Education Department offers $25K for staffers to quit

(The Hill) -- The Education Department sent out an email to staffers on Friday saying if they quit by Monday at midnight, they will receive a $25,000 cash payout.  

A department official confirmed the email, which warned of significant layoffs in the near future, to The Hill.

The email, first reported by Politico, was sent by Jacqueline Clay, a chief human capital officer, giving employees until 11:59 p.m. on Monday to make a decision.  

“This is a one time offer in advance of a very significant Reduction in Force for the US Department of Education,” Clay said. 

The department did not answer when asked how many staffers have accepted the offer so far.  

Some employees are ineligible for the payout such as those who have not yet been employed at the department for three years, those who have recently received a bonus or other award or those who got a student loan repayment benefit in the last three years.  

Clay said the payout would be "the equivalent of severance pay or $25,000, whichever is less."   

The offer comes after the department has already put dozens of employees on administrative leave as the Trump administration eyes moves to shut it down completely. 

While complete elimination of the Education Department would take an act of Congress, it seems the agency will be slashed in other ways, as almost one billion dollars in contracts have been canceled.  

The email also comes the same day Linda McMahon, President Donald Trump’s pick for Education secretary, is set to be confirmed by the Senate.  

The former World Wrestling Entertainment head laid out in her confirmation hearing that she would like to see certain programs from the Department of Education move to other federal agencies.  

“President Trump believes that the bureaucracy in Washington should be abolished so that we can return education to the states, where it belongs,” McMahon wrote to Democratic senators. “I wholeheartedly support and agree with this mission.”