WASHINGTON, July 11 (Reuters) - The State Department will start 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.

A federal judge on Thursday blocked the Trump administration from enforcing a contentious executive order ending birthright citizenship after certifying a lawsuit as a class action, effectively the only way he could impose such a far-reaching limit after a Supreme Court ruling last month.

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