The US State Department may initiate large-scale layoffs on Friday

Staff at the US State Department are bracing for large-scale layoffs that could start on Friday after the Supreme Court paved the way for the Trump administration to push ahead with plans to restructure and streamline the agency, according to Semafor, a US financial media outlet. On Tuesday, the Supreme Court reversed a lower court ruling that had blocked the planned layoffs, which could amount to thousands of people. The State Department had anticipated the ruling and is preparing to start the "mandatory attrition" notification process this week, according to multiple sources, but the specific timetable remains uncertain. While awaiting the Supreme Court's ruling, the State Department has started preparing a broader restructuring plan: last month it required civil servants to submit updated resumes and updated the Foreign Affairs Handbook to accommodate restructuring needs.