US State Department's morale at 'all time low' amid staff cuts

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The US State Department hit back on Friday at growing bipartisan criticism of its worrying cuts of staff and a reorganization plan which has been seen as going nowhere.

Every federal agency and department was required to cut staff under the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), said Heather Nauert, the spokeswoman of the US State Department, at a press briefing. "That is something that didn't come out of the State Department."

US State Department Spokeswoman Heather Nauert speaks to reporters during a press conference in Washington, DC, on June 6, 2017. /AFP Photo‍

To achieve its goal of reducing eight percent of its workforce as required by the OMB, the State Department will ask for 641 employee departures above its normal attrition levels by the end of 2018.

Meanwhile, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has embraced the White House's proposal to cut the State Department budget by about 30 percent.

The former Exxon Mobil CEO also imposed a hiring freeze while analyzing the agency's operations and deciding how to reorganize them.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson delivers remarks to the employees at the State Department in Washington, US, May 3, 2017. /Reuters Photo

At the briefing, Nauert called the redesign "a work in progress."

She also insisted that the number of senior foreign service officers, which were slight below 1,000, was only a little lower than the number at this time last year.

The staff cuts and the redesign have drawn harsh criticism from Congress, which believes it may lead to the brain drain of the US foreign service corps.

Senator Bob Corker (R-TN) speaks with reporters about the withdrawn Republican health care bill on Capitol Hill in Washington, US, July 18, 2017. /Reuters Photo

"I don't think they are anywhere close to having a plan to present relative to the reforms that they want to make," said Senator Bob Corker, the Republican chairman of Senate Foreign Relations Committee in a business meeting on Tuesday.

Senator Ben Cardin, the top Democrat on the same committee, called the staff reductions a risk to national security and a "high-level decapitation of leadership."

"This situation is alarming. We put our country in danger," said Cardin.

So far, numerous top-level posts remained unfilled in the State Department, including the assistant secretary for Asian and Pacific affairs.

"My impression is that the morale is at all time low at the State Department," noted Cardin.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee member Senanor Ben Cardin. /AFP Photo

At Friday's briefing, Nauert also acknowledged a low morale among agency employees.

"There is a morale issue in this building," she said. "We have a lot of work to be done. Please don't give up."

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Source(s): Xinhua News Agency