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WASHINGTON, July 10 (Reuters) – The State Department will start sending notices to members of its workforce impacted by the reorganization soon, the agency’s top official for management said on Thursday, as President Donald Trump’s administration moves ahead with its plans to overhaul the U.S. diplomatic corps and cut jobs.

“Soon, the Department will be communicating to individuals affected by the reduction in force,” Deputy Secretary for Management and Resources Michael Rigas said in an email to the workforce.

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“Once notifications have taken place, the Department will enter the final stage of its reorganization and focus its attention on delivering results-driven diplomacy,” Rigas said.

The move is the first step of a restructuring that Trump has sought to ensure U.S. foreign policy is aligned with his “America First” agenda. It will likely result in hundreds of job cuts including members of the elite foreign service who advocate for U.S. interests in the face of growing assertiveness from adversaries such as China and Russia.

No State Department official publicly said when the first notices for the planned layoffs would be sent, but the widespread expectation is for the terminations to start as soon as Friday.

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The Supreme Court cleared the way for the Trump administration to pursue the job cuts and the sweeping downsizing of numerous agencies, a decision that could lead to tens of thousands of layoffs while dramatically reshaping the federal bureaucracy.

Trump in February issued an executive order directing Secretary of State Marco Rubio to revamp the foreign service to ensure that the Republican president’s foreign policy is “faithfully” implemented. He has also repeatedly pledged to “clean out the deep state” by firing bureaucrats that he deems disloyal.

Neither Rigas nor any other State Department official specified how many people would be fired but in its plans to Congress sent in May, the Department had proposed laying off nearly 1,900 employees of the 18,000 estimated domestic workforce. Another 1,575 were estimated to have taken deferred resignations.

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The plans to Congress did not specify how many of these people would be civil service and how many from the foreign service but said that more than 300 of the department’s 734 bureaus and offices will be streamlined, merged or eliminated.

‘TOO BUREAUCRATIC’

Last week, more than 130 retired diplomats and other former senior U.S. officials issued an open letter criticizing the planned overhaul.

One of the criticism has been directed at the firing of potentially several hundred U.S. foreign service officers who typically are evaluated based on years of experience, knowledge of particular areas and regions in the world and language skills.

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The administration, as it vowed to bring back “merit”, has dismantled many diversity and inclusion efforts. Most if not all of the DEI programs at State Department have been rescinded.

U.S. officials said the criteria for the layoffs have been based on the functions of the bureaus that the agency sees are redundant and overlapping in responsibilities and not based on the personnel that occupies those roles.

“The focus is on the org chart first. Functions of a more efficient, capable, fast and effective State Department,” said a senior State Department official speaking to reporters on the condition of anonymity.

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“When something is too large to operate, too bureaucratic, to actually function, and to deliver projects, or action, it has to change,” Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce told a news briefing earlier.

As part of the reorganization, the role of a top official for civilian security, democracy, and human rights will be eliminated, along with the offices that monitored war crimes and conflicts around the world, according to the congressional notification the Department sent to Congress.

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20 Years Of Free Journalism For two decades, HuffPost has been fearless, unflinching, and relentless in pursuit of the truth. Support our mission to keep us around for the next 20 — we can’t do this without you. Support HuffPost Already contributed? Log in to hide these messages.

A new Senate-confirmed role of under secretary for foreign assistance and humanitarian affairs will oversee the new Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, which is to be reorganized to “ground the Department’s values-based diplomacy in traditional Western conceptions of core freedoms” and headed by a deputy assistant secretary for “Democracy and Western Values.” (Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk Additional reporting by David Brunnstrom and Ismail Shakil; Editing by Alistair Bell)

The State Department notified employees Thursday evening that widespread layoffs would be taking place “soon,” formally moving to execute plans previously held up by court order.

The cuts are part of a reorganization Secretary of State Marco Rubio has announced to eliminate or consolidate hundreds of offices, Deputy Secretary for Management Michael Rigas said in an email to staff, which will include a “targeted reduction in domestic workforce.”

“Soon, the Department will be communicating to individuals affected by the reduction in force,” Rigas said. “First and foremost, we want to thank them for their dedication and service to the United States.”

Rigas did not specify exactly how many employees will receive the notices or when they will go out, though employees familiar with the plans expect that to occur as soon as Friday. State has said it will eliminate a total of 3,400 positions at State. After accounting for voluntary, incentivized resignations, nearly 2,000 employees are expected to be laid off.

