Education department plans to cut half its workforce as Trump vows to wind agency down – US politics live | US news

The US education department said on Tuesday it would lay off nearly half its staff, a possible precursor to closing alltogether, as government agencies scrambled to meet president Donald Trump’s deadline to submit plans for a second round of mass layoffs.

The terminations are part of the department’s “final mission,” it said in a press release, alluding to Trump’s vow to eliminate the department, which oversees $1.6tn in college loans, enforces civil rights laws in schools and provides federal funding for needy districts.

Asked on Fox News whether the firings would lead to the department’s dismantling, secretary of education Linda McMahon said “yes,” adding that doing so “was the president’s mandate.” The layoffs would leave the department with 2,183 workers, down from 4,133 when Trump took office in January, reports Reuters.

Before announcing the layoffs, the agency ordered offices in the Washington area closed to staff from Tuesday evening through Wednesday, according to an internal notice seen by Reuters.

An education department spokesperson did not immediately respond to questions by Reuters about the nature of the security issues prompting the closures.
The layoffs are the latest step in Trump’s sweeping effort to downsize the government, led by Elon Musk and his department of government efficiency (Doge).

All US government agencies have been ordered to come up with large-scale layoff plans by Thursday, setting up the next phase of Trump’s cost-cutting campaign. Several agencies have offered employees payments to retire early to fulfil Trump’s demand, reports Reuters.

Affected education department employees will be placed on administrative leave starting on 21 March, the department said.

More on that in a moment. In other developments:

• The union representing more than 2,800 department workers said it would fight the “draconian cuts” of the education department. “What is clear from the past weeks of mass firings, chaos, and unchecked unprofessionalism is that this regime has no respect for the thousands of workers who have dedicated their careers to serve their fellow Americans,” said Sheria Smith, president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 252.

• Donald Trump’s trade war kicked into a higher gear at midnight, as 25% tariffs on all imported steel and aluminum were scheduled to begin. There was widespread confusion about whether the tariffs would be delayed, or increased, amid conflicting statements from the president and his chief trade adviser, but the White House said that the previously delayed tariffs would begin, even as the stock marker plunges.

• The detained Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, a legal permanent resident, remains in federal custody, despite being charged with no crime. Khalil’s wife said in a statement before a hearing on Wednesday in Manhattan that he was forced into an unmarked car by immigration officers who refused to show a warrant.

• The Republican-controlled US House of Representatives passed a stopgap funding bill, which would avert a government shutdown if it also passed the Senate before midnight on Friday.

• Ukraine agreed to accept a US proposal for an immediate 30-day ceasefire and to take steps toward restoring a durable peace after Russia’s invasion, according to a joint statement by US and Ukrainian delegations meeting in Saudi Arabia. Russia has not commented.

• Canada’s prime minister-designate Mark Carney said he would not lift retaliatory tariffs on American goods until Washington does the same.

• At Tuesday’s promotional event for Elon Musk’s line of Tesla electric vehicles at the White House, Trump refused to drive one of the cars, and scoffed at the idea that his predecessor, Joe Biden, had done so at a similar event. There is video of Biden doing so, in August 2021, at an event to promote electric vehicles that Musk reportedly was angry at being excluded from over anti-union policies.