State Department to begin mass layoffs of about 1,800 employees in coming days

The State Department informed U S -based employees on Thursday that it would soon begin laying off nearly workers after the fresh Supreme Court decision allowing the Trump administration to move forward with mass job cuts as part of its efforts to downsize the federal workforce The agency's reorganization plan was first unveiled in April by Secretary of State Marco Rubio to eliminate functions and offices the department considered to be redundant In February President Donald Trump issued an executive order directing Rubio to revamp the foreign operation to ensure that the president's foreign initiative is faithfully implemented Employees affected by the agency's reduction in force would be notified soon Deputy Secretary for Management and Information Michael Rigas explained employees in an email on Thursday IT WILL HAPPEN HURRIEDLY STATE DEPT POISED TO ACT AFTER SUPREME COURT GREEN-LIGHTS AGENCY LAYOFFS First and foremost we want to thank them for their dedication and operation to the United States Rigas mentioned in the email Every effort has been made to promotion our colleagues who are departing including those who opted into the Deferred Resignation Programs On behalf of Department leadership we extend our gratitude for your hard work and commitment to executing this reorganization and for your ongoing dedication to advancing U S national interests across the world he added The department did not specify on Thursday how multiple people would be fired but in its plans to Congress sent in May it had proposed laying off about employees of the estimated domestic workforce Another were estimated to have taken deferred resignations SOTOMAYOR BREAKS WITH JACKSON IN SUPREME COURT DECISION OVER TRUMP CUTS TO FEDERAL WORKFORCEThe plans to Congress did not state how multiple of these workers would be from the civil institution and how a large number of from the foreign system but it did say that more than of the department's bureaus and offices would be streamlined merged or eliminated Once affected staff have been notified the department will enter the final stage of its reorganization and focus its attention on delivering results-driven diplomacy Rigas announced in the email to colleagues The expectation is for the terminations to start as soon as Friday State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce described reporters earlier on Thursday that the only reason there had been a delay in implementing force reductions is because the courts have stepped in as she noted the mass layoffs would be happening speedily There has been a delay not to our interests but because of the courts Bruce noted It's been complicated when you know you need to get something done for the benefit of everyone When something is too large to operate too bureaucratic to definitely function and to deliver projects or action it has to change she noted Reuters contributed to this review