State Department is firing over 1,300 employees under Trump administration plan

KUALA LUMPUR Malaysia AP The State Department is firing more than employees on Friday in line with a dramatic reorganization plan unveiled by the Trump administration earlier this year a move that critics say will damage America s global leadership and efforts to counter threats abroad The department is sending layoff notices to civil servants and foreign institution officers with domestic assignments in the United States disclosed a senior State Department official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss personnel matters ahead of individual notices being emailed to affected employees Foreign organization officers affected will be placed right away on administrative leave for days after which they will formally lose their jobs according to an internal notice obtained by The Associated Press For greater part affected civil servants the separation period is days it noted In connection with the departmental reorganization the department is streamlining domestic operations to focus on diplomatic priorities the notice says Headcount reductions have been meticulously tailored to affect non-core functions duplicative or redundant offices and offices where considerable efficiencies may be uncovered from centralization or consolidation of functions and responsibilities While lauded by President Donald Trump Secretary of State Marco Rubio and their Republican allies as overdue and necessary to make the department leaner more nimble and more efficient the cuts have been roundly criticized by current and former diplomats who say they will weaken U S influence and its ability to counter existing and emerging threats abroad The layoffs are part of big changes to State Department work The Trump administration has pushed to reshape American diplomacy and worked aggressively to shrink the size of the federal administration including mass dismissals as part of moves to dismantle whole departments like the U S Agency for International Progress and the Schooling Department USAID the six-decade-old foreign assistance agency was absorbed into the State Department last week after the administration dramatically slashed foreign aid funding A modern ruling by the Supreme Court cleared the way for the layoffs to start while lawsuits challenging the legality of the cuts continue to play out The department had formally advised staffers on Thursday that it would be sending layoff notices to particular of them soon The job cuts are large but considerably less than multiple had feared Rubio noted representatives took a very deliberate step to reorganize the State Department to be more efficient and more focused It s not a consequence of trying to get rid of people But if you close the bureau you don t need those positions he recounted reporters Thursday in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia where he s attending the annual Association of Southeast Asian Nations Regional Forum Understand that various of these are positions that are being eliminated not people He announced chosen of the cuts will be unfilled positions or those that are about to be vacant because an employee took an early retirement Critics say the changes will hurt US standing abroad The American Academy of Diplomacy an association that includes hundreds of former senior diplomats noted the State Department layoffs will seriously undermine the ability of our cabinet to understand explain and respond to a complex and increasingly contested world At a time when the United States faces unprecedented challenges from strategic competitors and adversaries ongoing conflicts in Central Europe Africa and the Middle East and emerging shield threats the decision to gut the Department of State s institutional knowledge and operational threshold is an act of vandalism the organization declared in a announcement last week before the cuts were communicated It added that Rubio s explanations for the cuts are disingenuous pernicious and false Michael Rigas the department s deputy secretary for management and guidance declared in a notice Thursday that staffers would be informed soon if they were being laid off First and foremost we want to thank them for their dedication and provision to the United States he commented Once notifications have taken place the Department will enter the final stage of its reorganization and focus its attention on delivering results-driven diplomacy Rigas added The State Department is undergoing a big reorganization In late May the State Department notified Congress of an updated reorganization plan proposing cuts to programs beyond what had been revealed earlier by Rubio and an reduction of staff in the U S even higher than the initially floated in April The restructuring has been driven in part by the need to find a new home for the remaining functions of USAID which was an early target of the Trump administration and then-aide Elon Musk s Department of Governing body Efficiency The State Department is planning to eliminate certain divisions tasked with oversight of America s two-decade involvement in Afghanistan including an office focused on resettling Afghan nationals who worked alongside the U S military A letter that the department had sent to Congress noted that the reorganization will affect more than bureaus and offices saying it is eliminating divisions it describes as doing unclear or overlapping work It says Rubio believes effective modern diplomacy requires streamlining this bloated bureaucracy That letter was clear that the reorganization also is intended to eliminate programs particularly those related to refugees and immigration as well as human rights and democracy promotion that the Trump administration believes have become ideologically driven in a way that is incompatible with its priorities and policies The American Foreign Organization Association the union that represents diplomats urged the State Department last month to hold off on job cuts Notices for a reduction in force which would not only lay off employees but eliminate positions altogether should be a last resort association President Tom Yazdgerdi reported Disrupting the Foreign Operation like this puts national interests at menace and Americans everywhere will bear the consequences