Pirate's Cove

This is so horrible, and Democrats are having snit fits

State Department fires more than 1,300 employees in downsizing plan

The State Department began firing more than 1,300 employees via email on Friday as a part of the Trump administration’s plans to downsize government and cut back on what it called “bloat” and inefficiencies. The move has come under criticism from current and former diplomats who say the cuts will degrade America’s standing in the world and curb U.S. soft power.

The diplomats hit hardest hailed from the offices that Secretary of State Marco Rubio eliminated in his sweeping reorganization of the department, the most far-reaching in decades, including the Office of Global Women’s Issues and the department’s diversity and inclusion programs. But cuts also affected employees working on highly volatile issues, including Syria, a brittle Middle Eastern country emerging from decades of authoritarian rule, and senior officials in charge of chemical weapons issues and multilateral nuclear diplomacy.

“They cut key experts on nuclear testing, nuclear verification and efforts to end the production of weapons-grade fissile material,” said Alex Bell, a former State Department official and current president of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. “These cuts will only serve to increase the nuclear threats facing this nation.”

The department is sending layoff notices to more than 1,100 civil servants and 240 Foreign Service employees, according to an internal notice obtained by The Washington Post. Foreign Service officers will immediately be placed on paid administrative leave and lose their jobs 120 days after they receive the notice. The separation period for most civil servants is 60 days.

Sniffles

Rubio informed Congress in May that the department planned to reduce its U.S. workforce by more than 15 percent — almost 2,000 people — as part of a sweeping reorganization intended to streamline what he has called a “bloated bureaucracy that stifles innovation and misallocates scarce resources.” Separately, he has accused certain bureaus within the department of pursuing a “radical political ideology.”

“15 percent” is as close as the Washington Post, and most news outlets, get to how bloated the State Department is. You’re looking at 80,214 (total), with 14,399 Foreign Service employees 12,831 Civil Service employees, and 50,703 local employees. Certainly terminating just 15% of the workforce, what with all their multiple redundancies, won’t hurt operations. Those left can work their butts off for their high salaries and exorbitant benefits.

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-New Hampshire) and other Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee have also criticized the decision, issuing a joint statement saying: “If this administration is serious about putting ‘America First,’ it must invest in our diplomatic corps and national security experts — not erode the institutions that protect our interests, promote U.S. values, and keep Americans safe abroad.”

Maybe they should replace at least half the workforce with people who like America.