The State Department is laying about 1,350 employees today, part of a reorganization that Trump administration officials said would address an overly “bloated bureaucracy.”
The reduction in force will eliminate the jobs of about 1,100 civil service employees and nearly 250 foreign service officers on domestic assignments, bringing the total reduction to “nearly 3,000 members of the workforce” when voluntary and incentivized departures are included, State officials said on Friday. That’s somewhat fewer than the estimates of 2,000 layoffs and 3,400 total departures that officials gave lawmakers in March.
“Headcount reductions have been carefully tailored to affect non-core functions, duplicative or redundant offices, and offices where considerable efficiencies may be found from centralization or consolidation of functions and responsibilities,” the department said in a notice to staff on Friday.
Official notices began arriving in employee inboxes on Friday morning. Stations were established inside the department’s Washington headquarters to turn over badges and official devices, according to photographs reviewed by Government Executive. Human-resources teams set up in offices throughout the building to help laid-off people to complete the “check out” process,” according to an email sent to employees.
“We will do our best to support in any way possible,” the leader of one bureau told her employees.
Affected foreign servants will be on paid administrative leave for 120 days until they are officially separated from government service, while civil servants will generally be on paid leave for 60 days.
“The forthcoming reduction in force (RIF) action is necessary to better align the size, scope, and composition of the foreign service with the foreign policy priorities of the secretary and nation,” State wrote in its official notices, copies of which were obtained by Government Executive.
The layoffs took place in the Bureau of Cyberspace and Policy, Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs, Bureau of International Organization Affairs, Bureau of Energy Resources, Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, Multilateral Trade Affairs office, Office of Agriculture Policy, and others.
Last month, State rewrote its own rules for issuing RIFs, so that layoffs could be based on specific post, region, or bureau. Officials also created nearly 800 new “competitive areas” made up of domestic organizational units. The effect was to make it easier for the department to pick and choose which components—or individual employees—to eliminate.
One civil servant in the Energy Resources bureau who was laid off on Friday said he was disappointed, after 19 years of federal service across three agencies, to be ejected in an “abrupt, unreasonable, capricious and unlawful way.” While he was relieved that the waiting game of the last few months has ended, he noted that President Trump declared a “national energy emergency” on his first day in office and said that if the president were serious about that, he would not force out the government’s energy experts.
“Obviously, my colleagues and I may be impacted differently due to personal circumstances, [but] I’m honestly afraid for the future of this country,” the soon-to-be former employee said.
State will now turn its attention to implementing an overhaul of its organizational structure, which is expected to eliminate or consolidate more than 300 offices. In a frequently asked questions document provided to employees, department leaders said they have “no plans to conduct further reductions in force.” They added that next steps, including physical moves and communications on potential new job duties and reporting structures, would be communicated in the coming days and weeks, and that all changes are to be completed by Aug. 4.
“The next phase of reorganization implementation will include new office and position alignments, office relocations and the streamlining of duplicative functions within and across bureaus,” State said.
Secretary Marco Rubio initially announced his reorganization plan in April, but layoffs and other implementation was paused by a district court order. The Supreme Court earlier this week nullified that injunction for State and most major federal agencies, allowing the RIFs to proceed.
A State Department official told reporters the goal of the reorganization was to “refocus” State on its core objectives and modern needs. The department tweaked its plans in response to feedback from employees and lawmakers, the official said, but the overall effort remained focused on cutting redundancy and empowering regional offices.
“The department’s bureaus, offices and domestic operations have grown considerably over the last 25 years, and the resulting proliferation of bureaus and offices with unclear, overlapping or duplicative mandates have hobbled the department’s ability to rapidly respond to emerging threats and crises or to effectively advance America’s affirmative interests in the world, and that we believe that an effective modern diplomacy,” the official said.
State currently has three offices that handle sanctions, the official cited as an example, which will be consolidated into one.
“Now, no one [is] saying that the people who were working in any of those sanctions offices weren’t doing a good job or weren’t valuable members of the State Department family,” the official said, “but at the end of the day, we have to do what’s right for the mission and what’s right for the American people, and that means having one combined sanctions office.”
Only U.S.-based employees were laid off in Friday’s RIF. While guidance to employees suggested no further layoffs were anticipated, State officials said the department will continue to examine whether changes to its international footprint are necessary.
“I think the secretary wants to take this one step at a time,” one official said. “We’re looking at our domestic footprint right now and to the extent that further review is warranted, and I think further review of any organization is always warranted.”
The cuts have faced pushback from members of Congress, current employees and former officials who said the moves are cratering morale and weakening U.S. diplomacy at a fragile international moment.
“I’ve never known a more combustible global moment than the one we face today,” said William Burns, a former ambassador who served under six presidents and as CIA director under President Biden. “The future of our diplomatic service is uncertain at exactly the moment we need it.” He added his concerns were not about jobs but that a “weakened foreign service means a weakened America.”
Read the full article here