State Department is firing more than 1,300 employees in downsizing plan
The State Department is firing more than 1,300 employees via email on Friday as a part of the Trump administration’s plans to downsize government and cut back on “bloat.” The move has come under strong criticism from current and former diplomats who say the cuts will degrade America’s standing in the world and curb U.S. soft power.
The department is sending layoff notices to more than 1,100 civil servants and 240 Foreign Service employees, according to an internal notice obtained by The Washington Post. Foreign Service officers will lose their jobs 120 days after they receive the notice and be placed on administrative leave during the interim period, the notice says. The separation period for most civil servants is 60 days.
Michael Rigas, the deputy secretary of state for management and resources, told staff on Thursday that “every effort has been made to support our colleagues who are departing.” But uncertainty over the status of the plan has badly impacted morale at the department, with some of the workforce exasperated and embittered with the plans to fire people at a time when many were asked to work additional hours to assist U.S. citizens seeking to flee the Middle East amid Israel’s war with Iran.
One State Department employee, speaking like some others on the condition of anonymity to avoid professional reprisal, told The Post last month that the push exposed how the department’s leadership “either doesn’t appreciate or just doesn’t care” about its workforce.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio informed Congress in May that the department planned to reduce its U.S. workforce by more than 15 percent - almost 2,000 people - as part of a sweeping reorganization intended to streamline what he has called a “bloated bureaucracy that stifles innovation and misallocates scarce resources.” Separately, he has accused certain bureaus within the department of pursuing a “radical political ideology.”
President Donald Trump is a longtime critic of the State Department, dating back at least to his first term in office. Since he was elected to a second term, it has been clear that his second administration would target the department; the question was not whether cuts would happen but how big they would be.
This week, the Supreme Court cleared the way for the Trump administration to launch plans for mass firings and reorganizations at 19 federal agencies and departments while litigation continues.
The justices lifted a lower-court order that temporarily blocked plans to lay off thousands of federal workers, including at the State Department, because the administration did not first consult with Congress.
While the layoffs are deeply unpopular among career officials, some expressed mild relief that the court’s decision ended the cloud of uncertainty hanging over the department.
“The only thing worse than these layoffs was the uncertainty about these layoffs,” one State Department official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal personnel matters, told The Post.
Longtime observers of the department, however, expressed concern about the loss of institutional knowledge would impact the department’s ability to function.
“The current administration has already ensured that State will not have sufficient talent, experience and proper organization needed for U.S. foreign policy to prosper in the years ahead, or even for State to be able to provide critical help sometimes needed by Americans abroad,” said Robert E. Hunter, a former U.S. ambassador to NATO.
Rigas, meanwhile, expressed gratitude to employees who would soon be laid off. “First and foremost, we want to thank them for their dedication and service to the United States,” he said.