WASHINGTON — The State Department formally advised staffers Thursday that it would be sending layoff notices to some of them soon, coming as part of dramatic changes to the agency that the Trump administration announced earlier this year.
The workforce cuts and reorganization of the country's diplomatic corps are part of a wider administration effort to reduce the size of the federal government that has been largely carried out by the Department of Government Efficiency, formerly led by Elon Musk.
A recent ruling by the Supreme Court cleared the way for the layoffs to start, while lawsuits challenging the legality of the cuts continue to play out. Critics say the scale of cuts floated at the State Department would lessen U.S. influence globally and make it hard for many offices to carry out their missions.
Michael Rigas, the department's deputy secretary for management and resources, said in a statement that select staffers would be informed if they were being laid off and called it part of the department's biggest reorganization in decades.
''Soon, the Department will be communicating to individuals affected by the reduction in force. First and foremost, we want to thank them for their dedication and service to the United States,'' he said.
It wasn't immediately clear how many people would be dismissed.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said officials took ''a very deliberate step to reorganize the State Department to be more efficient and more focused.''
''It's not a consequence of trying to get rid of people. But if you close the bureau, you don't need those positions," he told reporters in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where he's attending the annual Association of Southeast Asian Nations Regional Forum. "Understand that some of these are positions that are being eliminated, not people.''