Diplomats Promoted Amidst Wave of Job Cuts Announced by the State Department

The State Department has been embroiled in a contentious situation regarding staff reductions and promotions, affecting a significant portion of its workforce.

On July 11, more than 1,350 employees received reduction-in-force (RIF) notices, impacting about 15% of the department's total workforce. The majority of the cuts affected the civil service workforce and over 260 Foreign Service officers assigned to domestic posts.

John Dinkelman, the President of the American Foreign Service Association (AFSA), was among those who received an RIF notice last month, along with all other members of the State Department's Diplomats in Residence program. Dinkelman expressed concerns about the morale of employees still working at the State Department, particularly due to the layoffs of top performers.

The Department of State maintains that its RIF decisions were "personnel-agnostic," meaning none of the layoffs targeted specific employees. However, the department's decision to promote laid-off diplomats has been met with criticism from AFSA, who described it as "defying logic."

The State Department's decision to no longer recognise AFSA as a union, following President Donald Trump's executive order in March that eliminated collective bargaining rights for more than half of the federal workforce, has also been a point of contention. AFSA and the American Federation of Government Employees have raised concerns over the department setting such narrow parameters for layoffs, and said they were given little to no opportunity to provide feedback.

The promotions for diplomatic service positions in 2025 were carried out by the responsible authority within the German Foreign Office, but the specific individual or office responsible for 2025 promotions is not explicitly stated in the available search results.

Michael Rigas, the deputy secretary of State for management and resources, stated that the department's downsizing was the most complicated reduction in force that the federal government has ever seen. To aid in the process, the State Department received help from the Office of Personnel Management.

In an unusual turn of events, the State Department reinstated an entire office of employees at the Bureau of Consular Affairs that supports passport services after sending layoff notices. However, laid-off employees who received promotions are not being reinstated to their jobs.

Federal judges temporarily blocked agencies from implementing the executive order, but an appeals court allowed the administration to proceed in May. Some employees who received RIF notices were told they received them in error soon after they were sent.

AFSA has stated that the department's actions reflect a failure of leadership and planning, and contradict the department's claims that the layoffs were not merit-based. The department's redefinition of competitive areas so narrowly can increase the likelihood that employees in certain functions and offices receive RIF notices.

The State Department's annual list of diplomats receiving promotions includes at least 10 laid-off Foreign Service officers, further fuelling the controversy surrounding the department's decisions. As the situation unfolds, it remains to be seen how these developments will impact the State Department and its workforce in the long term.