Rubio fires 1,353 State Dept staff, cuts 92% of USAID grants in diplomatic overhaul

Marco Rubio fired 1,353 State Department employees on July 11, 2025—1,107 civil servants and 246 foreign service officers based in Washington.

The Trump administration cut 92% of USAID foreign assistance grants, eliminating $60 billion across 5,800 multi-year awards.

Rubio cancelled 83% of USAID contracts (5,200 programs) in March 2025 after a six-week review, claiming they harmed U.S. interests.

The April 2025 reorganization closed 132 State Department domestic offices, including the Office of Global Women's Issues that Rubio himself helped establish as a senator.

The Bureau of Global Talent Management lost 150+ employees—more than any other bureau—while Overseas Buildings Operations lost nearly 100 staff.

The American Academy of Diplomacy called the layoffs 'an act of vandalism' that guts institutional knowledge amid unprecedented global threats.

Foreign Service officers received reduction-in-force notices on July 11, were placed on immediate administrative leave, and were officially separated on December 5, 2025.

Aid experts project the cuts will cause 1 million starving children to lose food access, 17.9 million more malaria cases, and 166,000 preventable malaria deaths annually.

The reorganization eliminated staff working on Afghan refugee resettlement, educational exchanges, women's rights, climate change, and countering violent extremism.

Congressional Democrats and former diplomats challenged the legality of the layoffs, with Foreign Service employees filing lawsuits over the mass RIFs.