The State Department is next on President Donald Trump‘s list for federal workforce reductions and layoffs.
The agency’s top official for management said yesterday that notices will soon begin to go out to employees impacted by the reorganization, as reported by USA Today. The notices will be part of the Trump Administration‘s next move to overhaul the U.S. diplomatic corps and cut jobs.
“Soon, the Department will be communicating to individuals affected by the reduction in force,” Deputy Secretary for Management and Resources Michael Rigas said in an email to employees. After the layoff notices, Rigas said the final stage of reorganization will be a focus “on delivering results-driven diplomacy.”
Trump’s restructuring plan is to ensure U.S. foreign policy aligns with his “America First” agenda and will likely result in hundreds of layoffs. Members of the elite foreign service who advocate U.S. interests will be included in the layoffs.
According to USA Today, State Department officials would not specify publicly when notices would go out, but an expectation was for them to begin as soon as today. The department’s plan to Congress in May proposed laying off nearly 1,900 of an estimated 18,000 domestic workforce with another 1,575 to take deferred resignations. The plan sent to Congress also included eliminating the top official for civilian security, democracy and human rights, and offices that monitor crimes and conflicts around the world.
Days ago, the U.S. Supreme Court made way for the Trump Administration to cut jobs and downsize federal agencies. A Trump executive order in February 2025 directed Secretary of State Marco Rubio to reorganize the foreign service and ensure Trump’s foreign policy is “faithfully” implemented in the government. Trump has also promised to fire bureaucrats who have shown disloyalty toward him.
While most, if not all, of the DEI programs at the State Department have been eliminated, criteria for layoffs at other agencies were based on function and reducing redundancy of staff responsibilities. Critics have expressed concern about the potential layoffs of several hundred U.S. foreign service officers who hold a particular knowledge of areas and regions in the world and specified language skills.
“When something is too large to operate, too bureaucratic, to actually function, and to deliver projects, or action, it has to change,” State Department Spokesperson Tammy Bruce said during a news briefing.
U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia posted on X that Trump and Marco are once again planning to make America less safe and secure. He said a strong State Department with qualified experts who are free from political pressure “is essential to our national security. This is one of the most ridiculous decisions that could possibly be made at a time when China is increasing its diplomatic footprint around the world and establishing an overseas network of military and transportation bases, Russia is continuing its years-long brutal assault of a sovereign country, and the Middle East is careening from crisis to crisis. Our dedicated State Department workforce, their families and the American people deserve better.”
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Rebecca Barnabi
