Education Department staff in disarray amid ‘buyout’ offer

Politico

Juan Perez Jr., Amanda Friedman and Bianca Quilantan

February 5, 2025

Education Department staffers expressed confusion and shock as agency leaders held a staff meeting Wednesday that reiterated the terms of President Donald Trump’s sweeping plan to nudge federal workers into resigning.

The meeting, occurring just a day before a Feb. 6 deadline for civil servants to accept the administration’s offer to leave their posts early, also comes amid a pending executive order meant to dismantle the Education Department. Further reductions to the department’s workforce should be expected, top officials suggested to employees during the internal meeting led by some of the agency’s political staffers and human resources leadership.

“Where is this stuff in writing?” one employee asked during Wednesday’s meeting.

Employees considering the offer who live outside the Washington, D.C., area were told the agency was still working to inventory property owned or leased by the government that workers could use amid the Trump administration’s return-to-office demands. POLITICO discussed the meeting with two people granted anonymity to provide details about the session without fear of retribution.

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