The Education Department has offered up to $25,000 to those who choose to leave their positions.
In an email obtained by Politico, chief human capital officer Jacqueline Clay told employees, “This is a one time offer in advance of a very significant Reduction in Force for the US Department of Education.”
According to reports, 137 of the more than 4,000 who work for the department have taken up the offer.
The offer’s deadline, March 3 at midnight, comes the same day Linda McMahon is scheduled to be confirmed by the Senate. The move further bolsters President Donald Trump’s efforts to reduce the size of the federal government.
Last month, Trump signed an executive order that allows the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to “commence the deconstruction of the overbearing and burdensome administrative state.”
Under the order, agency heads will coordinate with DOGE and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to “initiate a process to review all regulations subject to their sole or joint jurisdiction for consistency with law and Administration policy.”
Within 60 days of the order, agency heads will identify regulations considered unconstitutional, unlawful delegations of power, implicate social, political, or economic significance, impost significant private costs, harm national interests, and impose significant burdens on small businesses.
An earlier executive order required federal agencies to hire “no more than one employee for every four employees” that are fired, with exceptions for public safety and law enforcement.
“The Plan shall require that each agency hire no more than one employee for every four employees that depart, consistent with the plan and any applicable exemptions and details provided for in the Plan,” the order stated. “This order does not affect the standing freeze on hiring as applied to the Internal Revenue Service. This ratio shall not apply to functions related to public safety, immigration enforcement, or law enforcement.”
