'Trump Admin Slashes Staff At College-Prep Program For Low-income Students That Republicans Had Championed, Sources Say' - Reuters Exclusive

Author: Benzinga Newsdesk | October 14, 2025 03:09pm

• Trump's permanent layoffs in shutdown sweep through Education Department
• Republican senators championed these programs this year
• Sources say layoffs to put taxpayer programs at risk

WASHINGTON, Oct 14 (Reuters) -

President Donald Trump's administration fired almost all 60 staff at a college-preparation program for low-income students in a wave of shutdown layoffs, two people familiar with the cuts told Reuters, targeting a service Republican lawmakers defended earlier this year.

Trump promised last week to cut "some very popular Democrat programs that aren't popular with Republicans," during a federal government shutdown in its 14th day on Tuesday. The permanent layoffs disclosed on Friday also targeted education programs supported by Republicans, including the federal Education Department's TRIO programs that assist around 900,000 students across all 50 states from middle school onward to prepare for college.

Almost all of the approximately 60-person staff overseeing the programs were cut, said the two people, who asked for anonymity to share details the administration did not reveal in a legal filing that disclosed more than 4,200 layoffs across the federal government.

Posted In: SPY