The involuntary staff reductions include 1,107 civil service and 246 foreign service employees, according to a notice sent to employees Friday morning.

The State Department on Friday began notifying 1,353 affected workers of their pending job losses as the department reduces its workforce by 15%.

Videos show emotional scenes as tearful State Department employees emerge to applause from colleagues after being abruptly fired.

Senior State Department officials described the changes as "the most complicated reorganization in government history," emphasizing that the cuts were largely made to eliminate Cold War-era redundancies as well as eliminating functions that were "no longer aligned with the president's foreign policy priorities."

The State Department has formally advised staffers that it will be sending layoff notices to some of them soon.

The State Department will start sending notices to members of its workforce impacted by the reorganization soon, the agency's top official for management said on Thursday, as President Donald Trump's administration moves ahead with its plans to overhaul the U.

I do want to ask you both briefly as well about the mass firings at the State Department we reported on earlier. That follows a Supreme Court ruling that basically cleared the way for the Trump administration to move forward with those reductions in force.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio insists he is streamlining a bloated department, but critics warn the cost to America’s standing and influence could be high.