Department workplaces ordered closed down until Thursday
Agencies cut workers utilizing lump-sum payments, early retirement
Thursday is due date to submit plans for large-scale layoffs
(Adds new government report on inappropriate payments, paragraphs 12-14)
By Timothy Gardner, Tim Reid, Alexandra Alper and Marisa Taylor
WASHINGTON, March 11 (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Education said on Tuesday it would lay off nearly half its staff, a possible precursor to closing altogether, as government companies scrambled to meet President Donald Trump's due date to send plans for a 2nd round of mass layoffs.
The terminations belong to the department's "last objective," it said in a press release, alluding to Trump's vow to get rid of the department, which oversees $1.6 trillion in college loans, enforces civil rights laws in schools and supplies federal funding for needy districts.