Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, announced Tuesday she introduced a bill requiring Congressional notification of any major layoffs at the State Department and other agencies under the panel’s jurisdiction.
The move comes as Secretary of State Marco Rubio has designated July 1 the deadline to dismiss 15 percent of the department’s workforce, or an estimated 2,000 people. Legal challenges had earlier delayed the firings, but a Supreme Court ruling may have given the Trump administration a green light to move forward.
The legislation is unlikely to advance in the GOP-controlled Senate.
The mass layoffs are part of Rubio’s plans to reorganize the State Department, eliminating multiple agencies in what he said is an effort to streamline America’s diplomatic operations.
It also comes on the day Rubio announced the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) had officially ceased operations, a move the administration defends as cutting wasteful spending. Democrats say the shuttering of USAID is unconstitutional, dangerous to America’s standing and fatal to populations across the globe.
"This legislation is crucial to protecting America's ability to respond to global threats,” Shaheen said in a statement.
“The Trump Administration is systematically dismantling our diplomatic institutions and weakening the workforce we depend on to advance U.S. interests, respond to crises and out-compete adversaries like the People's Republic of China,” she added.
Shaheen was joined by Democrats on the Foreign Relations panel, including Sens. Chris Coons (Del.), Chris Murphy (Conn.), Tim Kaine (Virg.), Jeff Merkley (Oreg.), Cory Booker (N.J.), Brian Schatz (Hawaii), Chris Van Hollen (Md.), Tammy Duckworth (Ill.) and Jacky Rosen (Nev.).
The legislation requires any foreign affairs agency planning reductions-in-force, or RIFs, that affect over 50 employees to submit detailed reasoning and assessments to both the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and House Foreign Affairs Committee 20 days before the cuts.
The bill also seeks to protect Foreign Service Officers by ensuring that RIF decisions are primarily based on performance and prior selection board rankings – part of the process of promotions in the service.
The bill also calls for giving impacted employees 120 days advance notice, or no less than 60 days notice. The text also requires congressional notification before altering its Foreign Affairs Manual, responding to the Trump administration altering the manual ahead of the State Department’s reorganization.
The bill applies to the State Department, Millennium Challenge Corporation, Development Finance Corporation, Peace Corps, Trade and Development Agency, the U.S. Agency for Global Media and USAID.
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