Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) said in a CNN interview on Monday that recent State Department layoffs affecting hundreds of people were probably seen as good news by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“I think the folks who are celebrating this decision are our adversaries — China is going to be celebrating; Vladimir Putin is going to be celebrating,” Van Hollen told CNN’s John Berman. “And our allies are going to be the ones who think this is just another step back as part of Donald Trump’s long retreat.”
The State Department moved ahead with laying off 1,300 foreign service and civil service employees on Friday as part of a department overhaul that Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced earlier this year.
The move drew immediate backlash from former diplomats and others who argued that President Trump’s administration is harming national security by cutting the country’s diplomatic force.
“It’s obviously a great disservice to these people who were dedicated to the United States of America and went into work every day as patriots, but it’s also going to hurt our whole country,” Van Hollen said of the State Department cuts. “These are men and women who have been advancing American interests and values around the world, and Donald Trump talks about ‘America First,’ but this is America in retreat, and it’s going to hurt all of us.”
The State Department did not immediately provide a comment for this story when contacted by The Hill.
Rubio defended the layoffs while on a diplomatic trip to Asia last week, calling the effort a “very deliberate step to reorganize the State Department to be more efficient and more focused.”
“It’s not a consequence of trying to get rid of people, but if you close the bureau, you don’t need those positions,” Rubio told reporters in Malaysia.Â
Rubio approved the shuttering of the U.S. Agency for International Development in his department earlier this year.
The American Foreign Service Association (AFSA), which represents former and current diplomats, said Friday that the layoffs signal to allies that the U.S. is retreating from its global commitments.
“As allies look to the U.S. for reassurance and rivals test for weakness, the administration has chosen to sideline the very professionals best equipped to navigate this moment,” AFSA said in a statement. “Meanwhile, countries like China continue expanding their diplomatic reach and influence.”
Van Hollen was one of several Democrats who took part in a protest outside the State Department’s headquarters on Friday.
