The US Department of State is preparing to lay off hundreds of US-based employees in the coming days, following a Supreme Court decision allowing the Trump administration’s plan for widespread federal job cuts to proceed, according to the Financial Times.
The administration’s restructuring initiative, announced by Secretary of State Marco Rubio in April, aims to eliminate about 15 percent of the department’s workforce. Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce described the cuts as necessary to make the State Department “relevant,” “effective,” and “quick.”
“When something is too large to operate, too bureaucratic, to actually function and to deliver projects or action, it has to change,” Bruce said on Thursday.
This reduction forms part of a broader White House effort to slash tens of thousands of jobs across multiple US government agencies. In January, President Trump empowered Elon Musk—then a close ally—to lead efforts under the so-called Department of Government Efficiency to reduce federal staff and spending, targeting what they described as bureaucratic “waste, fraud and abuse.”
However, critics—including some who have launched legal challenges—argue that the cuts dismantle programs vital to national security, global health, and other US interests abroad alongside less critical operations.
Senior State Department officials clarified that the layoffs would focus on eliminating redundant “functions” and offices identified in line with Trump’s agenda, rather than targeting employees based on individual skills such as critical language proficiency.
“We looked at the functions that were being performed, not at individuals,” one official said.
The layoffs had been temporarily blocked in May by a federal judge amid ongoing court challenges but were allowed to proceed after the Supreme Court ruling on Tuesday.
While precise numbers and timelines remain unclear, the department had previously informed Congress that approximately 1,800 staff members would be affected, in addition to nearly 1,000 others who had voluntarily left.
Officials emphasized that the cuts would apply only to US-based personnel, with no plans currently in place to reduce foreign service staff deployed overseas.
“We don’t have any plans for that right now,” a senior official said. “The secretary wants to take this one step at a time and we are looking at our domestic footprint right now.”
In an internal email, Michael Rigas, the department’s deputy secretary for management and resources, expressed gratitude for departing employees’ service, stating, “Every effort has been made to support our colleagues who are departing. On behalf of department leadership, we extend our gratitude for your hard work and commitment to executing the reorganisation and for your ongoing dedication to advancing US national interests across the world.”
