2025 workforce reduction and reorganization
On March 11, 2025, the Department of Education announced a major workforce reduction, eliminating nearly half of its employees—reducing staff from approximately 4,100 to about 2,100. The move, described by Secretary of Education Linda McMahon as part of a broad modernization effort, included a reorganization of Federal Student Aid (FSA) and the Office for Civil Rights (OCR). Remaining staff were placed on paid administrative leave beginning March 21, with separation or retirement packages scheduled by June 9. The Department stated the restructuring was necessary to streamline operations, reduce federal oversight in education, and shift key responsibilities to other federal agencies.
On March 20, 2025, Trump signed an executive order directing the secretary of education to "facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return authority over education to the States and local communities". However, the department cannot be closed without the approval of Congress, which created it. NBC News said, "Given their narrow majority, Republicans would need Democratic support to do that, which would make it unlikely for such a bill to pass."
In November 2025, McMahon argued on social media that other federal agencies or state governments could take on the grantmaking and informational work that was currently performed by the Education Department.
In February 2025, US Department of Education offered its staff incentives to resign or retire early. In March 2025, the department announced a plan to reduce its workforce by half.
Based on a preliminary review of the layoffs that were ordered, the majority of cuts were seen in the Federal Student Aid office which oversees financial aid disbursement and student loans, and the Office for Civil Rights, which protects students and teachers from discrimination. While current Education Secretary McMahon has claimed that congressionally appropriated monies such as financial aid will not be affected by the plan to downsize or close the department, staff turnover could create multiple problems for those receiving aid.
The Trump administration has promised that formula funding for schools, funding such as Title 1 for high poverty schools and the Rural Education Achievement Program (REAP), which are protected by law, would be preserved. However, nearly all statisticians and data experts who work with the program would be affected by the layoffs and downsizing of the department, as the department was downsized from over 100 people to just three workers.
The department oversees the lending of tens of billions of dollars in loans to students and parents and oversees the collections process of the roughly $1.6 trillion in outstanding loans for over 40 million borrowers as of March 2025. If the department were to be closed, it has been theorized by experts that other federal entities such as the Treasury Department would be left taking over the responsibilities of managing the loans. On March 21, 2025 it was announced by Trump that the management of the entire federal student loan portfolio and the other "special needs" programs overseen by the department would be moved to other departments. Trump specified that the Small Business Administration would take over responsibility for student loans and the Department of Health and Human Services would take on the special needs and nutrition programs.
In a joint letter, senators Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, and a group of Democratic senators spoke out against the mass layoffs that were seen in March 2025 and urged Education Secretary McMahon to reinstate employees that were laid off. Representative Bobby Scott, the ranking member on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, raised claims that the dismantling of the department would "exacerbate existing disparities, reduce accountability, and put low-income students, students of color, students with disabilities, rural students, and English as a Second Language students at risk".
Derrick Johnson, the president and CEO of the NAACP, criticized Trump's attempt to close the department while raising allegations that Trump was dismantling the basic functions of democracy.
