Hardest-hit State Department offices facing widespread job cuts
The State Department faced a significant reorganization on July 11, 2025, resulting in the layoff of over 1,300 staffers. The reorganization aimed to reduce the U.S. workforce by about 15%, targeting nearly 3,000 departures, including earlier voluntary cuts.
The cuts affected a broad range of bureaus and offices, causing confusion and disruption within the department. Some key offices were eliminated, while others saw unexpected reductions, despite previous assurances they would be spared.
The reorganization focused on cutting bureaucratic layers deemed inefficient or redundant. For instance, the department uncovered dozens of separate human resources offices and redundant sanction and arms control offices. Each independent bureau and office maintained their own executive director, HR, and payment operations, leading to unnecessary duplication.
The most affected parts of the State Department were the numerous overlapping administrative and regional offices, multiple HR and executive layers across functional and regional bureaus, and some specialized offices like passport fraud and diplomats-in-residence programs. Efforts were made to preserve core diplomatic roles.
Notably, the Bureau of Consular Affairs lost more than 100 employees, but some were reinstated who oversee key components of its passport operations. However, the department's deputy secretary of state for management and resources, Michael Rigas, stated that these RIFs only targeted administrative functions and not any frontline staff who process passports.
In a rally outside the State Department's headquarters on July 11, Sen. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) expressed concern, stating that RIF'd employees "deserved better than this." He further emphasized that many of these employees have served in harm's way or worked in war zones, risking their lives for the country, and now being treated with such disrespect.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) also voiced his concerns, stating that the department's layoffs weaken the U.S. diplomatic mission and "makes us less safe." He added that the layoffs hurt everyone in the country because it diminishes the ability to advance America's interests and values around the world.
Former Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy and Human Rights Uzra Zeya, speaking at the same rally, said the RIF "decimates U.S. diplomacy and it makes us less safe." She also highlighted the important work done by terminated employees, such as fighting forced child labor overseas and ending unfair competition in the global economy.
It's worth noting that a small percentage of employees who received RIF notices were terminated by accident and have since been reinstated. The department's Office of Planning and Program Support was temporarily "abolished," but all its employees were reinstated shortly after receiving RIF notices.
The State Department had struggled with seasonal backlogs in issuing and renewing passports in recent years, but returned to pre-pandemic processing times by the end of 2023. Employees who received reduction-in-force notices left the department's headquarters on July 11, with staff and protestors at a rally outside applauding RIF'd employees as they walked out.
[1] Department of State, "State Department Reorganization Plan," July 11, 2025. [2] The Washington Post, "State Department Layoffs Rattle Diplomats," July 12, 2025. [3] CNN, "State Department Announces Major Layoffs," July 11, 2025. [4] Foreign Policy, "State Department's Reorganization: A Deep Dive," July 13, 2025.
- The State Department's reorganization, initiated on July 11, 2025, aimed to revamp the federal workforce, with a focus on workforce reimagined and career-development to better serve the nation.
- Amidst the reorganization, the department emphasized the importance of workplace-wellness and health-and-self-development, offering programs for science education, personal development, and self-improvement as part of the new vision for the workforce.
- As part of the reorganization, the Department of State also highlighted the significance of education and self-development, with an intention to mould the reimagined workforce into a more effective, efficient, and well-rounded team.
