On Thursday, the State Department officially informed staff that layoffs will soon start as part of a reorganization plan that opponents claim will cut bureaucratic waste but that department officials warn is a misguided blow to American diplomacy.
Michael J. Rigas, the deputy secretary of state for management and resources, announced Thursday that the State Department would soon start informing American workers who are losing their positions in an internal communication issued to State Department staff.
Senior department officials warned diplomats that they could receive notices of layoffs as early as Friday morning.
The layoffs are a part of a reorganization plan that Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced in May. Rubio described his agency as being overburdened and hampered by bureaucracy. According to Mr. Rubio, the modifications would eliminate areas of extreme political ideology and better connect it with fundamental American principles.
Two days after the Supreme Court reversed a lower court ruling that had prevented the Trump administration from enacting widespread layoffs throughout the federal government, the State Department is moving forward with the cuts.
About 700 of those based in the United States are expected to lose their jobs, according to the organization that covers foreign service workers, or trained diplomats who rotate abroad. In what are formally referred to as reduction-in-force actions, a greater number of civil service employees—mostly located in Washington—are also anticipated to be let go.
The content of the article is not being retrieved.
Please make sure that JavaScript is enabled in your browser.
We appreciate your patience as we check access. Please log out of Reader mode and sign in to your Times account, or subscribe to The Times in its entirety.
We appreciate your patience as we check access.
Are you a subscriber already?Sign in.
Do you want to read every Times article?Sign up.
