Nearly half of Department of Education staff will be eliminated imminently

Earlier Tuesday, a memo was sent to all Education Department employees informing them that Department of Education offices will be closed Tuesday evening through Wednesday due to "security reasons." Employees were instructed to leave the offices by 6 p.m. ET Tuesday. 

The expected "reduction in force" notices come after reports spread in recent days that Trump was readying to sign an executive order to abolish the federal agency.

The Wall Street Journal recently reported it had reviewed a copy of a draft executive order that would order Education Secretary Linda McMahon to "take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Education Department" based on "the maximum extent appropriate and permitted by law." 

"The experiment of controlling American education through Federal programs and dollars - and the unaccountable bureaucrats those programs and dollars support - has failed our children, our teachers, and our families," the draft order said, according to the Journal. 

"Our job is to respect the will of the American people and the President they elected, who has tasked us with accomplishing the elimination of bureaucratic bloat here at the Department of Education - a momentous final mission - quickly and responsibly," McMahon wrote to employees in a letter shared first with Fox News Digital.

The secretary said that the reconstruction of the department will "profoundly" alter staff, budgets and agency operations. 

Fox News Digital's Aubrie Spady and Louis Casiano contributed to this report.