Department of Education eliminates almost 50% of workforce

(NewsNation) — The Department of Education announced Tuesday almost half of its staff will be laid off starting March 21.

“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,” Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said in a statement.

The statement added that the department will continue to deliver on programs, including formula funding, student loans, Pell Grants, funding for students who are disabled and competitive grantmaking. 

This makes it so the department’s workforce will total 2,183 workers, down from 4,133 when President Donald Trump first took office.

Included in this number are almost 600 employees who took buyouts.

According to a note obtained by NewsNation, all Washington, D.C., offices in the National Capital Region will be closed for “security reasons” starting 6 p.m. ET Tuesday and also Wednesday.

“Employees will not be permitted in any ED facility on Wednesday, March 12 for any reason,” the note said. “All offices will reopen on Thursday, March 13, at which time in-person presence will resume.”

Several federal agencies have seen layoffs and firings through Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, which Trump created at the beginning of the year. This includes the Social Security AdministrationInternal Revenue Service and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, among other agencies.

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Ted Cruz snaps as Dem invokes  famous 2013 clash: ‘You’re not Dianne Feinstein’



Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) interrupted Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) at a Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing Tuesday to tell the Texas Republican she felt "personally aggrieved" by his lecturing — only to have Cruz fire back by invoking the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein, snapping, "You're not Dianne Feinstein."

The blowup came after Cruz delivered a lengthy monologue at a hearing on the Supreme Court's Louisiana v. Callais ruling — a 6-3 decision gutting Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act — accusing Democrats of believing Black candidates can only win in gerrymandered districts.

"The Democrats are fond of telling this story that is, and I wish I could find a kinder way to say it, a flat-out lie," Cruz said, rattling off Black Republican lawmakers elected in majority-white districts: Sen. Tim Scott, Reps. Burgess Owens, Byron Donalds, John James, and Wesley Hunt.

"In the Democrats' world, you're not Black if you're not a liberal Democrat," Cruz declared. "There is an arrogance to African American voters."

The Texas Republican then accused Democrats of being the real gerrymandering offenders, demanding to know how many Republicans represent New England in the U.S. House.

"Zero. Zero," Cruz said. "They've drawn every district in a naked gerrymander, and yet they're very upset that their illegal pursuit of power has now been stopped by the Supreme Court."

That's when Hirono cut in.

"Point of personal privilege," she said. "I feel personally aggrieved to sit here and to be lectured by my colleague from Texas."

Hirono then reached back more than a decade to invoke a now-famous clash between Cruz and Feinstein, who memorably told a freshman Cruz during a 2013 hearing on gun safety that she was "not a sixth grader."

"This reminds me of the time when he was first elected to the Senate, and the Judiciary Committee had a hearing on gun safety, and he felt a need to lecture Dianne Feinstein," Hirono said. "And she said to him, something along the lines of, 'I did not sit here on this committee for however many years she did, only to be lectured by you.'"

"And that is how I feel," Hirono continued. "So why don't you just stop lecturing the rest of us? Just because you think you are the smartest person in the world doesn't mean the rest of us agree with that."

Cruz didn't let it go.

"I knew Dianne Feinstein. I served with Dianne Feinstein," he shot back. "And you're not Dianne Feinstein."

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