State Dept Spox Bruce to Newsmax: Staff Reductions Make Agency More Efficient

State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce told Newsmax on Thursday that recent reductions in force at the agency will not hamper the Trump administration’s efforts to address its priorities, as some mainstream media outlets have suggested.

More than 1,300 employees were let go Friday as part of the department’s reduction in force initiatives, but Bruce told “Rob Schmitt Tonight” the total is approximately 3,000, including those who took the administration’s early buyout offer of deferred retirement.

“I would just suggest that the concern about being able to meet our priorities, it’s about 15% of the State Department’s personnel, if you will,” Bruce said. “And yet, it’s the liberal media, liberals in general who are associating size with effectiveness, that the bigger something is the better something is. The fact of the matter is, this is the 21st century. We have to move at the speed of relevance, as [Secretary of State Marco Rubio] says. We have to be nimble. We have to be able to act quickly.

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