(11 Jul 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Washington – 11 July 2025
1. Laid off State Department Employee leaves building and is embraced by others
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Uzra Zeya, Former Under Secretary of State:
“My reaction is one of shock, disbelief, and sadness for individuals who literally dedicated their lives to keeping Americans safe, to supporting American prosperity, and for advancing American values.”
3. Laid off State Department Employee leaves embraces another and walks off
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Jose Mercado, Laid off State Department Employee:
“So, my entire team was affected by this, and the mood is somber, right? This is a sad day for democracy, it’s a sad for human rights, it is a sad day for the work that we have strived to serve as a check and balance between the general policy realm and our niche in the human rights and democracy and good governance world.”
5. Protesters holding signs outside the State Department
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Jose Mercado, Laid off State Department Employee:
“I’m in a position better than others. And I don’t want to sound like I’m joyful, because I’m eligible for retirement. So, for me it’s a matter of going to that, where others are, that I have in my teams, widowed mothers, folks that were just having their first kid, folks that have kids that are just going to college, and it’s gonna impact their lives immediately because they’ll still go through a plans but its financially and morally it’s devastating for them.”
7. Protester holds sign, reading: (English) Diplomacy matters. Feds matter.
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Robert Blake, Former U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia:
“I just think it’s a sad time for our institution at a time when, if anything, the State Department is needed more than ever to advance our interests around the world and to compete with China and other countries to stop wars and support President Trump’s agenda.”
9. State Department employees leave building and are cheered on by others
STORYLINE:
The State Department is firing over 1,300 employees in line with a dramatic reorganization plan initiated by the Trump administration earlier this year.
A senior State Department official said Friday the department is sending layoff notices to 1,107 civil servants and 246 foreign service officers with domestic assignments in the United States.
Jose Mercado is one of the State Department employees who was affected on Friday.
“So, my entire team was affected by this, and the mood is somber, right? This is a sad day for democracy, it’s a sad for human rights, it is a sad day, for the work that we have strived to serve as a check and balance between the general policy realm and our niche in the human rights and democracy and good governance world,” Mercado said.
While lauded by President Donald Trump’s administration as overdue and necessary to make the department leaner and more efficient, the cuts have been roundly criticized by current and former diplomats who say they will weaken U.S. influence and its ability to counter existing and emerging threats abroad.
Uzra Zeya, the former Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights of the United States, was there to support the employees.
“My reaction is one of shock, disbelief, and sadness for individuals who literally dedicated their lives to keeping Americans safe, to supporting American prosperity, and for advancing American values,” Zeya said.
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