The U.S. State Department began a massive layoff on the 11th, with the first batch of over 1,350 employees to be dismissed. Dozens of diplomats, congressional representatives, and State Department staff held up signs outside the U.S. State Department in Washington D.C. on that day, protesting against the move.
This photo was taken on July 11th in front of the U.S. State Department in Washington D.C., captured by Xinhua News Agency’s Hu Yousong.
Several media outlets quoted internal State Department notices announcing the layoffs, which include 1,107 civil servants working domestically and 246 foreign affairs personnel. The laid-off employees were informed their positions would be “cancelled,” leaving them unable to enter the State Department headquarters after 5 p.m. local time and access their email and shared networks.
While the laid-off employees were packing up, dozens of their colleagues, ambassadors, and congressional representatives held up signs at the State Department, reading messages like “Thank you for our diplomatic service” and “We deserve better treatment.”
According to U.S. media reports, this layoff is part of a restructuring reform initiated by the State Department in April this year. Out of approximately 18,000 employees working within the State Department, nearly 3,000 are expected to leave.
The notice mentioned that the layoffs involve “non-core functions, duplicated or redundant departments,” as well as units that could significantly improve efficiency through centralization. Some agencies involved in democracy, human rights, diversity, refugees, and other issues will be shut down. The State Department will also optimize its domestic institutions and strengthen its diplomatic responsibilities.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo once stated that the size and expenses of the State Department had skyrocketed over the past 15 years, necessitating streamlining and reorganization to better align with President Trump’s “America First” agenda.
On April 3rd, during a meeting with the media at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with the media while attending the NATO Foreign Ministers’ Meeting. Photo by Zhao Dingzhe, Xinhua News Agency.
In February of this year, President Trump signed an executive order to reduce federal workforce significantly, affecting departments such as Agriculture, Commerce, Health and Human Services, State, Treasury, Veterans Affairs, and more than ten federal agencies. Subsequently, the layoffs were halted by a federal district court in Northern California on May. The U.S. Department of Justice appealed to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals but was rejected. The Trump administration then requested the Supreme Court to intervene.
On August 8th, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned lower court orders, allowing the government to proceed with plans to cut federal workforce and dissolve federal agencies. On social media, the State Department announced, “We will continue to advance the historic restructuring efforts of the State Department.”
