The departures are common when a transition takes place, but it is now happening more quickly and on a larger scale than under previous administrations, a U.S. official said.
A transition team for President-elect Donald J. Trump has asked scores of senior career diplomats to resign from their positions on Monday, as soon as Mr. Trump takes office, and many of those asked to step down intend to do so, two U.S. officials said.
The practice is common when a presidential transition occurs, but it is happening faster and on a larger scale than with previous administrations, one U.S. official said. That means a possible loss of valuable knowledge of both the American institution and global affairs at the start of the administration.
The Trump transition team at the State Department is led by aides to Marco Rubio, the Florida senator picked by Mr. Trump to replace Antony J. Blinken as secretary of state. Mr. Rubio is expected to be confirmed quickly by the Senate.
Some of the officials stepping down are at the level of assistant secretary or higher and run large bureaus in the department that focus on regions of the world or broad issues. Many of those positions were held by political appointees and will be vacated, which is expected during a transition. The Trump transition team asked for the resignations on Friday.
It is unclear what kinds of jobs the veteran diplomats, known as foreign service officers, will seek or get in the coming weeks or months. Career diplomats are members of a union that would try to protect them from being fired from the State Department if that were to happen unfairly.
Every president and their appointed secretary of state replaces all or most of the people in those senior positions early in an administration. In some cases, foreign service officers decide to retire, especially if they have served for more than two decades. In some cases, they have held top positions throughout the department already and have no clear advancement path when a new administration comes in.