The U.S. Education Department is set to lay off over 1,300 employees as part of an initiative to reduce its workforce by half, a move that aligns with President Donald Trump’s broader strategy to dismantle the agency.
Officials announced the layoffs on Tuesday, sparking concerns about the department’s ability to maintain normal operations.
Prior to these cuts, the Trump administration had already been shrinking the department’s staff through buyout offers and the termination of probationary employees. With Tuesday’s layoffs, the agency’s workforce will be reduced to roughly 2,050 from its previous 4,100, according to department figures.
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The layoffs are part of a sweeping effort by Trump to significantly reduce the size of the federal government. Similar job cuts are expected across the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Social Security Administration, and other agencies.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon stated that her goal upon joining the department was to trim unnecessary positions to redirect funding toward local education authorities.
“We need to ensure that valuable programs receive proper funding at the state level,” McMahon said Tuesday in a Fox News interview.
McMahon had previously warned employees about impending cuts in a March 3 memo—the same day she was confirmed by the Senate—describing the department’s “final mission” as eliminating bureaucratic inefficiencies and shifting authority to states.
On Tuesday, the department notified employees via email that both its Washington headquarters and regional offices would be closed on Wednesday, citing unspecified “security reasons.” Normal operations were expected to resume on Thursday.
Trump had campaigned on the promise of shutting down the department, calling it a hub for “radicals, zealots, and Marxists.” While McMahon acknowledged during her confirmation hearing that only Congress has the power to dissolve the agency, she suggested that downsizing and restructuring were necessary.
It remains uncertain how these cuts will affect students, as many Democrats and advocates have feared. Some worry that core responsibilities—such as enforcing civil rights protections for students with disabilities and managing the federal student loan portfolio, valued at $1.6 trillion—could be compromised.
McMahon reassured lawmakers that her intention was not to defund critical programs but to improve their efficiency.
Even before the layoffs, the Education Department was one of the smallest Cabinet-level agencies, with approximately 3,100 employees in Washington and another 1,100 stationed at regional offices nationwide.
Employees have been under increasing pressure to resign since Trump took office, with initiatives like a deferred resignation program and a $25,000 buyout offer, which expired on March 3.
Jeanne Allen, president of the Center for Education Reform, a pro-charter school organization, argued that the cuts were both necessary and beneficial.
“Reducing federal overreach will empower state and local leaders to create flexible, innovative solutions tailored to students’ needs,” Allen said.
However, some education advocates remain skeptical of the department’s claims that its essential functions will remain unaffected.
“I don’t see how that’s possible,” said Roxanne Garza, former chief of staff in the Office of Postsecondary Education under President Joe Biden. Now a higher education policy director at Education Trust, Garza emphasized that many of the department’s responsibilities, such as investigating civil rights violations and assisting families with financial aid applications, require significant manpower.
“How these services will continue effectively with a drastically reduced staff is unclear,” she added.
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