Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced a significant restructuring of the State Department on Tuesday. The plan includes a 15% reduction in U.S.-based staff and the closure or consolidation of over 100 bureaus globally, aligning with the Trump administration’s “America First” policy.
Rubio’s reorganization plan, shared on social media and detailed in documents obtained by The Associated Press, represents the latest White House initiative to reshape U.S. foreign policy and decrease the size of the federal government.
“We cannot succeed in the 21st century with an inefficient bureaucracy that hinders innovation and wastes resources,” Rubio stated in an email to department staff acquired by The AP. “Therefore, under President Trump’s leadership and my direction, I am announcing a reorganization of the Department to address the significant challenges of the 21st Century and prioritize America.”
The plans involve reducing the number of bureaus and offices from 734 to 602, and relocating 137 offices within the Department to improve efficiency, according to an AP-obtained fact sheet.
The method of implementing the reorganization, whether through an executive order or other means, remains unspecified. These plans follow a report by The AP a week earlier that the White House Office of Management and Budget proposed a nearly 50% cut to the State Department’s budget, along with the elimination of funding for the United Nations and NATO headquarters.
The proposed budget cuts were reportedly preliminary and unlikely to be approved by Congress.
Prior to these changes, the Trump administration has been reducing jobs and funding in various agencies, including the Education Department and Health and Human Services.
In terms of foreign policy, the administration has already dismantled the U.S. Agency for International Development and taken steps to defund “soft power” institutions like media outlets that deliver unbiased news, often to countries with authoritarian regimes. These include Voice of America, the Middle East Broadcasting Networks, Radio Free Asia, and Radio/TV Marti, which broadcasts to Cuba.
