Separately, he has accused certain bureaus within the department of pursuing a “radical political ideology”.
Last week, the Supreme Court cleared the way for the Trump Administration to launch plans for mass firings and reorganisations at 19 federal agencies and departments while litigation continues.
The justices lifted a lower-court order that temporarily blocked plans to lay off thousands of federal workers, including at the State Department, because the Administration did not first consult Congress.
While the layoffs are deeply unpopular among career officials, some expressed mild relief that the court’s decision ended the cloud of uncertainty hanging over the department.
“The only thing worse than these layoffs was the uncertainty about these layoffs,” one State Department official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told the Washington Post.