Sadiq S BhatWashington DC — On a humid afternoon, the cardboard boxes came first. Then the applause.
One by one, employees stepped out of the State Department's C Street headquarters, some in silence, others teary-eyed, as a crowd gathered to bear witness.
More than 1,350 US State Department employees were laid off on July 11 in one of the largest diplomatic workforce cuts in US history, sparking warnings of long-term effects to American influence.
"The rationale being offered is that this (position eliminations) 'streamlines decision-making' and 'empowers embassies,'" Rachel Williams, DC-based foreign policy expert, told TRT World.
"The layoffs have shaken Washington's diplomatic establishment. There is worry here that this will cost the US influence in the places that need it most," she added.
The firings marked one of the most significant single-day workforce reductions in the department's modern history.
According to an internal memo circulated by the Bureau of Global Talent Management, the layoffs affected 1,107 civil service employees and 246 members of the Foreign Service, all stationed in the United States.
"This is not a consequence of trying to get rid of people," US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said during a press appearance over the weekend.
"But if you close the bureau, you don't need those positions. Understand that some of these are positions that are being eliminated, not people."
For those being walked out, that distinction felt thin.
Michael Duffin, a senior policy adviser at the Bureau of Counterterrorism, stood at the protest, where a cardboard sign said: Diplomacy matters. Feds matter.
His team — the Office of Countering Violent Extremism — had been dissolved earlier that morning.
"No one at the State Department would disagree with the need for reform," Duffin told reporters. "But arbitrarily laying off people like me and others, irrespective of their performance, is not the right way to do it."
Williams said she personally knows several people who were recently let go.
"These are capable, principled public servants. Career diplomats, subject-matter experts — people who have spent decades serving administrations of both (Republican and Democratic) parties."
American Foreign Service Association estimates that at least 20 percent of the Foreign Service workforce has already been lost this year. It attributes the cuts to "the shuttering of institutions and forced resignations."
Earlier this year, the State Department notified Congress of its intent to reduce its US-based workforce by 18 percent through a combination of voluntary departures and terminations.
That target now appears well within reach.
"The Department is streamlining domestic operations to focus on diplomatic priorities," said an internal State Department notice that was sent to the workforce.
"Headcount reductions have been carefully tailored to affect non-core functions, duplicative or redundant offices, and offices where considerable efficiencies may be found," it added.
Impact on US global standing
Meanwhile, Democrats in Congress have raised concerns over the firings, calling the move a serious threat to the US' global standing.
"While there are targeted reforms that our government can pursue to maximise the impact of every tax dollar, that's not what this is," a group of Democratic senators wrote in a strongly worded letter opposing the changes.
"Blanket and indiscriminate cuts — the legacy from Elon Musk’s failed DOGE effort —weaken our government’s ability to deliver for the American people in a cost-effective manner."
“Among the most affected offices are those focused on soft power: public diplomacy, human rights, and counter-disinformation. These teams tend to handle long-term influence-building and values-based engagement, particularly in contested spaces where China and Russia are aggressively shaping narratives," Williams said.
"This isn't just internal trimming," she added. "There's a belief in this administration that diplomacy can be done by fewer people, faster, with less oversight."
Stephen Farnsworth, professor of political science at the University of Mary Washington, echoes Williams' perspective.
"President Trump has long had his doubts about the federal bureaucracy, where there are rules and procedures that limit what Trump wants to do," he told TRT World.
Earlier this month, the US Agency for International Development officially shut down, following an executive order from President Trump.
By March, more than 80 percent of the agency's programmes had already been cancelled. The remaining staff and projects were absorbed into the State Department on July 1.
The layoffs are part of a wider restructuring effort by the Trump administration.
"Trump believes that he is America's best diplomat," Farnsworth added. "And feels he doesn't need a big State Department staff."
For many inside Foggy Bottom, the question now is not whether they agree with the reforms, but whether they'll survive them.
At a press briefing, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce acknowledged the human cost.
"It's sometimes difficult, as any enterprise in America has learned, that when change is necessary, but in this case, we've inherited a dynamic that needed reform, and we are taking and implementing reform," she said.
