American diplomats in Washington are preparing for the cutting force cuts of the State Department, and the dismissal notices are expected to arrive at the entrance trays as soon as Friday, according to three state department officials with knowledge of the plans. The layoffs are part of a massive reorganization of the Federal Agency, including the dissolution or fusion of more than 300 offices and offices and a 15% reduction in employees.
“In April, the secretary announced the largest reorganization of the department in decades,” wrote the Secretary of the Management of the State Department of Michael Rigas Management sent to all employees of the agency on Thursday night. “The objective from the beginning was clear: to focus resources on policy priorities and eliminate redundant functions, empower our people while increasing responsibility.”
Rigas said the terminations would soon be issued to the affected employees, adding: “In the first place, we want to thank them for their dedication and service to the United States.”
The restructuring has been in process for months, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio notifying the Congress at the end of May that up to 1,800 headquarters in the US. UU. They would be reduced from the approximately 19,000 employees by the State Department. More than 1,500 additional employees in the department took the offer of the Trump administration of a deferred resignation, which will entail their salaries and benefits of medical care until September.
Rubio said he was proud of the way Trump’s administration had undertaken reorganization that could be said to be “the most deliberate form of anyone who has made one.”
“The reduction of force is a consequence of the reorg. It is not a consequence of trying to get rid of people,” Rubio told journalists on Thursday during press availability in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. “But if you have closed the office, you don’t need those positions.”
The terminations of the employees of the State Department had been temporarily arrested by a federal judge in California, but the Supreme Court ruled this week that Trump administration’s plans to review the diplomatic agency could advance. The return and the end between the White House and the courts left thousands of officials and officials of the foreign service in Limbo and could not plan their future.
A civil official told NBC News on Thursday that I would appreciate the test that finally ended. “We have known from the beginning that arrived. It was just a matter of when,” the diplomat told NBC News. “Every Friday morning, I wake up with fear. At least now we can move on.”
When asked about the decreased morals in the State Department, a senior department official said the delays were unfortunate but outside their control.
“The courts have delayed this reorganization, they maintained this uncertainty, unfortunately, about the workforce,” said the senior official. “That was not our intention. We want to advance with this quickly, but obviously the administration has fulfilled all judicial orders and mandates.”
Two former diplomats of the Senior career department told NBC News who were concerned about the collective loss of the experience resulting from those who retire early and the impact of layoffs on future recruitment for the United States diplomatic corps.
A senior state department official said they were looking at how the agency recruits and retains talent as part of an executive order, but the freezing of federal hiring was still in its place.
The spokesman for the State Department, Tammy Bruce, praised the work of the diplomats in the building for their commitment and patriotism, but said that this decision was not about the objective individual, but the need to reform a bureaucracy that has become too big to function.
“It’s about ensuring that the State Department can operate in a way that makes it relevant and effective. That is what the American people want. It is what we all want, and in this dynamic, that is exactly what we are achieving,” Bruce said Thursday.
NBC News had previously reported that the State Department was reviewing the US missions. Uu. Including the possible closure of consulates and embassies. But a senior state department official said there are no plans for more cuts, for now.
“We have no plan for that at this time, but I think that only a good practice means a constant review and an evaluation of how we are doing our job,” said the state department official.
