Layoffs, health scares and family needs are forcing some into retirement before they're ready.
Washington D.C. – The U.S. State Department will begin laying off more than 1,300 employees on Friday in one of the most dramatic reorganizations of the agency in decades. The move, ordered under the Trump administration and spearheaded by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, has ignited sharp criticism from diplomats and foreign policy experts who say the cuts come at a moment of heightened global instability.
The reductions will affect 1,107 civil servants and 246 foreign service officers currently serving in domestic roles, according to an internal notice obtained by reporters. Those receiving notices will be placed on administrative leave — 60 days for most civil servants and 120 days for foreign service officers — before being officially terminated. In total, nearly 3,000 employees are expected to depart the agency, either through involuntary separation or voluntary exits.
The cuts coincide with the elimination or restructuring of hundreds of offices and bureaus within the State Department, part of what the administration describes as a “streamlining” effort aimed at realigning the agency with President Trump’s foreign policy priorities. According to internal documents, the reorganization seeks to reduce duplicative roles and shift focus toward goals like reducing immigration and moving away from global human rights advocacy.
Yet for many inside and outside the department, the reorganization feels less like reform and more like abandonment. Critics warn that gutting the diplomatic workforce—especially amid ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East—weakens U.S. influence abroad, hinders the ability to respond to emerging crises, and surrenders ground to adversaries like China.
Thomas Yazdgerdi, president of the American Foreign Service Association and a career diplomat himself, said the firings come at a moment when “a tried-and-true diplomatic workforce” is more essential than ever. He noted that unlike many other federal employees, foreign service officers are not tied to specific posts, making targeted layoffs particularly disruptive.
“We’re like the military,” Yazdgerdi said. “We operate with personal rank and an up-or-out system. Cutting an office doesn’t just mean eliminating a desk — it means losing expertise, language skills, and years of institutional memory.”
A senior State Department official speaking on background insisted the decision-making was function-based, not personal. Roles deemed misaligned with the department’s future goals were eliminated regardless of the individuals filling them. Asked how much money the government expected to save, the official was unable to offer a precise estimate.
The timing of the announcement has only compounded frustration. As layoff emails were prepared, Secretary Rubio was returning from an overseas trip to Malaysia, absent from Washington as many employees faced the end of their careers.
Inside D.C., the mood is grim. The diplomatic corps, already stretched thin before these cuts, is now bracing for a future with fewer resources, fewer people, and a narrower scope of work. The risk, according to current and former diplomats, is that the United States will lose not only personnel but its edge in shaping a volatile global order.
