While State is eliminating a slew of offices across the department, it is reassigning much of the impacted functions elsewhere.
The Foreign Assistance and Humanitarian Affairs division, or “F/J Family,” plans to RIF 386 employees and see another 145 depart voluntarily.
The Political Affairs division, or “P Family,” plans to RIF 112 employees and shed another 162 through resignations.
The Political-Military Affairs bureau works with the Defense Department to advance military and national security objectives.
The State Department has repeatedly said its reorganization will empower regional offices and streamline decision making.
According to documents released to lawmakers and staff on Thursday, the State Department is proceeding with a plan to streamline or close more than 300 of its bureaus and offices, which will result in the reduction of over 3,400 employees and 45% of its structural entities.
The department stated that the reorganization will address “bureaucratic overgrowth” and streamline functions with overlapping responsibilities, as detailed in the various documents that Government Executive and Nextgov/FCW were able to obtain. However, the reorganization also includes some significant reforms to bureau missions. The plans announced Thursday are more detailed than those initially announced by State Secretary Marco Rubio in April, even though the Government Executive first revealed the number of employee layoffs earlier this month.
In addition to closing numerous offices throughout the department, State is moving many of the affected functions to other locations. Any attrition that happened before May 4 will not be taken into account when calculating the workforce reductions because they are based on the baseline staffing levels as of that date.
Special agents involved in ongoing law enforcement cases, regional employees assigned to a particular country desk, and passport and visa operations with Consular Affairs will not be affected by the layoffs. Although both civil and foreign service employees will be laid off, the documents state that the cuts will only affect domestic employees.
State stated in a document created for Capitol Hill that “RIF plans have been carefully tailored, consistent with applicable law, to preserve core functions.”. “Reductions will primarily impact non-core functions, redundant or duplicative offices, and offices where significant efficiencies can be achieved through the centralization or consolidation of duties and responsibilities.”. “.”.
The State will make its cuts here, by division.
99 employees are quitting voluntarily, and the Economic Growth, Energy, and Environment division, also known as the “E Family,” intends to RIF 198. That will result in a 42% reduction in that team.
The “F/J Family,” or the Foreign Assistance and Humanitarian Affairs division, intends to lay off 386 workers and have another 145 leave on their own volition. That portion will be cut by 69 percent.
897 workers will be let go by the Management division, also known as the “M Family,” and another 796 will be allowed to leave through deferred resignations. This will result in a staff reduction of about 15%.
The “P Family,” or Political Affairs division, intends to lay off 162 workers and RIF 112 more. That translates into cuts of roughly 14%.
Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, also known as the “R Family,” intends to fire 88 workers and let another 80 go on voluntary leave. That’s roughly a 22% cut.
Just 51 workers will be let go from State Secretary Marco Rubio’s office, also known as “S Family,” and another 189 have agreed to step down. Approximately 12% of the office will be eliminated.
Arms Control and International Security, or “T Family,” intends to lay off 141 workers and permit an additional 104 to do so on their own volition. This will result in that team being reduced by roughly 22%.
State intends to finish implementing the reorganization by July 1 and will “communicate them to the workforce” as it makes changes, the department stated in a document titled “Frequently Asked Questions.”. The department stated that it has already taken into account input from Congress and the workforce.
It reminded employees that losing their office in the organizational chart does not always mean they will be let go. A few workers will merely be moved. Employees were asked to make sure their personal contact information was current by the department.
The department stated that its human resources team will assist employees whose next assignments have been removed in finding new positions, even though the layoffs will affect foreign service officers.
At first, it was unclear how the decision to move forward with the reorganization plan and to send out RIF notices by July 1 would align with a court-ordered injunction that stopped State and 19 other agencies from implementing those changes. Regarding ongoing litigation, a State spokesperson stated that the department was unable to comment.
new buildings.
In its Civilian Security, Human Rights and Democracy division, State will close many of its offices because, according to the department, they have become “prone to ideological capture and radicalism.”. “”.
The undersecretary for Foreign Assistance and Humanitarian Affairs will now oversee departments like Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM) and Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL).
According to State, DRL will adopt a “leaner” portfolio reflective of the administration’s “values-based diplomacy [based] in traditional Western conceptions of core freedoms.”. The reorganization was described as a “substantial” shift in the office’s mission by a foreign service officer who was familiar with the office. That employee stated that the entire division responsible for foreign aid and humanitarian relief would be “utterly destroyed.”. “”.
The Bureau of International Organization Affairs, which works to develop U.S. policy, will establish a new Office of Security Affairs. S. policy with the UN—which would combine the bureau’s coverage of counterterrorism, sanctions, and UN peacekeeping missions, according to one memo.
Several other office consolidations were described in that same memo. For example, it says that the European and Eurasian Affairs unit will combine coverage of Russian and Caucasian countries into a new Office of Russian Affairs and the Caucuses. The memo also stated that the Coordinator for Afghan Relocation Efforts and the Special Representative for Afghan Reconstruction would be shut down in the South and Central Asian Affairs office. It is anticipated that they will transfer their duties to the Afghanistan Affairs Office.
As stated in the readout, a significant reorganization of the Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security family “consolidates nearly all of the Department’s security-oriented programs into a new vertical focused on addressing contemporary security and military challenges.”.
A pair of arms control and nonproliferation bureaus will combine to form a single Bureau of Arms Control and Nonproliferation, and international law enforcement and drug control will now be nested within that arms control family, the statement stated.
Current offices for military and political advisors will be consolidated into a new Bureau of Political-Military Affairs office called the Office of State-Defense Exchange. In order to further military and national security goals, the Political-Military Affairs bureau collaborates with the Defense Department.
The reorganization will empower regional offices and expedite decision-making, the State Department has stated on numerous occasions. According to a foreign service officer, it was difficult to understand how that occurred.
“They’re taking entirely different functions and fusing them together to create Frankenstein offices, and it doesn’t look any simpler,” the employee stated.
Separately, a report to Congress on the Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital policy’s structure made the case that the bureau’s reforms will improve the State Department’s cybersecurity initiatives. “The proposed actions further the broader interests of the United States and federal government,” it states, adding that the Secretary has also taken interagency equity into account. Politico was the first to report on the planned reorganization of the cyberspace division.
The Government Executive and Nextgov/FCW previously reported a summary of a meeting that revealed bipartisan concerns about dismantling that cyber office. The Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs’ office will incorporate the bureau’s work on digital freedom.
As previously reported, a new Bureau of Emerging Threats replaced State’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research, an intelligence community operation that safeguards the agency’s most important secret networks and generates intelligence to guide diplomatic choices. The office of emerging threats will concentrate on topics such as cybersecurity and the growing apprehensions surrounding artificial intelligence.
