Rubio Axes Unit That Brings Home Deceased Diplomats

Reuters reports:

Among the scores of offices the U.S. State Department eliminated last week in its dramatic revamp, the shuttering of one little-known office has raised particular alarm among U.S. diplomats.

The small team at the Department’s Office of Casualty Assistance, which supports U.S. diplomats and their families abroad in the event of death or serious injury, received termination notices last Friday along with more than 1,350 Department employees. The firings came as a surprise, sources familiar with their situation said.

When the notices arrived by email on Friday, the team was working on repatriating the remains of a senior U.S. official who died in a car crash in Mexico last week. The U.S. Consulate in Monterrey said in a Facebook statement that Brian Matthew Faughnan, a member of its mission, died in a car accident in the northern Mexican state of Coahuila on July 9.

Read the full article. The State Department has fired back in a statement to the right wing Daily Caller, saying that such operations will be handled by another department. Staffers in that department, obviously, have no experience in dealing with such a solemn task.

US State Department draws criticism for shutting office that brings home deceased diplomats https://t.co/oOwUi690Kb

— ST Foreign Desk (@STForeignDesk) July 17, 2025