WASHINGTON – A day before the Trump administration’s deadline for federal workers to resign, staffers at the U.S. Department of Education were told that taking a buyout would prevent them from seeking recourse if they don’t get the severance pay they’ve been promised.
At an agency-wide town hall Wednesday, employees were confused by answers to their questions about the so-called “deferred resignation program.” A copy of the agreement shows the offer promises full pay and benefits through Sept. 30 to those who quit by Thursday.
But top Education Department officials at the meeting suggested that employees who took the buyout and did not get severance wouldn’t be able to fight back, according to a summary of the meeting shared by people in attendance.
“Let’s say I accept tomorrow, and you rescind the agreement, fire me, and stop paying me on Friday,” one employee asked. “I, or anyone who accepts this program, would have no recourse available.”
“Yes, that’s correct,” replied Jacqueline Clay, the department’s chief human resources officer.
The department did not immediately respond on Thursday to a request for comment about the remarks made at the town hall meeting. A federal judge temporarily paused the buyout deadline Thursday to allow for legal challenges and set a court hearing on the matter for Monday.
The lack of clarity about the terms of the offer only adds to a broader sense of uncertainty looming over the agency’s approximately 4,400 employees, who collectively manage billions of dollars for American schools and roughly $1.6 trillion in federal student loans.
On top of the buyout confusion, the Education Department is the latest corner of the federal government to be targeted by the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. Members of the quasi-government agency helmed by tech billionaire Elon Musk have begun reviewing the department’s operations, a top official confirmed at a separate meeting this week, according to two people in attendance.
The White House confirmed Monday that President Donald Trump is also considering an executive action to dismantle the Education Department. The president, who does not have the power to unilaterally abolish a federal agency, told reporters in the Oval Office Tuesday that he wants Linda McMahon, his education secretary nominee, to “put herself out of a job.”
Read more:Where does Linda McMahon, Trump’s education secretary nominee, stand on key issues?
Closing or significantly reorganizing the department would require new legislation. It’s not clear whether the idea, a longtime GOP priority, has enough support to pass among congressional Republicans, whose districts include schools reliant on funding administered by the Education Department.
Droves of workers at the agency have already been placed on paid administrative leave. Copies of the notices they received Friday said their suspensions were related to the president’s executive order banning diversity, equity and inclusion programs across the federal workforce.
The American Federation of Government Employees, the union representing Education Department staff, said many of the affected employees didn’t work in DEI programming but had attended a diversity training that agency bosses encouraged them for years to join, including during Trump’s first term.
Subodh Chandra, a lawyer representing multiple people who have been suspended, sent a letter to their bosses Thursday saying the department had violated the law.
“The path the Department is on is a cruel and precarious one,” Chandra wrote. He said the government was illegally retaliating against employees who advocate to stop workplace discrimination.
A 42-year-old Florida-based analyst at the department told USA TODAY he was among the people put on leave. There will be far-reaching consequences, he said, to the limbo he and his colleagues are facing.
“This will have a huge effect on the schools and the students they serve,” he said.
The precarious situation at the department will come under further scrutiny next week when Linda McMahon is set to testify before a U.S. Senate committee and respond to lawmakers’ questions about her appointment to be the next education secretary. Her confirmation hearing is slated for Thursday morning.
Contributing: Terry Collins, USA TODAY
Zachary Schermele is an education reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach him by email at zschermele@usatoday.com. Follow him on X at @ZachSchermele and Bluesky at @zachschermele.bsky.social.
