Michelle Kellerman
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Secretary of State Marco Rubio says he's been streamlining what he calls a bloated bureaucracy.
Agency for International Development and then laid off another 1,300 State Department employees in July.
Michelle Kellerman, NPR News, the State Department.
The American Foreign Service Association says it is appalled that the State Department decided to finalize the separation of Foreign Service members this Friday.
It says the move, quote, flies in the face of the current funding law, which prohibits layoffs while the government is operating on a continuing resolution.
The State Department argues that it has the right to do this because the reduction in force started well before the government shutdown.
Officials cite legal opinions by the OMB's general counsel.
The union is pursuing legal action, saying the State Department has repeatedly taken steps that have demoralized the workforce and calls this a new low.
Michelle Kellerman, NPR News, the State Department.
Earlier this month, President Trump warned that he would stop all aid to Nigeria and may go into the country, quote, guns a-blazing to stop terrorists from killing Christians.
State Department officials say the Nigerians heard U.S.
concerns and sent a high-level team to Washington to meet Pentagon officials and the Deputy Secretary of State, Christopher Landau.
Republican Congressman Riley Moore says he had what he calls frank, honest, and productive talks with the Nigerian delegation, too,
He says the Nigerians have a chance to deepen relations with the U.S.
if they prioritize the protection of Christians.
Michelle Kellerman, NPR News, the State Department.
Rubio's State Department rewrote the Biden administration's country reports on human rights, and now embassies have been given instructions on how to keep this year's report brief and focused.
A senior State Department official says the department will focus on what the administration describes as natural rights of individuals, rather than on marginalized groups.
The new instructions encourage embassies to write about affirmative action policies, which the Trump administration opposes,