State Department tells employees mass layoffs are imminent

The State Department notified employees Thursday evening that widespread layoffs would be taking place “soon,” formally moving to execute plans previously held up by court order. 

The cuts are part of a reorganization Secretary of State Marco Rubio has announced to eliminate or consolidate hundreds of offices, Deputy Secretary for Management Michael Rigas said in an email to staff, which will include a “targeted reduction in domestic workforce.” 

“Soon, the Department will be communicating to individuals affected by the reduction in force,” Rigas said. “First and foremost, we want to thank them for their dedication and service to the United States.”

Rigas did not specify exactly how many employees will receive the notices or when they will go out, though employees familiar with the plans expect that to occur as soon as Friday. State has said it will eliminate a total of 3,400 positions at State. After accounting for voluntary, incentivized resignations, nearly 2,000 employees are expected to be laid off. 

State did not respond to a request for clarification on the final numbers or timing. In an original draft of Rigas’ message obtained by Government Executive, the deputy secretary said the RIFs would occur “in the coming days” but the final version sent to staff said only that they would happen “soon.” 

State, like most major agencies, was blocked from carrying out its layoff plan by a U.S. district court in California, but the Supreme Court reversed that injunction earlier this week. Last month, State rewrote its own rules for issuing RIFs. The changes allowed State to lay off employees due to their specific post, region or bureau and created nearly 800 new “competitive areas” made up of domestic organizational units, making it easier for the department to pick and choose which components to eliminate.

State noted in the update it also maintained the right to lump together employees for layoffs based on skillsets or other groupings. The department gave itself more leeway to provide less than 120 days notice, the standard period for foreign service officers.

Employees previously briefed on the plans said around 700 foreign service officers would be laid off, or nearly 60% of those employees currently in the U.S. The remaining RIFs would impact State’s civil servants.

State last month also asked all civil service employees to upload their resumes to an internal site to “prepare for the reorganization.” It asked staff to ensure all the information in their personnel files was accurate, another step agencies often take before RIF notices go out. 

Prior to the Supreme Court’s ruling, the department had argued in court it could move forward with its layoffs even while the injunction was in place but the judge rejected State’s argument that it was a “special case.” 

While State is eliminating a slew of offices across the department, it is reassigning much of the impacted functions elsewhere. The workforce cuts are from a baseline of staffing levels as of May 4, meaning any attrition that occurred prior to that date will not count toward the total goal.

The layoffs will exempt passport and visa operations with Consular Affairs, as well as special agents in active law enforcement cases and regional staff assigned to a specific country desk. 

As of late May, this is where State’s cuts were expected to take place, according to documents obtained by Government Executive:

• The Economic Growth, Energy and Environment division, or the “E Family,” plans to RIF 198 employees and another 99 are leaving voluntarily. That will lead to a reduction of 42% of that team. 
• The Foreign Assistance and Humanitarian Affairs division, or “F/J Family,” plans to RIF 386 employees and see another 145 depart voluntarily. That division will be slashed by 69%. The Management division, or “M Family,” plans to lay off 897 employees and let another 796 leave through deferred resignations. That will lead to a cut of around 15% of staff. 
• The Political Affairs division, or “P Family,” plans to RIF 112 employees and shed another 162 through resignations. That will amount to cuts of about 14%. 
• The Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, or “R Family,” plans to lay off 88 employees and see another 80 leave voluntarily. That amounts to a cut of about 22%. 
• The State Secretary Marco Rubio’s office, or “S Family,” will lay off just 51 employees and another 189 have signed up to resign. About 12% of the office will be cut. 
• The Arms Control and International Security division, or “T Family,” plans to RIF 141 employees and allow another 104 to leave voluntarily. That will lead to a reduction of about 22% of that team. 

Earlier on Thursday, Rubio confirmed to reporters while traveling in Malaysia that the department was moving forward with RIFs. 

"We’ve been ready to implement it pending a court decision, which now has been reached," Rubio said. "There’s some timing associated with how you do that, how you actually implement it, but our intent is to move forward with the plans that we’ve notified Congress of weeks ago and that we took months to design."

Rigas told employees their new reporting structures under the reorganization would take effect—for employees who remain—after the RIF notices go out. He added that “every effort has been made” to support employees who are being let go.

The department plans to distribute communications on the “immediate functional considerations” to ensure continuity of operations and component leaders will hold townhalls in the coming weeks. 

Tammy Bruce, a State spokesperson, said during a press briefing Thursday that the department was rightsizing its footprint and the cuts were not a reflection on those impacted. 

“When something is too large to operate, too bureaucratic to actually function and to deliver projects or action, it has to change,” Bruce said. “And it’s not the fault of the people who were misled, effectively, by certain administrations that grew this department into being irrelevant.”