Connect with us

Politics

These are the State Department offices hit hardest by widespread layoffs

Published

2 months ago

on

The State Department laid off nearly 1,350 employees earlier this month, but certain bureaus and offices are feeling those cuts more than others.

A bureau-by-bureau breakdown of the department’s July 11 reduction-in-force, based on data obtained by Federal News Network, shows its human resources office, the Bureau of Global Talent Management, lost more than 150 employees, more than any other bureau.

The Bureau of Consular Affairs lost more than 100 employees in the RIF, but the State Department recently reinstated about 25 bureau employees who oversee key components of its passport operations.

The Office of Planning and Program Support (PPS) — part of the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Passport Services — was briefly “abolished,” according to a reinstated employee and the union that represents these employees, but all its employees were reinstated shortly after receiving RIF notices.

Among its duties, the office forecasts demand for passports and ensures passport agencies have the staffing and funding needed to keep up with their workload. The State Department in recent years struggled with seasonal backlogs in issuing and renewing passports, but returned to pre-pandemic processing times by the end of 2023.

Michael Rigas, the deputy secretary of state for management and resources, told House and Senate committees last week that RIFs at the Bureau of Consular Affairs only targeted “administrative functions,” and not any frontline staff who process passports.

“Individuals in Consular Affairs who are processing passports and adjudicating passports, that function was not touched,” Rigas told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on July 16. “Other functions, which have sort of a management remit and can be combined into other offices, we did find efficiencies and economies of scale to combine management functions across the department.”

Overall, a small percentage of employees who received RIF notices were terminated by accident, and have since been reinstated.

“There were very minor discrepancies, which were immediately resolved in real time by an organized and prepared State Department response team,” a senior State Department official told Federal News Network.

In a notice shared with Federal News Network, Lew Olowski, the senior bureau official in charge of the Bureau of Global Talent Management, told employees that they received a RIF notice because of an “administrative error.”

“Your position is not being abolished as part of the Department reorganization,” Olowski wrote.

The Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations, which manages the department’s international real estate portfolio, also lost nearly 100 employees.

Employees who received reduction-in-force notices left the department’s headquarters on July 11, some carrying boxes and office supplies. Staff and protestors at a rally outside applauded RIF’d employees as they walked out.

Former Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy and Human Rights Uzra Zeya, now president and CEO of Human Rights First, said the RIF “decimates U.S. diplomacy and it makes us less safe.”

“Rather than retaining the skills and expertise honed over decades by those who served, [Secretary of State Marco] Rubio kneecapped American human rights and humanitarian leadership in one fell swoop,” Zeya said on July 11 at a rally outside the State Department’s headquarters.

Kelly Rodriguez, a former senior diplomat who led global labor policy at the State Department under the Biden administration, said terminated employees helped fight forced child labor overseas and end unfair competition in the global economy.

“These actions weaken our economy and fragile global supply chains. They undermine our trade and national security. They jeopardize the livelihoods, rights and ability for workers to have a safe and decent job here again and around the world,” Rodriguez said.

Sen. Andy Kim (D-N.J.), a former diplomat at the State Department, said RIF’d employees “deserved better than this.”

“This is no way to treat people who have served our nation. Many of them have served in harm’s way or worked in war zones, risked their lives for our country and now being treated with such disrespect,” Kim said.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) said the department’s layoffs weaken the U.S. diplomatic mission and “makes us less safe.”

“It hurts everyone in our country, because it diminishes our ability to advance America’s interests and America’s values around the world,” he said

table visualization

The post These are the State Department offices hit hardest by widespread layoffs first appeared on Federal News Network.

Related Topics:
Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Politics

Black Lives Matter Activist in Boston Pleads Guilty to Federal Fraud Charges – Scammed Donors to Fund Her Lifestyle

Published

21 hours ago

on

September 24, 2025

By

Screencap of YouTube video.

A Black Lives Matter activist in Boston named Monica Cannon-Grant pleaded guilty to federal charges this week, admitting that she scammed donors and used their money to fund her own lavish lifestyle.

Cannon-Grant was previously held up as an admired figure. The city of Boston named her the Bostonian of the year at one point for her ‘social justice activism’ and she was even recognized by the Boston Celtics basketball team for her efforts.

She is now facing a minimum of two years in prison.

The New York Post reports:

BLM-linked activist admits conning donors to fund her lavish lifestyle

A once-celebrated Boston social activist has pleaded guilty to defrauding donors — including Black Lives Matter — out of thousands of dollars that she used as a personal piggy bank.

Monica Cannon-Grant, 44, pleaded guilty Monday to 18 counts of fraud-related crimes that she committed with her late husband while operating their Violence in Boston (VIB) activists group, according to the US Attorney’s Office in Massachusetts.

The activist scammed money — including $3,000 from a BLM group — while claiming it was to help feed children and run protests like one in 2020 over the murder of George Floyd and police violence.

