• By PTI
  • Fri, 11 Jul 2025 06:58 PM (IST)
  • Source:PTI

The State Department is firing over 1,300 career diplomats and civil servants in line with a dramatic reorganisation plan initiated by the Trump administration earlier this year.

A senior State Department official said Friday that the department is sending layoff notices to 1,107 civil servants and 246 foreign service officers with domestic assignments in the United States. While lauded by President Donald Trump's administration as overdue and necessary to make the department leaner and more efficient, the cuts have been roundly criticised by current and former diplomats who say they will weaken US influence and its ability to counter existing and emerging threats abroad.

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The Trump administration has pushed to reshape American diplomacy and worked aggressively to shrink the size of the federal government, including mass dismissals as part of moves to dismantle whole departments like the US Agency for International Development and the Education Department. A recent ruling by the Supreme Court cleared the way for the layoffs to begin, even as lawsuits challenging the legality of the cuts continue to play out. The department had formally advised staffers on Thursday that it would be sending layoff notices to some of them soon. The job cuts are large but considerably less than many had feared.

Reacting to the developments, Senator Marco Rubio defended the move, saying officials took “a very deliberate step to reorganize the State Department to be more efficient and more focused.”

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“It’s not a consequence of trying to get rid of people. But if you close the bureau, you don’t need those positions,” he told reporters Thursday in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where he’s attending the annual Association of Southeast Asian Nations Regional Forum.

“Understand that some of these are positions that are being eliminated, not people,” he added, clarifying that some of the cuts will be unfilled positions or those about to be vacant due to early retirements.

The American Foreign Service Association, the union representing diplomats, had urged the State Department last month to hold off on job cuts.

(Note: Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by The Daily Jagran staff. Source - PTI)