State Department Layoffs Target Russia and Ukraine Experts
Among roughly 1,350 employees laid off from the State Department last week were people specializing in Russia and Ukraine, The Gaze reports, citing The New York Times.
On Friday, the State Department announced a reorganization led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio that involves closing and consolidating hundreds of offices in the United States to reduce bureaucracy.
The layoffs include those at the department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR), which provides analysis of world events to help guide U.S. diplomacy. The layoffs mean a loss of expertise as President Trump tries to resolve the war between Russia and Ukraine.
“This isn’t just about jobs, it’s about weakening a critical capability at exactly the wrong time,” said Ellen McCarthy, a former State Department official. “We should be investing in INR, not shrinking it.”
INR is known for bringing in experts with deep knowledge and a willingness to question conventional wisdom. According to McCarthy, it is one of the smallest but most reliable units of the US intelligence community, known for its unbiased analysis and rich institutional memory.
The layoff and reorganization plan is the subject of two congressional hearings this week. At Tuesday's House hearing, Representative Gregory W. Meeks of New York said that Mr. Rubio is destroying the institutions that the United States relies on to confront global threats.
The Gaze earlier reported that the White House has confirmed Trump and Zelenskyy had discussed potential strikes on Moscow.