Rubio begins mass firings at State Department: Key takeaways

Secretary of State Marco Rubio began mass firings at the State Department on Monday, part of a reorganization plan to form a leaner foreign policy force that, he argues, will allow the United States to respond more nimbly by removing layers of bureaucracy.

The department sent reduction in force (RIF) notices Friday morning to about 1,100 civil servants and 250 foreign service officers stationed in the U.S., with plans to cut its workforce further.

Staff were directed to report to the office Friday along with their laptops, telephones, diplomatic passports and any other property of the department.

The move prompted heavy pushback from Democrats and former diplomats who contended that by downsizing its diplomatic footprint the administration is putting national security at risk. 

Rubio, who is also President Trump’s national security adviser, unveiled a reorganization plan for the State Department in April, with plans to get rid of 132 offices and fold 137 other offices within the department. 

The U.S.’s top diplomat said Thursday the layoffs are 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. Understand that some of these are positions that are being eliminated, not people,” Rubio told reporters while in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 

Here are three takeaways from Friday’s cuts: 

Democrats, diplomats raise alarm

Democrats in Congress, ex-foreign service officers and labor unions have sharply criticized the cuts. Senate Democrats have argued the administration cannot afford a diminished diplomatic presence with multiple crises brewing around the world. 

“There are active conflicts and humanitarian crises in Ukraine, Sudan, Gaza, Haiti and Myanmar—to name a few. Now is the time to strengthen our diplomatic hand, not weaken it,” said Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, in a statement backed by all Democrats on the committee. 

“From pursuing peaceful resolutions to out-competing China diplomatically and economically, we can’t afford to not have experienced diplomats at the table,” she added. 

The American Foreign Service Association, a union that represents tens of thousands of former and current diplomats, said Friday the layoffs are an indication to allies the U.S. is retreating from the global arena. 

“As allies look to the U.S. for reassurance and rivals test for weakness, the administration has chosen to sideline the very professionals best equipped to navigate this moment,” the union said in a statement. “Meanwhile, countries like China continue expanding their diplomatic reach and influence.” 

Michael Rigas, the deputy secretary of State for management and resources, said in an internal message to State Department workers Thursday that “once notifications have taken place, the Department will enter the final stage of its reorganization and focus its attention on delivering result-driven diplomacy.” 

“Today, Little Marco proved himself to be a very small man,” a former State Department official who supported Rubio during the 2016 primary and served in the first Trump administration told The Hill on Friday. 

Rubio seeks to transform department 

Rubio is seeking to transform the State Department as part of the Trump administration’s effort to revamp American foreign policy and slash the size of the federal government. 

The layoff notices were sent out to 1,107 civil servants and 246 foreign service officers. As part of the reorganization plan, “nearly” 3,000 employees are expected to leave the department. Foreign services officers will be put on administrative leave for 120 days; afterward, they would be cut. The separation period for most of the civil servants is 60 days, according to the notice. 

“The forthcoming reduction in force (RIF) action is necessary to better align the size, scope and composition of the Department’s domestic workforce with the foreign policy priorities of the Secretary and nation,” read the notice, sent to impacted employees, which was reviewed by The Hill. 

The cuts on Friday have affected the State Department’s Coordinator for Afghan Relocation Efforts (CARE) office, which was tasked with relocating Afghan allies who had worked for or with the U.S. government in Afghanistan. The office’s entire leadership has received RIF notices on Friday, Jessica Bradley Rushing, former deputy director of communications and engagement at CARE, told The Hill. 

“This isn’t just a policy decision—it’s a moral collapse,” said Shawn VanDiver, the president of AfghanEvac, an advocacy group for Afghan refugees in the U.S. 

“At a time when Afghans are still stuck in harm’s way, including in U.S. custody abroad, the people who made our government’s most effective coordination effort possible are being shown the door.”

All of the leadership within the State Department’s bureau of population, refugees, and migration has also gotten RIF notices, according to Rushing. 

Earlier this month, Rubio formalized the end of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the U.S. government’s foreign aid arm. The administration has argued the closure of USAID is part of the White House’s push to root out “waste, fraud and abuse.”

“Development objectives have rarely been met, instability has often worsened, and anti-American sentiment has only grown. This era of government-sanctioned inefficiency has officially come to an end,” Rubio wrote on July 1. 

Supreme Court greenlights RIFs, for now

The State Department come just days after the Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to continue layoffs across federal agencies. The nation’s highest court found Trump’s February executive order, directing federal agencies to brace for RIFs, was likely to be lawful. 

While the Supreme Court lifted the district judge’s injunction, it allowed plaintiffs wiggle room to challenge plans of individual agencies in the future. 

“We express no view on the legality of any Agency RIF and Reorganization Plan produced or approved pursuant to the Executive Order and Memorandum,” said the court’s ruling. 

Liberal Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented, characterizing the ruling as “hubristic and senseless.”

Justice Sonia Sotomayor in a one-paragraph solo opinion said she agreed with Jackson that Trump cannot “restructure federal agencies in a manner inconsistent with congressional mandates.”

“The plans themselves are not before this Court, at this stage, and we thus have no occasion to consider whether they can and will be carried out consistent with the constraints of law,” Sotomayor cautioned.