Nearly half of Department of Education staff will be eliminated imminently

Department of Education staff will receive “reduction in force” notices Tuesday before nearly half of the department’s workforce is terminated, Fox News Digital has learned. 

Earlier Tuesday, a memo was sent to all Education Department employees informing them that Department of Education offices will be closed Tuesday evening through Wednesday due to “security reasons.” Employees were instructed to leave the offices by 6 p.m. ET Tuesday. 

“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,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a statement.

McMahon called the move a “significant step toward restoring the greatness” of the American education system. 

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All divisions within the Department of Education will be impacted by the staffing cuts. Some will require “significant reorganization.”

President Donald Trump has repeatedly said he would like states to control education. He campaigned on the issue ahead of the 2024 election. 

“I want to close up Department of Education, move education back to the states,” Trump said in August 2024, while noting left-wing states such as California could struggle if he does eliminate the Department of Education. “Of the 50 (states), I would bet that 35 would do great. And 15 of them, or, you know, 20 of them, will be as good as Norway. You know, Norway is considered great.” 

When Trump took office, the agency’s workforce numbered 4,133 employees. That will shrink to around 2,183 workers, the department said in a news release. 

About 259 employees were accepted into the deferred resignation program and another 313 accepted buyouts. Remaining workers impacted by the reductions will be placed on administrative leave beginning March 21. 

The workers being let go will receive their full pay and benefits through June 9, as well as “substantial severance pay or retirement benefits” based on the length of their employment, the agency said. 

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The expected “reduction in force” notices come after reports spread in recent days that Trump was readying to sign an executive order to abolish the federal agency.

The Wall Street Journal recently reported it had reviewed a copy of a draft executive order that would order McMahon to “take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Education Department” based on “the maximum extent appropriate and permitted by law.” 

“The experiment of controlling American education through Federal programs and dollars — and the unaccountable bureaucrats those programs and dollars support — has failed our children, our teachers, and our families,” the draft order said, according to the Journal. 

McMahon additionally sent a letter to all staff on her first day on the job in March saying she will lead a “momentous final mission” to send education back to the states. 

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“Our job is to respect the will of the American people and the President they elected, who has tasked us with accomplishing the elimination of bureaucratic bloat here at the Department of Education — a momentous final mission — quickly and responsibly,” McMahon wrote to employees in a letter shared first with Fox News Digital.

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The secretary said that the reconstruction of the department will “profoundly” alter staff, budgets and agency operations. 

Fox News Digital’s Aubrie Spady contributed to this report.