State did not respond to a request for clarification on the final numbers or timing. In an original draft of Rigas’ message obtained by Government Executive, the deputy secretary said the RIFs would occur “in the coming days” but the final version sent to staff said only that they would happen “soon.”

State, like most major agencies, was blocked from carrying out its layoff plan by a U.S. district court in California, but the Supreme Court reversed that injunction earlier this week. Last month, State rewrote its own rules for issuing RIFs. The changes allowed State to lay off employees due to their specific post, region or bureau and created nearly 800 new “competitive areas” made up of domestic organizational units, making it easier for the department to pick and choose which components to eliminate.

State noted in the update it also maintained the right to lump together employees for layoffs based on skillsets or other groupings. The department gave itself more leeway to provide less than 120 days notice, the standard period for foreign service officers.

Employees previously briefed on the plans said around 700 foreign service officers would be laid off, or nearly 60% of those employees currently in the U.S. The remaining RIFs would impact State’s civil servants.

State last month also asked all civil service employees to upload their resumes to an internal site to “prepare for the reorganization.” It asked staff to ensure all the information in their personnel files was accurate, another step agencies often take before RIF notices go out.

Prior to the Supreme Court’s ruling, the department had argued in court it could move forward with its layoffs even while the injunction was in place but the judge rejected State’s argument that it was a “special case.”

While State is eliminating a slew of offices across the department, it is reassigning much of the impacted functions elsewhere. The workforce cuts are from a baseline of staffing levels as of May 4, meaning any attrition that occurred prior to that date will not count toward the total goal.

The layoffs will exempt passport and visa operations with Consular Affairs, as well as special agents in active law enforcement cases and regional staff assigned to a specific country desk.

As of late May, this is where State’s cuts were expected to take place, according to documents obtained by Government Executive:

The Economic Growth, Energy and Environment division, or the “E Family,” plans to RIF 198 employees and another 99 are leaving voluntarily. That will lead to a reduction of 42% of that team.

The Foreign Assistance and Humanitarian Affairs division, or “F/J Family,” plans to RIF 386 employees and see another 145 depart voluntarily. That division will be slashed by 69%. The Management division, or “M Family,” plans to lay off 897 employees and let another 796 leave through deferred resignations. That will lead to a cut of around 15% of staff.

The Political Affairs division, or “P Family,” plans to RIF 112 employees and shed another 162 through resignations. That will amount to cuts of about 14%.

The Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, or “R Family,” plans to lay off 88 employees and see another 80 leave voluntarily. That amounts to a cut of about 22%.

The State Secretary Marco Rubio’s office, or “S Family,” will lay off just 51 employees and another 189 have signed up to resign. About 12% of the office will be cut.

The Arms Control and International Security division, or “T Family,” plans to RIF 141 employees and allow another 104 to leave voluntarily. That will lead to a reduction of about 22% of that team.

Earlier on Thursday, Rubio confirmed to reporters while traveling in Malaysia that the department was moving forward with RIFs.

“We’ve been ready to implement it pending a court decision, which now has been reached,” Rubio said. “There’s some timing associated with how you do that, how you actually implement it, but our intent is to move forward with the plans that we’ve notified Congress of weeks ago and that we took months to design.”

Rigas told employees their new reporting structures under the reorganization would take effect—for employees who remain—after the RIF notices go out. He added that “every effort has been made” to support employees who are being let go.

The department plans to distribute communications on the “immediate functional considerations” to ensure continuity of operations and component leaders will hold townhalls in the coming weeks.

Tammy Bruce, a State spokesperson, said during a press briefing Thursday that the department was rightsizing its footprint and the cuts were not a reflection on those impacted.

“When something is too large to operate, too bureaucratic to actually function and to deliver projects or action, it has to change,” Bruce said. “And it’s not the fault of the people who were misled, effectively, by certain administrations that grew this department into being irrelevant.”

Trump notified Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney that he’s raising tariffs on his country to 35%, up from the current tiered rate of 10% and 25%, starting Aug. 1.

In his message, Trump implied that the change was retaliation for Canada imposing counter-tariffs on the U.S.

“As you will recall, the United States imposed Tariffs on Canada to deal with our Nation’s Fentanyl crisis, which is caused, in part, by Canada’s failure to stop the drugs from pouring into our Country. Instead of working with the United States, Canada retaliated with its own Tariffs,” Trump wrote.

The Canadian government says that fentanyl seizures by the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol along the shared border represent less than 0.1% of U.S. fentanyl seizures between 2022 and 2024.

