The U.S. Department of Education is offering an incentive of up to $25,000 to the majority of staff who will step down or retire by Monday evening ahead of the rumored workforce cuts.
Acquired department-wide emails First reported by Politico, Educational employees were offered a one-off acquisition and were given a deadline of 11:59pm on Monday, and either accepted or refused the deal.
“You can confirm that the Department of Education has emailed staff today to provide employees with voluntary separation incentive payments (VSIPs) of up to $25,000 starting today,” a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Education, sharing a statement with Fox News Digital.
“This is a one-off offer for the U.S. Department of Education ahead of a very significant power cut,” said Jacqueline Clay, the top human capital officer, in an email.
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The U.S. Department of Education will be seen in Washington on November 18, 2024. (Jose Luis Magana/AP)
Clay explained that the payment would be “whether it's equivalent to retirement benefits or $25,000, whichever is less.”
The outlet reports that employees in most departments are eligible for the acquisition, with a few exceptions. Those excluded from the offer include those who are using disability retirement, those who have received student loan repayment benefits in the past 36 months, or those who have been awarded a retention bonus in the past 12 months.
The offer will take effect on March 31st, according to the email.
The department's offer will be confirmed by the Senate by President Trump's Secretary of Education's choice, Linda McMahon.
Trump education candidate Linda McMahon says that when he closes the doe, “Congress needs action.”
Trump hopes that Linda McMahon will “get her out of work” if she confirms that Linda McMahon will lead the Department of Education. (Getty Images)
Dozens of employees are already on administrative leave as the Trump administration moves to shut down the department completely, The hill reported.
President Donald Trump He says he wants to abolish the Department of Education, calling it a “fraud” that failed to properly educate American students.
“It's a big fraudulent job,” Trump previously said. “They are ranked among the top countries in the world. We are ranked 40th, but we are ranked 1st in one category. Cost per student. So they cost more per student than any other country in the world, but they are ranked 40th.”
Trump recently showed that if McMahon was confirmed, she hopes to “get out of work.”
A complete exclusion of the education sector will take away Congressional Act, but the agency has already been cut down in other ways, as contracts have been cancelled by nearly $1 billion.
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President Trump has pledged his campaign path to remove the Department of Education and bring power back to the state. (Getty Images)
In February, the department confirmed it had cancelled nearly $350 million in “awakening” spending, which is said to address the most pressing issues of education policy and practice.
The agency has cancelled 10 contracts with the Regional Education Institute (REL) totaling $336 million after the contract reviews revealed “vain, ideologically driven spending not in the interests of students and taxpayers.”
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It is not clear whether the cut is related to Government Efficiency Bureau Reduce educational sector activities related to DEI.
Louis Casiano of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.
Stepheny Price is a writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business. She covers topics including missing persons, murder, national crime cases, illegal immigration and more. Story tips and ideas can be sent to stepheny.price@fox.com
