More than 1,000 U.S. State Department employees have been fired as part of the Trump administration’s efforts to reduce the federal workforce.
According to a notice sent to State Department employees on Friday, the involuntary reduction includes 1,107 civil servants and 246 diplomatic service employees, a notice obtained by the BBC’s U.S. news partner CBS News, a U.S. news partner, said.
More than 1,500 State Department employees voluntarily left earlier this year as part of a massive federal restructuring effort.
Critics believe that massive cuts will affect what the department does.
CBS News reports that nearly all civil servants at the Office of Population, Refugees and Immigration Admissions — programs to resettle refugees in the United States.
The individuals working in the Afghan Relocation Work Coordinator (CARE) office of the State Council also cut back.
Videos shared on social media show members of civil servants in department halls leaving their belongings behind. Other employees were seen applauding and hugging each other for their former colleagues.
Outside the protesters in the building, there were signs that read “Thanks to the American diplomats” and “We all deserve better”.
“This is not the result of trying to get rid of the people,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in Malaysia on Thursday.
“But if you close the bureau, you don’t need these positions. Understand that some of them are eliminated positions, not people.”
Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee issued a statement saying “the decision to fire hundreds of civil servants and State Department members has undermined our national security.”
“While our administration can take targeted reforms to maximize the impact of each tax, that’s not,” the senator wrote. “Blankets and indiscriminate cuts – the legacy of Elon Musk’s failed efforts – weakens the government’s ability to deliver goods to the American people in a cost-effective way.”
The layoffs come days after the Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration’s plan to cut the federal labor force of a sizeable rate.
Earlier this year, the department notified Congress in a letter that it reduced its workforce by 18% by voluntary departures and layoffs, which said it has more than 18,700 U.S. employees.
The labor cuts stem from President Donald Trump’s campaign commitment to cut government spending.
Earlier this month, the United States International Development Agency (USAID) officially closed its doors under the instructions of the Trump administration.
As of March, more than 80% of all the agency’s plans were cancelled, and on July 1, the rest was officially absorbed by the State Council.
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