A few days after the Supreme Court proceeds, the State Department will fire more than 1,300 employees

The department is Send a layoff notification He told 1,107 civil servants and 246 foreign service representatives who received domestic transfers in the United States about the conditions of anonymity and that they discussed personnel matters before personal notifications were emailed to affected employees.

Affected foreign service personnel will be placed immediately on a 120-day, 120-day administrative leave, according to an internal notification obtained by the Associated Press. For most affected civil servants, the separation period is 60 days, it said.

“In relation to sectoral restructuring, the sector is streamlining its domestic operations to focus on diplomatic priorities,” the notice states. “Trackdowns are carefully tuned to affect non-core functions, overlapping or redundant offices, and offices where significant efficiency can be found from centralising or consolidating functions and responsibility.”

While praised President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio And their Republican allies have been thoroughly criticized by current and former diplomats who say they have been postponed to make the sector thinner, more agile and more efficient, and as necessary, undermining our influence and ability to counter existing and emerging threats overseas.

The Trump administration has pushed Restructuring American diplomacy And worked actively Reduce the size of the federal governmentincluding massive layoffs as part of a move to dismantle the entire division, including: US International Development Organization and Education Department.

Recent rulings by The Supreme Court has cleared the road For the layoffs to begin, lawsuits will continue to unfold challenge the legality of the cut. The department officially advised staff on Thursday to send layoff notifications immediately. The reduction in work is huge, but much less than many people feared.

Rubio said the officials “take a very intentional step to make the State Department more efficient and more focused.”

“That’s not the result of trying to drive people away. But if you close the bureau, you don’t need those positions,” he told reporters in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Thursday. Association of Southeast Asian Countries Regional forum. “Understand that some of these are excluded positions, not people.”

He said some of the cuts will be in unfilled or vacant positions as employees take early retirements.

The US Department of Foreign Affairs, a union representing diplomats, urged the State Department last month to curb recruitment.

Association president Tom Yazgerdi said the notification of forced cuts would not only fire employees, but would completely eliminate the position, saying it should be a last resort. “Disrupting foreign services like this puts national interests at risk, and Americans everywhere owes the consequences.”

Michael Rigas, assistant secretary for the department’s administration and resources, said in a notice Thursday that he was notified if selected staff were fired and called it part of the department’s biggest reorganization in decades.

“At a moment, the department will communicate with individuals affected by the power cuts. First and foremost, we would like to thank the dedication and service to the United States,” he said.

In late May, the State Department notified Congress Updated Reorganization Plansuggests that you cut programs beyond what It was previously revealed by Rubio And the 18% reduction in US staff was even higher than the 15% that first fluctuated in April.

The restructuring is partially driven by the need to find a new home for the rest of the functions USAIDthis was an early target of the Trump administration and Ade at the time. Elon Musk Government Efficiency Bureau.

The State Department plans to eliminate several departments tasked with oversight of the US two-year involvement in Afghanistan, including an office focused on resettlement of Afghan citizens who worked with the US military.

A letter sent to Congress by the department noted that the reorganization would affect more than 300 departments and offices, saying it excludes departments that describe it as having an unclear or overlapping job. Rubio says he believes that “effective modern diplomacy requires streamlining this bloated bureaucracy.”

The letter also clearly aimed at eliminating programs, particularly those related to refugees and immigration, as well as the promotion of human rights and democracy.