The Trump administration laid off more than 1,300 State Department employees in July 2025, including key counterterrorism experts who had spent years building programs to prevent terrorist attacks on American soil. The mass layoffs targeted critical offices within the Bureau of Counterterrorism, eliminating decades of institutional knowledge and expertise in combating violent extremism.
Michael Duffin, a senior policy advisor in the Bureau of Counterterrorism’s Office of Countering Violent Extremism, was among those fired. Duffin had worked for nine years developing programs to counter white supremacy and other forms of violent extremism. His office, along with the Counterterrorism Bureau’s Office of Strategy, Plans, and Initiatives, was completely eliminated as part of Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s reorganization efforts.
