Department of Education lays off nearly half of workforce

The Department of Education announced Tuesday it was firing nearly half of its workforce, the latest Trump administration move to shrink the federal government that could face swift legal challenge.

A senior department official said 1,315 staffers will be let go and received the notification Tuesday.  

The Education Department started President Trump's second term with more than 4,000 employees, but even before Tuesday, hundreds had already been put on leave or had taken a buyout offer.  

After this reduction, there will be 2,183 employees left with the department, which Trump has repeatedly called to shutter completely.

The senior official said the reduction in employees will not impact student aid, Free Application for Federal Student Aid forms, formula funding to states, operations for students with disabilities, civil rights investigations or any statute-mandated obligations from Congress.  

The department focused this layoff on teams that were reductive or unnecessary, they said.

"Every part of the department will be impacted in some way but this is primarily a streamlining effort for internal facing rules, not external facing roles," the official said, giving examples such as finding six separate strategic communication functions for different offices that will be consolidated.  

The announcement comes after the federal agency told staffers to leave the offices by 6 p.m. EDT Tuesday and that offices would be closed Wednesday due to “security reasons.” 

The official said the decision was made to keep the remaining employees safe and that those laid off will be scheduled to come in before March 21 to collect their things. 

While the complete abolishment of the department can’t happen without an act of Congress, which is unlikely due to the 60-vote threshold needed in the Senate to overcome a filibuster, the administration and Education Secretary Linda McMahon can make changes to significantly weaken it.  

The day she was confirmed, McMahon sent a "final mission" memo to staffers warning of significant layoffs and changes in the department, saying "removing red tape and bureaucratic barriers will empower parents to make the best educational choices for their children."

The battle now could now shift to how small the department can become before a court says it is interfering with mandated requirements from Congress.  

“I think that the president also has the authority to hire and fire people within the confines of the budget. So, he can’t hire a whole bunch of people he doesn’t have money for, but I think he can fire people even if he has money to pay them. I think, conceptually, the limit is, if he fires so many people that he can’t do the jobs that Congress has given him, then he will have violated the Constitution,” Neal McCluskey, director of the Center for Educational Freedom at the Cato Institute, previously told The Hill.  

Advocates were already gearing up to fight to preserve the department through lawsuits and civic action when reports came in that Trump was going to sign an executive order directing the dismantling of the federal agency but then canceled the plans.  

“I expect that any actions to shutter the agency or to dismantle it will be challenged in the courts, and those challenges will prevail,” said Julie Margetta Morgan, a former deputy under secretary of Education during the Biden administration. “I think the other thing to think about here is that the decision to dismantle the Department of Education is incredibly unpopular, and people need to continue to voice their concerns about that and their displeasure with the Trump administration’s efforts and to hold policymakers accountable.”

Updated at 6:16 p.m. EDT