The Trump administration on Tuesday slashed staff at the Department of Education – firing roughly 1,300 employees – as part of its long-planned effort to eliminate the agency entirely. The move leaves the department with 2,183 employees, down from more than 4,000 at the beginning of the year.
The cuts also follow recent leaks that President Donald Trump was planning to sign an executive order calling for the department’s dismantling, based on drafts first obtained by The Wall Street Journal.
