The US State Department has warned employees about upcoming layoffs at the agency as part of Donald Trump's plan to reduce the size of the government. This was reported by The Washington Post (WP) and The New York Times (NYT), citing an internal memo sent to State Department employees that they got their hands on.

A memo on behalf of US Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources Michael Rigas said the department would “soon” begin notifying employees affected by the cuts, Forbes reported. According to senior State Department officials, such notifications are expected as early as the morning of July 11, unnamed diplomats told the NYT. The exact number of employees to be laid off was not disclosed in Rigas's memo.

According to the Associated Press, the State Department is laying off more than 1,300 employees on Friday. A senior department official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that 1,107 civil servants and 246 diplomatic staff working in the United States would receive notices.

According to the WP and NYT, there are about 18,000 State Department employees working directly in the US, and more than 15% of them will be laid off under Rubio's plan. The latter clarifies that the plan does not provide for the closure of US embassies or a reduction in the number of US diplomatic missions abroad.