The Department of Education, led by Secretary Linda McMahon, will lay off half its staff as President Donald Trump looks to ultimately shutter the agency.
About 1,315 people will be laid off, a senior Trump administration official told The Washington Post Tuesday, while another 600 accepted offers to leave voluntarily. This comes on top of 63 probationary employees who were already let go.
This means about half of the agency’s 4,000-person staff will be leaving.
“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,” McMahon said in a statement.
Trump has said he plans to shut down the agency, with reports last week he could be poised to sign an executive order telling McMahon to begin the process. It would take an act of Congress, however, to dismantle the agency completely.
Experts are warning the move could prove disastrous.
“Make no mistake: Today’s action is a far cry from any thoughtful, comprehensive policy proposal to improve our education system,” Sameer Gadkaree, president of the Institute for College Access & Success, said in a statement Tuesday night.
“We’re particularly concerned with how this move could threaten college students and student loan borrowers,” Gadkaree added.
“Core functions of the department could experience outages or breakages, leaving students struggling to get or renew financial aid or campus-based aid. Student loan borrowers, meanwhile, will struggle to access the benefits current law provides. And they can’t be sure they will get reliable, accurate advice on student loan repayment,” he added.
Even if the Education Department shuts its doors, there is no indication federal student loan programs will disappear. Another agency — such as the Treasury Department — would likely absorb the department’s $1.7 trillion loan portfolio if it shuts down. But such a massive transition could prove disruptive to borrowers, McCarthy told The Independent last week.
“It would be an entirely new undertaking for Treasury, and so if that were to happen, it seems really unlikely that untangling all of that and redistributing the work of federal student aid in the student loan servicing space would proceed either quickly or without any disruptions,” she said.
Senator Patty Murray, a Democrat who previously chaired the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, similarly slammed the decision in a statement to CBS News.
“Families want help to get students’ math and reading scores up and ensure their kids can thrive — instead, Donald Trump is taking a wrecking ball to the Department of Education and robbing our students and teachers of the resources and support they need, so that Republicans can pay for more massive tax cuts for billionaires,” she said.
But Republican Senator Bill Cassidy, who currently chairs the committee, insisted the move won’t be as impactful as other experts claim.
