April 22 (UPI) — Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Tuesday that the State Department faces heavy cuts in the name of efficiency.
“Today is the day,” he posted to X, that under the “leadership” of President Donald Trump “and at my direction, we are reversing decades of bloat and bureaucracy at the State Department.”
Rubio added, “These sweeping changes will empower our talented diplomats to put America and Americans first.”
An explanation of the cuts to come were described in a Substack Rubio posted, in which he explained he has started a “broad reorganization of the Department to address the steady growth of bureaucracy, duplication of functions, and capture by special interests that have crippled American Foreign Policy.”
Changes will include the consolidation of all non-security foreign assistance into regional bureaus “charged with implementing U.S. foreign policy in specific geographic areas,” so “every bureau and office in the Department of State has clear responsibility and mission.”
All economic policy will merge beneath the Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy and Environment, while all responsibilities for security assistance and arms control combine below the Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security.
As per the press release, the Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Human Rights and Democracy bureau, the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor and the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration will all be placed under a new Coordinator for Foreign Assistance and Humanitarian Affairs.
The plan will overall reduce the State Department’s total number of offices by 17%, from 734 to 602.
As recently as Sunday, Rubio had called a draft of a Trump executive order that would gut the State Department “fake news” in an X post that also alleged the New York Times was hoaxed when it broke the story.
