Statement of Democracy Forward on the Recent Reduction-In-Force Notices for the U.S. Department of State

Today, Democracy Forward President & CEO, Skye Perryman, released the following statement in response to the recent reduction-in-force notices sent to more than 1,000 employees at the U.S. Department of State:

_We are aware of the reduction-in-force notices that more than 1,000 employees at the Department of State received yesterday and are also monitoring developments across the federal government. The administration's decision to indiscriminately terminate these civil servants threatens to make Americans less safe at home and abroad. There are no words to express the gratitude that our team and millions of Americans have for the incredible public service that career State department employees have given this country. _

_The RIF notices include a period of time before the RIF goes into effect and, rest assured, our team will be doing all we can in court to highlight the unlawful nature of the President's decision to restructure and decimate the civil service without Congressional approval before the RIFs are effectuated and beyond. As we emphasized earlier this week, there has been no ruling by any court that the President's actions in terminating these civil servants are constitutional or lawful. In the meantime, for civil servants affected at State and across the government, we wanted to lift two critical resources: _

(1) the RISE UP: Federal Worker Legal Defense Network is available for civil servants seeking pro bono legal counsel and resources; links to other legal counsel options are available on the Civil Service Strong site.

(2) the team at Civil Service Strong is posting resources and updates routinely and will continue to do so.