Washington: The U.S. Department of State is laying off more than 1,300 employees on Friday, implementing a major reorganization ordered by the Trump administration that aims to downsize federal bureaucracy and redirect diplomatic focus. The cuts include 1,107 civil servants and 246 foreign service officers working on domestic assignments, according to an internal notice obtained by Reuters.
The mass layoffs come amid broader administrative moves to shrink the federal government and dismantle or merge agencies like USAID and the Department of Education. Officials said the layoffs are part of a restructuring that affects more than 300 offices and bureaus, streamlining operations to “focus on diplomatic priorities.”
“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 notice read.
Affected civil servants will have 60 days of administrative leave, while foreign service officers will be placed on leave for 120 days before termination, per the internal memo.
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State Department Cuts Jobs, Faces Diplomatic Backlash
While Secretary of State Marco Rubio and President Donald Trump have praised the reorganization as necessary for “efficiency,” current and former diplomats say the cuts will weaken America’s ability to respond to global threats.
“Notices for a reduction in force…should be a last resort,” said Tom Yazdgerdi, president of the American Foreign Service Association. “Disrupting the Foreign Service like this puts national interests at risk – and Americans everywhere will bear the consequences.”
Rubio defended the plan, saying on Thursday in Kuala Lumpur: “It’s not a consequence of trying to get rid of people. But if you close the bureau, you don’t need those positions. Understand that some of these are positions that are being eliminated, not people.”
What the State Department Layoffs Include
The internal memo says the Department is aiming to eliminate programs and staff “no longer aligned” with the administration’s core policies. The reductions target:
- Offices overseeing U.S. involvement in Afghanistan
- Divisions handling refugee resettlement and human rights
- Bureaus the administration deems “ideologically driven”
A senior department official told Reuters: “If a particular function was being performed that was no longer aligned with what the department was going to be doing going forward, that function was being eliminated. It was personnel agnostic.”
The American Academy of Diplomacy called the move “an act of vandalism,” warning in a statement: “At a time when the United States faces unprecedented challenges from strategic competitors and adversaries… the decision to gut the Department of State’s institutional knowledge and operational capacity is an act of vandalism.”
Trump and Rubio Call It Streamlining. Critics Call It Dangerous.
This isn’t the first time Trump has targeted the State Department. But the scope of the 2025 layoffs is unprecedented. The Department said in a May letter to Congress that it planned to reduce its U.S.-based workforce by 18%, or roughly 3,000 positions, through a mix of layoffs and voluntary exits.
Rubio called the move: “A very deliberate step to reorganize the State Department to be more efficient and more focused.”
“Probably in the most deliberate way of anyone that’s done one,” he said during the ASEAN Regional Forum.
Michael Rigas, the Department’s deputy secretary for management and resources, added:
“Once notifications have taken place, the Department will enter the final stage of its reorganization and focus its attention on delivering results-driven diplomacy.”
What Does the State Department Do—and Who’s Left Behind?
The Department of State is responsible for U.S. foreign policy, embassies, visa services, and managing diplomacy across the globe. The agency’s workforce includes civil servants in Washington, DC, and foreign service officers stationed in over 270 diplomatic missions.
Yazdgerdi said the cuts are especially harmful because: “We’re like the military. We have personal rank and an up-or-out personnel system. We’re not tied to any particular position.”
“Even prior to the Trump administration, the diplomatic corps was stretched thin… and could not staff up appropriately our embassies overseas at a time when China, our biggest rivals, had no problem doing that.”
He warned the layoffs would “hurt not only morale, but also recruitment and retention.”
