More than 1,350 employees of the United States State Department have been laid off in a sweeping restructuring effort spearheaded by President Donald Trump, marking one of the most dramatic overhauls of the American diplomatic corps in decades.
The decision, which came just days after the US Supreme Court cleared the way for the Trump administration to eliminate broad swathes of federal positions, has been met with growing alarm among diplomats, lawmakers, and foreign policy experts.
According to official figures, the layoffs include 1,107 civil service personnel and 246 foreign service officers, the majority of whom were stationed in Washington. Emotional scenes unfolded at the department's headquarters as colleagues bid farewell to their departing peers. Some staff members were seen leaving the building in tears, carrying boxes of personal belongings, while others received applause from coworkers.
“It’s just heartbreaking to stand outside these doors right now and see people coming out in tears, because all they wanted to do was serve this country,” said Senator Andy Kim, a Democrat from New Jersey and a former civilian adviser to the department during the Obama administration.
The move comes at a time when the United States is facing a series of high-stakes challenges on the global front — from the ongoing war in Ukraine and the nearly two-year-long conflict in Gaza to escalating tensions between Israel and Iran.
President Trump, who returned to office in January, has made no secret of his intention to target what he terms the “deep state.” In recent months, he has accelerated efforts to replace career civil servants with loyalists, raising concerns about the erosion of institutional memory and professional expertise in the conduct of US foreign policy.
The Supreme Court’s ruling earlier this week lifted a temporary block on the administration’s plan to eliminate entire government positions, paving the way for what could become the largest federal downsizing in modern US history.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is leading the department’s overhaul, defended the dismissals, claiming they were the result of structural changes rather than political motivations.
“It’s not a consequence of trying to get rid of people,” he told reporters at the ASEAN summit in Kuala Lumpur. “But if you close the bureau, you don’t need those positions. Understand that some of these are positions that are being eliminated, not people.”
However, the American Foreign Service Association (AFSA), which represents State Department employees, strongly criticised the move, describing it as a “catastrophic blow to our national interests.”
“We oppose this decision in the strongest terms,” the union said in a statement.
The State Department employed over 80,000 people worldwide as of last year, including nearly 18,000 based in the United States. The latest round of layoffs follows earlier cuts to the US Agency for International Development (USAID), a key institution responsible for delivering American humanitarian aid abroad, which has reportedly already been largely dismantled.
Citing internal communications, The Washington Post reported that staff were informed of the terminations via email. Foreign Service officers will be placed on administrative leave and dismissed within 120 days, while civil service employees will be formally separated after 60 days.
Ned Price, who served as spokesperson for the department under President Joe Biden, called the process “haphazard” and damaging.
“For all the talk about ‘merit-based,’ they’re firing officers based on where they happen to be assigned on this arbitrary day,” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “It’s the laziest, most inefficient, and most damaging way to lean the workforce.”
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