The U.S. Department of State is preparing to cut its workforce by 2,000 employees as soon as Friday, three sources familiar with the planning told NBC News.
The downsizing would include hundreds of foreign service officers, four sources confirmed. The State Department submitted a plan to Congress for a large-scale overhaul of the diplomatic agency in May, including the elimination or merging of more than 300 bureaus and agency offices and a 15% reduction of the department’s 19,000 employees by July 1, but the downsizing has been on hold since a decision by a federal judge in mid-June.
The court order prohibited the Trump administration from undertaking mass layoffs in federal agencies, but the Supreme Court could take up the case by the end of the week and the State Department is anticipating a ruling in its favor.
“Layoffs will be announced as soon as the end of this week or early next week,” American Foreign Service Association President Tom Yazdgerdi said in a statement Wednesday. “Unless the Supreme Court intervenes, the department is legally barred from taking any action outlined in its reorganization plans.” MORE