US State Department Fires More Than 1,300 Staff

The firings will affect 1,107 civil service and 246 foreign service officers in Washington, DC, an internal notice seen by CNN said. It comes as the State Department implements a drastic reorganization as part of the Trump administration’s broader efforts to shrink the federal government, CNN reports.

Those fired on Friday worked on issues like countering violent extremism; helping Afghans who fled after the Taliban takeover; educational exchanges; and issues related to women’s rights, refugees and climate change.

Hundreds of offices and bureaus are being eliminated or altered as a result of the restructuring that began to be implemented on Friday. The layoff notices, issued via email, came out as Secretary of State Marco Rubio was of Washington, DC, on a flight back from an overseas trip to Malaysia.

“Nearly 3,000 members of the workforce will depart as part of the reorganization,” the notice said. That number includes people who are being fired as well as those leaving voluntarily.

As the layoffs happened Friday, notes of support popped up around the halls of the Washington, DC, headquarters, thanking fired employees for their service. Signs calling on remaining colleagues to “resist fascism” and “remember the oath you vowed to uphold” were also seen in the building.

At the end of the day, employees lined around the entrance lobby and the sidewalks outside of the State Department to “clap out” their fired coworkers. Those who lost their jobs emerged from the building, some crying, some holding boxes, to steady applause from colleagues and a growing crowd of supporters and demonstrators gathered for a rally outside.

“These firings were not done with dignity and respect, but I have walked out of the State Department with my head held high, alongside my civil service and foreign service colleagues,” said Olga Bashbush, a career diplomat who was fired Friday. She told CNN she had served as a diplomat for 20 years and just happened to have started last October in an office in DC that is being eliminated.

“Without our diplomacy professionals, we are going to have those forever wars that Congress and the United States and the president have said that they don’t want to be in,” she said. “We are here to serve and protect, and I’m still willing to serve and all of my colleagues here today are willing to serve.”

Former State Department officials and Democratic lawmakers who spoke at the rally condemned the firings, echoing that they will take a toll at a time when the role of diplomats and foreign affairs experts is particularly important as the Trump administration tries to broker ends to wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.

They also leveled sharp criticisms of the broader reorganization, which includes sweeping changes to focus on the Trump administration’s priorities, such as reducing immigration to the US and promoting the administration’s worldview, with less emphasis on protecting and promoting human rights across the globe.