The Secretary Will Disavow Any Knowledge of Your RIF (Until Monday, Anyway)

New: Widespread RIFs/layoffs could come to the State Department as soon as Friday, though one source notes the department is expected to wait for a Supreme Court ruling on its reorganization plan (which is expected imminently) -https://t.co/Q4oDIFNvTQ

— Shelby Talcott (@ShelbyTalcott) June 25, 2025

As you've surely seen by now, today's Supreme Court decision in a pertinent case has paused, at least for a little while, the RIFs that were heavily rumored to take place today. Will they take place next week instead? Maybe.

The OPSEC fans among us, looking for observables and indicators, noticed that most of the large conference rooms at HST and Rosslyn annexes - where processing of RIF'ed employees would be likely to take place - were reserved today.  

I, personally, was headed to an early morning meeting today in a large conference room in SA-6 when I noticed that the meeting venue had been changed to another building at the last minute. It made me feel a chill as if the Angel of Death were circling over my good friends in OBO.

Don't give in to despair. Wait and see, and be assured that the worst is usually not as bad as you'd imagined it would be.