President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump tour the Texas flood devastation and the State Department begins laying employees.

Donald Trump likes to say he’s about America first. What we’re witnessing here is America in retreat,” Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen told HuffPost at a rally for 1,353 dismissed diplomats.

The Trump administration is pressing ahead with an unprecedented overhaul of its diplomatic corps, a move critics say will undermine ability to defend and promote U.S. interests abroad.

Employees of the U.S. State Department could receive a layoff notice via email very soon as part of the Trump administration's plan to downsize the government.

A rally is expected, with supporters “clapping out” departing State Department employees and protesting the layoffs at 4 p.m. Friday.

The State Department will lay off more than 1,300 people as part of a broad restructuring plan, Reuters is reporting. The layoffs will affect 1,107 civil servants and 246 foreign service officers, according to Reuters, which said it has seen an internal notice. The Associated Press is reporting the same number.

The State Department will start sending notices to members of its workforce impacted by the reorganization soon, the agency's top official for management said on Thursday, as President Donald Trump's administration moves ahead with its plans to overhaul the U.

State Department to release letter to all employees Thursday evening informing them that it's officially moving to implement “targeted reduction in domestic workforce.”