Department of Education employees offered up to $25K buyout for resignations
Resignation deadline looms for Department of Education employees
Thousands of people have been laid off as DOGE continues to make cuts to the federal workforce. Now, another deadline is looming for employees at the Department of Education.
WASHINGTON - Thousands of people have been laid off as DOGE continues to make cuts to the federal workforce. Now, another deadline is looming for employees at the Department of Education.
Similar to the email that was sent out at the end of January to all federal employees offering a deferred retirement option, this offers employees of the Department of Education up to a $25,000 buyout to anyone that accepts by 11:59 p.m. It takes effect on March 31.
Cuts Continue
The Latest:
The DoE is the smallest of the 18 cabinet-level departments in the executive branch but every agency is being hit. Just last Thursday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) began making cuts to what could be up to 10% of its workforce.The IRS has fired roughly 7,000 employees.
The Department of Defense is expected to layoff approximately 5,400 probationary workers with uniformed military personnel exempted, and the Department of Veterans Affairs has cut more than 2,400 of their staff.
While approximately 75,000 government workers across all departments accepted the deferred resignation.
Federal Workers Fight Back
What they're saying:
The mass layoffs have spurred multiple rallies. Outside NOAA's headquarters in Silver Spring on Monday, Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen addressed dozens of protestors.
"When federal employees are doing their jobs that they do every day, people don’t know it because things are going ok, but I will tell you, if you get rid of your eyes and ears, get rid of get rid of other services that federal employees provide every day to the American people, bad things will happen to the American people," Van Hollen said.
The U.S. government is the largest employer in the country with 2.4 million federal workers, 20 percent of whom live in the DMV.
President Donald Trump has given Elon Musk and DOGE until July 2026 to complete its task of cutting up to $2 trillion from the federal budget, saying the goal is to save taxpayer money and cut wasteful spending.