U.S. News: State Department Lays Off 1,300 Staff

“The State Department is laying off more than 1,300 employees as part of a sweeping reorganization plan that Trump administration officials say will cut down on unwieldy bureaucracy and modernize the agency.

 

The department on Friday began notifying the employees being let go, including more than 1,100 civil servants and about 250 foreign-service officers, according to internal documents and officials familiar with the matter.

 

The reorganization plan is aimed at cutting back overlapping and duplicative offices within the department and streamlining how it functions, according to a senior State Department official.

 

"Once notifications have taken place, the Department will enter the final stage of its reorganization and focus its attention on delivering results-driven diplomacy," Michael Rigas, the deputy secretary of state for management and resources, wrote in a letter to employees informing them of the layoff plans.

 

Under the reorganization led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the department aims to cut 15% of its domestic workforce of roughly 18,000. About 1,600 employees took deferred resignations before the mass layoffs.

 

The reorganization has drawn ire from some rank-and-file diplomats, as well as Democratic lawmakers.

 

Sen. Tim Kaine (D., Va.) said the administration's cuts would hamper the U.S.'s ability to compete with geopolitical rivals on the world stage.

 

"This is one of the most ridiculous decisions that could possibly be made at a time when China is increasing its diplomatic footprint around the world and establishing an overseas network of military and transportation bases," he said.

 

China in recent years has eclipsed the U.S. as the country with the largest diplomatic presence around the world, with 274 diplomatic outposts worldwide compared with the U.S.'s 271 by 2024, according to data from the Lowy Institute Global Diplomacy Index.

 

Some veteran diplomats warned that the administration's layoff plans would affect the State Department's ability to retain top talent.

 

"Morale hasn't just dropped -- it's shattered," Orna Blum, a former senior foreign-service officer, said of the layoffs. "We are losing not just people but the institutional memory, language skills, deep expertise and hard-won trust that takes decades to build and seconds to destroy."

 

The State Department cuts are the latest step by the Trump administration to cut the size of the federal government. The layoffs come after a Supreme Court ruling this past week lifted a court order that had halted the administration's plans for large-scale reductions in the federal workforce. Earlier this month, the administration also dissolved the U.S. Agency for International Development and folded some of its functions under the State Department.

 

Most laid off civil servants will be placed on administrative leave for 60 days, and foreign-service officers affected by the cuts will be put on administrative leave 120 days before separating from the department, according to an internal department document.

 

The mass-firing emails caused anxiety and some confusion. Some State Department employees received notices they were fired, only to get follow-up emails saying they were sent in error, according to two officials familiar with the matter.” [1]

 

1. U.S. News: State Department Lays Off 1,300 Staff. Gramer, Robbie; Ward, Alexander.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 12 July 2025: A7.