Many of the 1,300 State Department employees fired by the Trump administration a year ago joined with members of Congress and good government allies at a rally outside the U.S. Capitol last week to highlight the devastating consequences of the terminations on the workers themselves and, more critically, the safety and security of all Americans.
The event was organized by AFGE and the American Foreign Service Association and sponsored by Rep. James Walkinshaw (D-Va.). Attendees wore lanyards with homemade identification badges to highlight the work they can no longer perform, while pop-up banners situated along the House Triangle illustrated the mission-critical functions that have been lost due to the mass terminations.
“Every badge on these panels and worn by the people standing with us today represents a real public servant who was terminated. Real work for this country that is no longer being done. Visa security. Crisis response. Disease surveillance. Democracy promotion. One year later, America is significantly less safe because these people are missing,” said Ferdaouis Bagga, a steward with AFGE Local 1534 who was terminated from her job promoting democracy and human rights in Africa. “That work made America more prosperous, more respected, and more secure. We were told it no longer mattered.”
The firing of civil and foreign service workers at the State Department followed earlier action by the administration to dismantle the independent U.S. Agency for International Development, which was established by Congress in 1961 to focus on foreign aid and U.S. development assistance overseas.
AFGE National President Everett Kelley said workers were dismissed without respect for their labor rights or any concern over the loss of experience and institutional knowledge that these dedicated careerists possessed.
“These weren’t just jobs. These were public servants. They were the people who helped Americans escape conflict zones, reunited families, supported our military, protected our national security, and represented our country around the world,” Kelley said. “When these workers were fired, it wasn’t just an attack on federal employees. It was an attack on America’s ability to lead, to keep people safe, and to respond when the world faces challenges.”
AFSA President John Dinkelman questioned the administration’s claims that the terminations were designed to make operations more efficient. The agency has continued to fire workers as recently as May while simultaneously hiring hundreds of new Foreign Service officers over the past year – jobs that aren’t open to the employees who were fired.
“Officers who received RIF notices have watched the department post their own jobs — while the department tells Congress that the people it fired won't even be allowed to apply. Nobody can explain how firing your experts and then hiring their replacements saves a single taxpayer dollar,” Dinkelman said. “Which is why we call on Congress to exercise real oversight of the administration’s ‘replacement in force’ across the federal government — and to hold officials accountable for the money wasted on these separations.”
Shortly after the press conference concluded, Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) introduced legislation that would allow Foreign Service officers fired without cause since the beginning of the Trump administration to return to service without having to take the same written and oral entry exams they previously passed.
“President Trump and Secretary Rubio’s reckless purge of the State Department inflicted lasting damage on America’s diplomatic capacity by driving out some of our nation’s most experienced public servants,” Beyer said. “Our Foreign Service Officers have dedicated their lives to advancing America’s interests, protecting our national security, supporting American citizens overseas, and strengthening our alliances abroad. After years of distinguished service, they shouldn’t have to jump through unnecessary bureaucratic hoops to return to jobs they never should have lost in the first place.”
The Foreign Service Test-Free Reentry Act (H.R. 9730) is cosponsored by Reps. Walkinshaw, Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), Dina Titus (D-Nev.), and Johnny Olszewski (D-Md.), as well as Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), and is supported by AFGE and AFSA.
“The men and women of the State Department chose a career of service because they believe in something bigger than themselves,” Kelley said during the press conference. “They deserve respect, they deserve support, and they deserve the opportunity to continue serving the American people.”
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