WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The State Department began firing more than 1,350 U.S.-based employees on Friday as the administration of President Donald Trump presses ahead with an unprecedented overhaul of its diplomatic corps, a move critics say will undermine U.S. ability to defend and promote U.S. interests abroad.

The State Department on Friday began notifying 1,353 affected workers of their pending job losses as the department reduces its workforce by 15%.

Videos show emotional scenes as tearful State Department employees emerge to applause from colleagues after being abruptly fired.

The State Department informed U.S.-based employees on Thursday that it would soon be laying off nearly 2,000 workers as part of a plan to downsize its domestic workforce.

Senior State Department officials described the changes as "the most complicated reorganization in government history," emphasizing that the cuts were largely made to eliminate Cold War-era redundancies as well as eliminating functions that were "no longer aligned with the president's foreign policy priorities."

The State Department is firing over 1,300 employees in line with a dramatic reorganization plan initiated by the Trump administration earlier this year.

The State Department will begin firing personnel “soon” as Secretary of State Marco Rubio implements his dramatic overhaul of the agency, according to an email from a top State Department official to staff Thursday evening.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s plan to downsize a “bloated” department had been on hold after a court ruling.

The State Department has formally advised staffers that it will be sending layoff notices to some of them soon.

I do want to ask you both briefly as well about the mass firings at the State Department we reported on earlier. That follows a Supreme Court ruling that basically cleared the way for the Trump administration to move forward with those reductions in force.