There were emotional scenes outside the State Department on Friday as dozens of employees, many in tears, emerged to spontaneous applause from colleagues and supporters after being abruptly dismissed in a sweeping round of mass firings ordered by the Trump administration.

It comes as the State Department began firing more than 1,300 people on Friday as part of a dramatic overhaul of the agency.

Why It Matters

Since the start of President Donald Trump's second term, his administration has moved aggressively to shrink the federal workforce. So far, nearly 60,000 federal employees have been dismissed, with the State Department layoffs marking the latest round of cuts.

The administration insists the cuts are needed to streamline what it calls a "bloated" agency and better align it with the president's agenda.

Critics say the layoffs will damage U.S. efforts to counter threats abroad and weaken its global leadership status.

What To Know

Videos posted to social media on Friday showed State Department employees gathered in the lobby to clap out their laid off colleagues.

Those who lost their jobs walked out of the building — some in tears, some carrying boxes — to sustained applause from colleagues and a swelling crowd of supporters and demonstrators rallying outside.

As the layoffs unfolded on Friday, messages of support appeared throughout the halls of the State Department's Washington, D.C., headquarters, thanking departing employees for their service. Signs urging those who remained to "resist fascism" and "remember the oath you vowed to uphold" were also spotted inside the building.

Why It Matters, What To Know, What People Are Saying, What Happens Next

A fired State Department employee, left, is greeted outside of the Harry S. Truman Building, the headquarters of the State Department, in Washington, Friday, July 11, 2025. Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP

The sweeping layoffs affect both civil and foreign service employees in Washington, D.C., hitting a core group of highly trained diplomats who often speak multiple languages and serve around the world.

According to an internal notice seen by CNN, 1,107 civil service staff and 246 foreign service officers in Washington will lose their jobs. Many of those dismissed worked on issues including countering violent extremism, helping Afghans who fled after the Taliban takeover, educational exchanges, and programs supporting women's rights, refugees, and climate change.

Foreign service officers working in offices eliminated under the plan approved by Secretary of State Marco Rubio on May 29 can be cut if their roles no longer exist. Those given "Reduction in Force" notices will be placed on administrative leave for 120 days before officially losing their jobs, while most civil servants will be placed on leave for 60 days, the notice said.

State Department employees applaud as their colleagues walk through the lobby of the State Department headquarters in the Harry S Truman Building, Friday, July 11, 2025, in Washington. Mark Schiefelbein/AP

Hundreds of offices and bureaus are being dissolved or reorganized as part of this overhaul. Layoff notices, sent out by email, landed while Secretary Rubio was en route back from a trip to Malaysia.

An internal message stated that "nearly 3,000 members of the workforce will depart as part of the reorganization" — a figure that includes both firings and voluntary departures.

Rubio defended the overhaul, saying it was being carried out "probably in the most deliberate way of anyone that's done one."

But former State Department officials and Democratic lawmakers at the rally condemned the mass firings, warning they would weaken America's diplomatic capabilities at a time when the administration is trying to help resolve wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.

They argue the shake-up shifts the department's focus away from promoting human rights and toward advancing Trump's priorities, including stricter immigration policies and his administration's worldview abroad.

What People Are Saying

The State Department said: "In connection with the Departmental reorganization first announced by the Secretary of State on April 22, 2025, the Department is streamlining domestic operations to focus on diplomatic priorities."

It emphasized that "headcount reductions have been carefully tailored to affect non-core functions, duplicative or redundant offices, and offices where considerable efficiencies may be found from centralization or consolidation of functions and responsibilities."

A statement from the American Foreign Service Association said Friday: "In less than six months, the U.S. has shed at least 20 percent of its diplomatic workforce through shuttering of institutions and forced resignations.

"There were clear, institutional mechanisms available to address excess staffing, if that had been the goal. Instead, these layoffs are untethered from merit or mission. They target diplomats not for how they've served or the skills they have, but for where they happen to be assigned. That is not reform.

"We stand with the entire State Department workforce and with every American who understands that professional, non-partisan diplomacy is not expendable. It is essential."

What Happens Next

A Supreme Court ruling last week cleared the way for large-scale federal job cuts to continue. Despite lawsuits being taken to challenge their legality, layoffs are likely to proceed as cases move through the courts.

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