US Education Department plans to discharge 87% of its staff

The United States Education Department, which has already been hit by Trump administration cuts, may have more of its operations halted as a result of the government shutdown.

The department maintains that many of its key operations would continue throughout the closure, which begins today, Wednesday, October 1. Federal financial aid will continue to flow, and student loan payments will be due. 

However, investigations into civil rights complaints will be halted, and the department will not provide any new federal money.

A department contingency plan states that around 87 per cent of its personnel will be furloughed, Associated Press reports.

Since taking office, President Donald Trump has called for the takedown of the Education Department, claiming that it has been overwhelmed by “Leftist ideology”. Agency executives had been planning to delegate operations to other agencies, and the Supreme Court upheld sweeping layoffs in July, halving the department's workforce.

The administration has suggested that more positions at government agencies may be removed completely. In previous shutdowns, furloughed workers were reinstated once Congress restored federal funding. This time, the White House Office of Management and Budget has threatened a massive layoff of government employees.

Education Secretary Linda McMahon testified before the House Appropriations Committee in May, claiming that this year's layoffs had left her department tight — even too lean in some situations. Some employees were brought back, she added, after administrators discovered that the layoffs were too severe.

“You hope that you’re just cutting fat. Sometimes you cut a little muscle, and you realise it as you’re continuing your programs, and you can bring people back to do that,” McMahon said. 

The department had about 4,100 employees when Trump took office in January. It now has about 2,500. Several important functions, such as student loans and federal funding to states’ schools, have been impacted by this downsizing.