Education Department Offers $25K Buyout to Staff Facing Midnight Deadline
March 4, 2025
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In an email response to Newsweek, the U.S. Department of Education confirmed it is offering employees a Voluntary Separation Incentive Payment (VSIP) of up to $25,000, with the deadline to accept expiring tonight, Monday, March 3, at 11:59 p.m. ET.
Why It Matters
Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) announced earlier this month that it was terminating $881 million worth of Education Department contracts. DOGE announced, in a post on X, that it had cut 29 training grants for diversity, equity and inclusion, worth $101 million.
The department slashed another 89 Education Department contracts including a contractor hired to manage mail and clerical operations.
What To Know
According to a department-wide email obtained by Politico, most employees with at least three years of service are eligible for the buyout, with some exceptions including those using disability retirement, recipients of student loan repayment benefits in the past 36 months, or staff awarded retention bonuses in the last year. Those who accept would leave their positions effective March 31.
The offer appears to be part of a broader federal reorganization effort, as Politico reports that all federal agencies received a directive from the Office of Management and Budget requiring “RIF and reorganization plans” by March 13.
NBC News reported that the buyout email was initially sent Friday morning before briefly disappearing and then reissued the same afternoon without explanation. The offer includes a stipulation that participants cannot work for the federal government for the next five years unless they repay the $25,000.
What People Are Saying
Education Department Spokesperson said in statement to Newsweek: “We can confirm that the Education Department emailed its staff on Friday, offering employees up to a $25,000 Voluntary Separation Incentive Payment (VSIP) starting today. The offer expires at 11:59 p.m. ET Monday (March 3).”
Jacqueline Clay, Department Education Chief Human Capital Officer, in the email obtained by Politico: “This is a one time offer in advance of a very significant Reduction in Force for the US Department of Education.”
Office of Personnel Management: The VSIP authority “allows agencies that are downsizing or restructuring to offer employees lump-sum payments up to $25,000 as an incentive to voluntarily separate,” enabling agencies to “minimize or avoid involuntary separations.”
Signage outside the Lyndon Baines Johnson Department of Education Building, Saturday, Jan. 11, 2025, in Washington. Signage outside the Lyndon Baines Johnson Department of Education Building, Saturday, Jan. 11, 2025, in Washington. Aaron M. Sprecher via AP)
What Happens Next
Employees face the immediate pressure of tonight’s midnight deadline to decide whether to accept the buyout offer. Those who take it can combine it with retirement benefits, receiving either severance pay or $25,000, whichever is less.
Billionaire Linda McMahon, newly confirmed as the nation’s education chief, will now lead a department that President Donald Trump has criticized and pledged to dismantle.
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