State Dept finalizes mass layoffs, says employees won't be reinstated under shutdown-ending deal [View all]

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State Dept finalizes mass layoffs, says employees won’t be reinstated under shutdown-ending deal

The State Department says laid-off Foreign Service officers will be officially separated from the agency on Dec. 5 — once it fixes some “administrative errors."...

Jory Heckman@jheckmanWFED
December 2, 2025 2:25 pm
6 min read

The State Department is telling some employees targeted by mass layoffs this summer that their official separation date is imminent — and is not affected by a shutdown-ending spending deal that forced some agencies to rescind layoff notices.

The department’s human resources office, in a notice sent Monday evening, said Foreign Service employees who received reduction-in-force notices on July 11 will be officially separated from the agency this Friday, Dec. 5.

According to the Bureau of Global Talent Management, State Department attorneys determined that a recent stopgap spending bill passed by Congress, which ended the longest government shutdown, does not require the agency to rescind any RIF notices that were sent before the shutdown.

“Following formal written guidance from both the Office of Management and Budget and Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel, the Department of State’s Office of the Legal Adviser has determined that completing the reductions in force (RIFs) noticed prior to the lapse in appropriations does not violate the Antideficiency Act (ADA) or any other restriction within HR 5371,” the memo obtained by Federal News Network states. “Given this determination, the Department will finalize your separation or involuntary retirement on Friday, December 5."

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