State Department planning to shrink U.S. staff by 3,400 in massive reorganization

The State Department is planning a sweeping reorganization of its bureaus and U.S. staff, with around 3,400 jobs eliminated and almost half of its domestic offices closed or consolidated in the coming months, the department told lawmakers Thursday, according to documents obtained by CBS News.

The plans were previewed by senior State Department officials last month and are part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to slash the size of the federal government. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the department — which employs tens of thousands of domestic staff in addition to foreign service workers at embassies and consulates — "bloated" and "bureaucratic." 

The department aims to reduce its domestic workforce by up to 3,448 personnel, it said in a more than 130-page notification submitted to Congress — affecting around 18% of its existing staff. That includes 1,873 workers who could be cut through layoffs, or reductions-in-force, and another 1,575 who have indicated they would leave voluntarily.