{"id":22616,"date":"2025-07-10T20:28:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-11T00:28:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/?p=22616"},"modified":"2026-05-05T12:02:22","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T16:02:22","slug":"ranking-member-shaheen-foreign-relation-democrats-statement-on-state-department-personnel-cuts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/es\/ranking-member-shaheen-foreign-relation-democrats-statement-on-state-department-personnel-cuts\/","title":{"rendered":"Ranking Member Shaheen, Foreign Relation Democrats Statement on State Department Personnel Cuts"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>WASHINGTON<\/strong>&nbsp;\u2013&nbsp;Today,&nbsp;<strong>U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee,<\/strong>&nbsp;Chris Coons (D-DE), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR),&nbsp;Cory Booker (D-NJ),&nbsp;Brian Schatz (D-HI), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and Jacky Rosen (D-NV) released a statement on&nbsp;announced plans&nbsp;by the State Department to&nbsp;terminate personnel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>&#8220;As the U.S. retreats, our adversaries\u2014like the People\u2019s Republic of China\u2014are expanding their diplomatic reach, making Americans less safe and less prosperous. If this administration is serious about putting \u2018America first,\u2019 it must invest in our diplomatic corps and national security experts\u2014not erode the institutions that protect our interests, promote U.S. values and keep Americans abroad safe.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe Administration\u2019s decision to&nbsp;fire&nbsp;hundreds&nbsp;of&nbsp;members of the Civil Service and Foreign Service&nbsp;at the Department of State&nbsp;undermines&nbsp;our national security. While there&nbsp;are targeted reforms that our government can pursue to maximize the impact of every tax dollar, that\u2019s not what this is. Blanket and indiscriminate cuts\u2014the legacy from Elon Musk\u2019s failed DOGE effort\u2014weaken our government\u2019s ability to deliver for the American people in a cost-effective manner.&nbsp;There are&nbsp;active&nbsp;conflicts and humanitarian crises&nbsp;in Ukraine, Sudan,&nbsp;Gaza, Haiti and Myanmar\u2014to name a few.&nbsp;Now is the time to strengthen our diplomatic hand, not weaken it.&nbsp;From&nbsp;pursuing peaceful resolutions&nbsp;to&nbsp;out-competing China diplomatically and economically,&nbsp;we can\u2019t afford to not have experienced diplomats at the table.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe will continue to fight on behalf of the public servants and their families who now face job loss after careers spent advancing America\u2019s interests and values in challenging and often high-risk environments. We call on Secretary Rubio to ensure that any proposed reorganization, including reductions in force, is carried out transparently and in full accordance with U.S. law.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">###<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>WASHINGTON&nbsp;\u2013&nbsp;Today,&nbsp;U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee,&nbsp;Chris Coons (D-DE), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR),&nbsp;Cory Booker (D-NJ),&nbsp;Brian Schatz (D-HI), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and Jacky Rosen (D-NV) released a statement on&nbsp;announced plans&nbsp;by the State Department to&nbsp;terminate personnel. &#8220;As the U.S. retreats, our [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":18846,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[38,129],"class_list":["post-22616","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-releases","tag-foreign-policy-and-national-security","tag-protecting-consumers"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - 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