Trump said any increased tariffs on the U.S. will result in a higher Canadian tariff, too.

“If for any reason you decide to raise your Tariffs, then, whatever the number you choose to raise them by, will be added onto the 35% that we charge,” he wrote.

Washington DC – The State Department said Thursday it will “soon” implement a plan to reduce its workforce, after the Supreme Court cleared the way for mass layoffs sought by President Donald Trump .

The State Department said Thursday it will “soon” implement a plan to reduce its workforce, after the Supreme Court cleared the way for mass layoffs. © IMAGO / Middle East Images

“In May, the secretary reviewed and approved thoughtful plans submitted by the bureaus, which included a targeted reduction in domestic workforce,” Michael Rigas, deputy secretary of state for management and resources, said in a statement.

“Soon, the department will be communicating to individuals affected by the reduction in force,” said Rigas.

A senior State Department official told journalists that the emailed notifications would be sent “in one day.”

The announcement by the department came just two days after the Supreme Court lifted a block imposed by a lower court on Trump’s plans to potentially lay off tens of thousands of government employees.

Rigas did not specify the number of staff that will be cut, but when asked how it compares to a figure of 1,800 from a notification to Congress earlier this year, the senior State Department official said: “I would say that is pretty close.”

The official also said that only personnel on US soil would be affected and that there are no plans at this time to cut the number of staff abroad.

U.S. diplomats in Washington are bracing for cuts to the State Department workforce, with dismissal notices expected to hit inboxes as soon as Friday, according to three State Department officials with knowledge of the plans. The layoffs are part of a mass reorganization of the federal agency, including the dissolution or merging of more than 300 bureaus and offices and a 15% reduction in employees.

“In April, the Secretary announced the largest reorganization of the Department in decades,” Michael Rigas, the deputy secretary of state for management and resources, wrote in an email sent to all agency employees Thursday evening. “The objective from the start was clear: focus resources on policy priorities and eliminate redundant functions, empowering our people while increasing accountability.”

Rigas said the terminations would be issued to affected employees soon, adding, “First and foremost, we want to thank them for their dedication and service to the United States.”

The restructuring has been in the works for months, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio notifying Congress in late May that as many as 1,800 U.S.-based workers would be cut from the approximately 19,000 employed by the State Department. More than 1,500 additional employees at the department took the Trump administration’s offer of deferred resignations, which will carry their salaries and health care benefits through September.

Rubio said he was proud of the way the Trump administration had undertaken a reorganization that was arguably “the most deliberate way of anyone that’s done one.”

“The reduction of force is a consequence of the reorg. It’s not a consequence of trying to get rid of people,” Rubio told reporters Thursday at a media availability session in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. “But if you’ve closed the bureau, you don’t need those positions.”

A federal judge in California had temporarily halted the terminations, but the Supreme Court ruled this week that the Trump administration’s plans to overhaul the agency could move forward. The back-and-forth between the White House and the courts left thousands of civil servants and foreign service officers in limbo and unable to plan for their futures.

One civil servant told NBC News on Thursday that she would welcome the ordeal’s finally being over. “We have known since the start it was coming. It was just a matter of when,” the diplomat said. “Every Friday morning, I wake up with dread. At least now we can move on.”

Asked about the resulting low morale at the State Department, a senior department official said the delays were unfortunate but outside of their control.

“The courts have delayed this reorganization, kept this uncertainty, unfortunately, over the workforce,” the senior official said. “That was not our intent. We want to move forward with this expeditiously, but obviously the administration has complied with all the court orders and injunctions.”

Two former senior career State Department diplomats told NBC News they were concerned about the collective loss of experience resulting from people’s taking early retirement and the impact of the layoffs on future recruitment for the 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 that the federal hiring freeze was still in place.

State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce praised the work of diplomats in the building for their commitment and patriotism but said the decision was not about the individual being targeted but about the need to reform a bureaucracy that has become too large to function.

“This is about making sure that the State Department is able to operate in a manner that makes it relevant and effective. That is what the American people want. It’s what all of us want, and in this dynamic, that’s exactly what we’re achieving,” Bruce said Thursday.

NBC News had reported that the State Department was conducting a review of U.S. missions overseas, including the potential closure of both consulates and embassies. But a senior State Department official said there are no plans for further cuts — for now.

“We don’t have any plans for that right now, but I think just good practice means a constant review and evaluation of how we’re doing our job,” the senior official said.