State Department to start layoffs in coming days, cutting U.S. staff by 15%
CBSN
The State Department will begin layoffs as early as Friday as it seeks to cut the size of its U.S. workforce by about 15%, CBS News has learned — part of the Trump administration's sweeping plan to reorganize the department.
The cuts will include layoffs, or reductions-in-force (RIF), as well as voluntary departures by State Department staffers who took part in the Trump administration's buyout programs, two senior State Department officials said Thursday. The department is also closing or merging scores of U.S.-based offices and rearranging its organizational chart shortly after.
The total number of layoffs expected in the coming days will be "pretty close" to the roughly 1,800 that were listed in a plan submitted to Congress earlier this year, one senior department official said.
