Posted on Wednesday, March 12, 2025
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by Alan Jamison
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0 Comments
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The Trump administration announced late Tuesday that nearly half of the Department of Education’s staff would be placed on administrative leave. The move fulfills one of President Trump’s 2024 campaign promises to phase out the agency and further empower states and local school districts to set education policy.
In an official statement, the Department of Education (DOE) stated that affected staff would be placed on administrative leave on March 21. At the time of President Donald Trump’s inauguration, the department had 4,133 staff members. DOE explained that this move will reduce staff to 2,183.
Approximately 600 employees had already accepted voluntary resignation either through the administration’s deferred resignation program or through voluntary payouts of up to $25,000.
“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,” Secretary of Education Linda McMahon stated in response to the workforce reduction.
The department explained in the statement that statutory programs such as “formula funding, student loans, Pell Grants, funding for special needs students, and competitive grantmaking” would continue despite the downsizing of staff.
DOE employees were previously told on Tuesday to leave their offices by 6 p.m. before the official announcement was made. Offices were to remain closed through Wednesday for “security reasons.”
President Donald Trump campaigned on dismantling DOE and reiterated that he wanted it to be “closed immediately” soon after taking office again. He has said that he wants McMahon to perform so well that she will “put herself out of a job.”
McMahon joined Laura Ingraham on Fox News on Tuesday night to discuss the move to downsize DOE. She confirmed to Ingraham that this was the first step in shutting down the department.
“That was the president’s mandate,” McMahon said during the show. “This directive to me clearly is to shut down the Department of Education, which we know we’ll have to work with Congress, you know, to get that accomplished.”
The Trump administration had already worked with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to reduce spending at DOE. DOGE announced several cuts in spending from the department in recent months.
On February 10, for instance, DOGE announced that DOE had terminated 29 grants promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives worth $101 million and terminated 89 contracts overall, totaling $881 million.
Later cuts included $600 million in grants for DEI training that instructed teachers on “anti-racism” and white privilege, as well as 18 additional grants worth $226 million that taught teachers to “flick that white man off your shoulder” to resist “settler patriarchy.”
More updates are expected in the coming days and weeks.
Alan Jamison is the pen name of a political writer with extensive experience writing for several notable politicians and news outlets.
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