State Department cutting 1,353 jobs amid downsizing
July 12 (UPI) -- The State Department on Friday began notifying 1,353 affected workers of their pending job losses as the department reduces its workforce by 15%.
The people losing their jobs amid the downsizing work in positions that are being eliminated or consolidated, a State Department official told media on Thursday, NBC News reported.
"This is the most complicated personnel reorganization that the federal government has ever undertaken," the official told reporters during a briefing. "It was done so in order to be very focused on looking at the functions that we want to eliminate or consolidate, rather than looking at individuals."
The State Department notified 1,107 civil service and 246 foreign service workers of their pending job losses, CBS News reported.
The department plans to eliminate nearly 3,400 positions, including many who have already accepted voluntary departure offers this year.
The State Department also will close or consolidate many U.S.-based offices as part of the reduction in force that is being done in accordance with a reorganization plan, which members of Congress received in March.
The Trump administration says the downsizing is needed to eliminate redundancy and better enable the State Department to focus on its primary responsibilities.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio created the downsizing plan, which he said is needed due to the department being too costly, ideologically driven and cumbersome, The New York Times reported.
The downsizing isn't going unchallenged on Capitol Hill.
All Democratic members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Friday opposed the downsizing in a letter sent to Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
"During a time of increasingly complex and widespread challenges to U.S. national security, this administration should be strengthening our diplomatic corps -- an irreplaceable instrument of U.S. power and leadership -- not weakening it," the Democratic Party senators said.
"However, [downsizing] would severely undermine the department's ability to achieve U.S. foreign policy interests, putting our nation's security, strength and prosperity at risk."
The Senate Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee include Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, Chris Coons of Delaware, Chris Murphy of Connecticut, Chris Van Hollen of Maryland and Tim Kaine of Virginia.
The Senate committee's other Democratic Party members are Jeff Merkley of Oregon, Cory Booker of New Jersey, Brian Schatz of Hawaii, Tammy Duckworth of Illinois and Jacky Rosen of Nevada.
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