Education Department to cut about 50% of workforce

By: CNN

Posted: Mar 11, 2025 4:30 PM CDT

NOW: Education Department to cut about 50% of workforce

By Sunlen Serfaty, Rene Marsh, Kaanita Iyer, Alayna Treene and Kevin Liptak

(CNN) — The US Education Department will start sweeping layoffs beginning Tuesday evening, three sources familiar with the plan told CNN, as President Donald Trump has proposed eliminating the agency altogether.

The department is expected cut about 50% of its workforce with notices starting to go out Tuesday evening, the sources said. The department employs around 4,400 workers.

Tuesday’s expected cuts follow similar layoffs at other federal agencies as part of Trump and the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency’s continued efforts to shrink the size of the federal government.

CNN reported last week that White House officials have prepared an executive order directing Education Secretary Linda McMahon to begin the process of dismantling the department.

Earlier Tuesday, the department told employees that its offices will be closed Tuesday evening and Wednesday for unspecified “security reasons,” according to a memo sent to all employees and obtained by CNN.

Employees are instructed to take their laptops with them and vacate the building starting at 6 p.m. ET. The offices are set to reopen on Thursday, according to the memo sent by James Hairfield from the department’s office of security, facilities and logistics.

Hairfield did not specify the security reasons in the memo, and the Department of Education did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment. .

Several Department of Education employees earlier told CNN they are nervous about impending mass layoffs and the looming executive order from Trump.

In the memo, Hairfield said the shutdown of offices applied to the Department of Education’s headquarters in Washington, DC and regional offices. The directive allows employees to work from home on Wednesday and instructs them to take their laptops when they leave work Tuesday.

Longtime department staffers told CNN they can’t remember a time that all offices were closed, even when significant VIPs have been on site.

This story and headline have been updated with additional reporting.