The State Department has announced that it intends to proceed with a new series of mass layoffs as part of the most significant restructuring of its organizational chart in decades. Officials say the cuts will align their mission with Donald Trump’s vision and his “America first” agenda.
The layoffs, commonly referred to as “reduction in force” (or RIF), will affect nearly 15% of the agency’s staff. A senior department official said the measure will affect about 1,800 people. The changes within the agency will also involve the merger or complete elimination of several hundred offices.
The Department, which advises the president, guides the country on foreign policy issues. The agency, led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, proceeded with the cuts after the Supreme Court sided with the Trump administration this week against a federal judge’s suspension of the government’s mass layoff plans, which could affect hundreds of thousands of federal employees.
“It was looking at what are the functions that are redundant, are overlapping or are no longer aligned with the president’s foreign policy priorities in a post-cold war world,” said a senior official. “In an era of great power competition, what should a state department look like?”.
According to agency leaders, the changes will strengthen the powers of regional offices by creating a simpler chain of command. This will likely also strengthen the powers of political appointees, making it easier for the federal government to manage the Department’s complex bureaucracy.
Offices dealing with immigration and democracy promotion are expected to see their missions significantly altered under the Trump administration, which is somewhat skeptical of traditional American diplomacy abroad.The Office of Population, Refugees, and Migration, for example, which previously helped facilitate legal immigration to the United States, could undergo major changes, including new staff to facilitate deportation operations.
After the reduction notices are issued, the agency will enter a “transition period of several weeks” to gradually introduce the new organizational chart. “We took a very deliberate step to reorganize the State Department to be more efficient and more focused,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio told during a trip to Malaysia on Thursday.
The cuts have sparked discontent among Democratic lawmakers, who argue that such measures could weaken American diplomatic efforts abroad.
