle to advance teachers unions, though Trump has found ways to use the department to advance his agenda.
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Trump and Education Secretary Linda McMahon have used the Department of Education in recent days to warn colleges about “consequences” for failing to address antisemitism on campus and have threatened federal grant funding over what Trump has described as illegal protests.
Republicans such as Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) cheered the efforts. She described the department as a slush fund for teachers unions, and Trump is reportedly preparing an executive order to dismantle the department.
