Reporters Grill State Department Spokesperson As Injunction On Mass Layoffs Is Set To Expire

Forbes Breaking News

Reporters asked State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Tommy Pigott about efforts to cut staff at the Department and injunctions against the Administration's efforts.

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00:00I'll keep with the reorganization. So I'm just wondering, so you guys have the July 1st deadline

00:10for state reorg, right? There's an injunction by a federal judge that effectively blocks the

00:15department from implementing agency-wide layoffs. And there is SCOTUS potentially weighing on this.

00:23So can you tell us if we don't hear from SCOTUS by July 1st, which is Tuesday, is the State

00:31Department still going to go ahead with reduction in force? Well, I'm not going to speculate until

00:37the future on hypotheticals, but I can tell you we have no plans here at the department to violate

00:41a court order. Right. So you're saying that if SCOTUS between now and July 1st does not weigh in

00:47on this, then the July 1st deadline will inevitably be postponed? Well, my first answer stands,

00:52and I'm not going to speculate further on that. We have no plans here at the department

00:56to violate a court order. Okay. One more on this. We understand the

00:59Foreign Affairs Manual recently has been tweaked to prepare for the foundation of the RIF procedures.

01:08This administration has eliminated DEI, and it said it's bringing back merit-based. However,

01:14we understand that some of the RIFs will depend on where a Foreign Service Officer, for example,

01:22is working at the moment. And there are critics who are saying that that type of criteria basically

01:30ignores the years of knowledge, experience, language skills these officers have accumulated.

01:36So can you help us understand how this is going to be completely merit-based?

01:40Well, look, what I can say is from the beginning, as the Secretary has said, this reorganization

01:44is about making sure we're able to meet the challenges of the 21st century,

01:48being able to move at the speed of relevance, as the Secretary says. It's about empowering people

01:53instead of a bureaucracy. And I think it's also important to note the process of this from the

01:57beginning, a full transparency in this process communicating with the American people, with

02:02Congress from the very beginning on this. So the point of this reorganization is, again,

02:07to move at that speed of relevancy. Again, I'll stress I don't want to speculate moving forward

02:12exactly on what may happen, but I think it's important to remember the track record of how we got here.

02:16And the ultimate point of this, and what the American people, I think, would expect

02:20when it comes to meeting those challenges that we face today.

02:23Could I ask a follow-up, though?

02:25Yeah.

02:25If the point is to move at the speed of relevancy, would experience, language, and previous

02:31posts, wouldn't that play into consideration?

02:38Well, ultimately what we're seeing here is wanting to make sure the State Department is able to meet

02:41those challenges. That's been this whole process that's been communicated from the beginning,

02:46to make sure we're effectively meeting those challenges.

02:47So you would take those into consideration?

02:49Well, I think what we're –

02:50Language proficiency, for instance.

02:51Well, again, I don't want to speculate on certain individuals or get too specific on hypotheticals,

02:57but what I can say, as the Secretary has said, is this reorganization is about making sure we're

03:02empowering people, not bureaucracy, that we're able to meet those challenges in an effective way.

03:07He has spoken to that routinely. He has spoken to that publicly. That's the point here,

03:11and I think the American people expect to see that.

03:13If I may.

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