The Clinton Global Initiative has plans to eliminate the positions of dozens of employees by year's end in anticipation of Hillary Clinton's November win to take the White House.

Some staff will remain to continue working with donors, but several CGI employees have already been informed that their jobs will be terminated, according to a report published Tuesday by Politico, citing two former Clinton Foundation officials with knowledge of the matter. "We informed CGI staff of this transition more than four months before the end of the year, and have provided information about CGI-related roles that will continue," a Clinton Foundation spokesperson told Politico, adding, "All full-time CGI employees will have their jobs with benefits at least through the end of the calendar year."

The move appears to be a concession to criticism that the Clinton Foundation should not conduct some of its normal activities if Hillary Clinton wins the White House. In recent months, critics of the foundation say there was not strong enough of a firewall between Clinton and the foundation while she was secretary of state. Several reports have surfaced indicating that Clinton Foundation donors received preferential treatment while Hillary Clinton was secretary of state.

However, Clinton allies suggested there is a big difference between access and favors. Count among them Bill Clinton, who said in an interview that aired on Monday that it was "natural" for friends and Clinton Foundation donors to ask Hillary Clinton's State Department for favors. "It was natural for people who've been our political allies and personal friends to call and ask for things," the former president said during an NPR interview. "And I trusted the State Department wouldn't do anything they shouldn't do, from a meeting to a favor."

While some who have been associated with the foundation were reportedly disappointed with how the layoffs are being handled, others indicated that retaining any CGI staff was a "bad idea," with one former official saying, "I really think they should make a clean break, and apparently so do most staff."



It remains unclear how far the Clinton Foundation will go to avoid the appearance of conflicts of interest, should Hillary Clinton win in November. The non-profit has said it will stop accepting donations from corporations and foreign entities. Bill Clinton has announced that he will step down from the board, but their daughter Chelsea Clinton's status has not been determined. And the exact operations of the foundation have not been defined.

In an open letter Bill Clinton wrote last month, he acknowledged that changes were necessary for the foundation and offered broad strokes of what they might include. "Since Hillary began her presidential campaign in 2015, Chelsea and I have made it clear that the work the Clinton Foundation started should continue if Hillary is elected, but that changes would be necessary. While it would be presumptive to assume a victory in November, now that Hillary is her party's nominee, it would be irresponsible not to plan for it," Clinton wrote.