Cannon-Grant also conned her way into getting $100,000 in federal pandemic-related unemployment benefits — which she used to pay off her personal auto loan and car insurance policy.

But she has now confessed to transferring funds to personal bank accounts to pay for rent, shopping sprees, delivery meals, visits to a nail salon — and even a summer vacation to Maryland.

Just amazing.

Here’s a local video report:

She should pay back every penny.

The post Black Lives Matter Activist in Boston Pleads Guilty to Federal Fraud Charges – Scammed Donors to Fund Her Lifestyle appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Continue Reading

Politics

Keith Olbermann Backpedals Furiously With Apology for Threatening CNN’s Scott Jennings – Jennings Responds (VIDEO)

Published

21 hours ago

on

September 24, 2025

By

As the Gateway Pundit reported yesterday, former MSNBC host and generally unhinged leftist Keith Olbermann, appeared to threaten CNN’s conservative pundit Scott Jennings on Twitter saying, ‘You’re next motherf**ker.’

Well, Olbermann may have gotten a phone call or a visit from the FBI because today he walked back those comments with a full-throated apology.

RedState has an update:

To quickly recap, Scott Jennings, a Salem Media Network radio host and conservative CNN political commentator, reacted to breaking news on Monday that Kimmel had been reinstated by tweeting, “So basically his employer suspended him for being an insensitive pr**k, and we don’t live in an authoritarian regime? Got it.”

This enraged Olbermann, who proceeded to tweet what many, including Jennings, perceived to be a threat. “You’re next, motherf**ker. But keep mugging to the camera.” Jennings tagged Patel and included a screengrab of the tweets in response.

Though the FBI hasn’t commented as to whether an investigation was launched, Olbermann ostensibly appears to have thought twice about what he tweeted and deleted, apologizing profusely in tweets posted on Tuesday and claiming what he wrote was “misinterpreted”:

See Olbermann’s tweet below:

Scott Jennings, always a class act, offered this hilarious response:

Keith Olbermann really needs help. The guy is just so out of control.

The post Keith Olbermann Backpedals Furiously With Apology for Threatening CNN’s Scott Jennings – Jennings Responds (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Continue Reading

Politics

Where is Lance Twiggs? Kirk Assassin’s Transgender Lover Has Vanished

Published

22 hours ago

on

September 24, 2025

By

Charlie Kirk assassin Tyler Robinson and roommate Lance Twiggs

Charlie Kirk assassin Tyler Robinson lived with his transgender partner – a male-to-female trans named Lance “Luna” Twiggs.

The FBI used Robinson’s texts with his transgender partner to solidify that Robinson was the assassin. Lance Twiggs has not been charged with any crime; however, federal authorities are still investigating.

Last week, Utah authorities released the text exchange between Tyler Robinson and his transgender lover, Lance Twiggs, sent shortly after Kirk’s assassination.

Utah County District Attorney Jeff Gray announced seven charges against Charlie Kirk assassin Tyler Robinson. They will also be seeking the death penalty.

Robinson was charged with:

– Count 1: Aggravated murder (capital offense)
– Count 2: Felony reckless discharge of a firearm causing bodily injury
– Count 3: Felony obstruction of justice for hiding the firearm
– Count 4: Felony obstruction of justice for discarding the clothing he wore during the shooting
– Count 5: Witness tampering for asking roommate to delete incriminating messages
– Count 6: Witness temperating for demanding trans roommate stay silent, and not speak to police
– Count 7: Commission of a violent offense in the presence of a child

Jeff Gray released the chilling texts between Tyler Robinson and his “love” Lance Twiggs.

Read the text exchange here:

Tyler Robinson texts with transgender lover Lance Twiggs / 1
Kirk assassin Tyler Robinson texts with transgender lover Lance Twiggs / 2

Lance Twiggs was reportedly cooperating with the FBI, however, according to the Daily Mail he has seemingly vanished.

“If [Lance Twiggs] ever comes back, it will be in a body bag,” a neighbor said to the Daily Mail. “That’s not a threat – I’m just saying that there are so many people who want a piece of him he’d be mad to show his face in public again. This was a generational event.”

The Daily Mail reported:

The Trans boyfriend of Charlie Kirk’s alleged assassin has fled their former lovenest – and locals tell the Daily Mail they never want to see him again.

Lance Twiggs, 22, was led away for questioning when police swooped on the smart three-bed condo he shared with accused gunman Tyler Robinson, 22.

Shaken neighbors say the part time plumber has not been back to the $320,000 property in St. George, Utah – one declaring: ‘Good riddance. I never want to see either of them again.’

His beaten-up Infinity compact is still parked in his space with his work gear tossed across the back seat and a sandwich wrapper and a drink on the front passenger seat.

Upstairs lights have been left on for more than a week and notes and Amazon packages are piling up outside the home owned by Twiggs’s devout Mormon family.

The post Where is Lance Twiggs? Kirk Assassin’s Transgender Lover Has Vanished appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Continue Reading

Trending