The US Department of Education is planning to cut about half of its workforce, as the Trump Administration works to slash the size of the federal government.

The mass layoffs will impact nearly 2,100 people who are set to be placed on leave from 21 March.

Trump has long sought to eliminate the department, a long-cherished goal of some conservatives, but such an action would require approval by Congress.

The department, which has an annual budget of around $238bn (?188bn), employs more than 4,000 people.

Established in 1979, the department oversees funding for public schools, administers student loans and runs programmes that help low-income students.

A common misconception is that it operates US schools and sets curricula - that is done by states and local districts.

And a relatively small percentage of funding for primary and secondary schools - about 13% - comes from federal funds. The majority is made up from states and local groups.

The agency also plays a prominent role in administering and overseeing the federal student loans used by millions of Americans to pay for higher education.

"As part of the Department of Education's final mission, the department today initiated a reduction in force impacting nearly 50% of the department's workforce," a statement from Education Secretary Linda McMahon said on Tuesday.

She said the cuts would impact all divisions in the department and were made to "better serve students, parents, educators, and taxpayers".

The agency had 4,133 employees when Trump was sworn into office, an announcement from the department states. It has the smallest staff of all the 15 US cabinet-level agencies.

After the cuts, 2,183 people would remain, which included several hundred who retired or accepted a buyout programme earlier this year, the accountment said.

The notice to employees said that all of those who are laid off would continue to receive their normal pay and benefits until 9 June, as well as a severance package or retirement pay based on how long they'd worked at the department.

"The Department of Education will continue to deliver on all statutory programs that fall under the agency's purview, including formula funding, student loans, Pell Grants, funding for special needs students, and competitive grantmaking," the email states.

Reports have suggested that Trump, for weeks, has considered signing an executive order impacting the Department of Education, though he has not yet done so.

Several of his executive orders have been met with lawsuits, as have Trump's dramatic cuts at agencies around Washington.

Several lawsuits have also challenged actions by the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge), a team aiming to slash government spending that's being led by Elon Musk. The agency has installed deputies at various agencies, slashed staff and accessed data across the government.

For decades, Republicans have floated the idea of axing the Education Department. When Ronald Reagan ran for president in 1980, he pushed for its dismantling.

It hasn't been done because it would take an act of Congress to accomplish, which in the current makeup would mean Trump would need Democratic support.

Many conservatives have pointed to decentralising education and giving states and local governments more power. More recently, though, Trump and other conservatives have attacked the department for its so-called "woke" agenda, which includes protections on gender and race.

Trump has claimed the agency was "indoctrinating young people with inappropriate racial, sexual, and political material".

The American Federation of Teachers, the nation's most powerful education union, condemned the cuts to the department in a statement.

"The massive reduction in force at the Education Department is an attack on opportunity that will gut the agency and its ability to support students, throwing federal education programs into chaos across the country," the union's president Randi Weingarten said.

She called for Congress and the courts to intervene. (BBC)

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