US State Department plans to close consulates, reduce workforce

ISTANBUL

Senior US State Department officials are planning to close a dozen consulates mainly in Western Europe by this summer and are considering workforce reductions, potentially hindering efforts to build partnerships and gather intelligence, according to local media.

The department plans to cut many local employees at its missions, who make up two-thirds of its workforce and are essential to US diplomats' understanding of local conditions, The New York Times reported late Thursday.

Last month, Secretary of State Marco Rubio sent a memo to ambassadors directing them to reduce staffing at overseas posts to what was necessary for the president's foreign policy and to eliminate any positions that had been vacant for two years, the Times reported.

The move to reduce diplomatic posts and overseas staffing is part of an initiative to cut the State Department's operations budget by as much as 20%.

The department’s workforce consists of approximately 13,000 Foreign Service members, 11,000 Civil Service employees, and 45,000 locally hired staff across more than 270 diplomatic missions worldwide, according to its website.

In the first two months of 2025 alone, around 700 employees including 450 career diplomats resigned, a rate much higher than the previous annual total of about 800, the paper said.