US department of education laying off more than 1,300 employees

With 1,315 layoffs, the US Department of Education now employs just over half as many people as it did prior to President Donald Trump's election. The department had started sending termination notices from 6pm EST on Tuesday and this is in addition to the 63 probationary employees who were already fired earlier.

The layoff round removes entire teams that are judged superfluous or redundant, and it won't affect vital operations like human rights investigations, special needs student grants, or federal student funding. Approximately 2,183 of the department's 4,133 employees will stay with the organization, while 259 accepted the offer of a postponed resignation and 313 took the voluntary buyout of $25,000.

In addition to receiving their full salary and benefits during that time, the sacked employees will also get severance payments after their 90-day period of official termination.