Rubio submits reorganization plan for more ‘agile’ State Department to Congress

The State Department has notified Congress of a reorganization plan to develop a “more agile” department, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Thursday. 

“Since my first day as Secretary, I have said that this Department must move at the speed of relevancy and, in April announced a broad reorganization of the Department to better achieve that goal. Today, we took the next step in that process by notifying Congress of how we plan to do that,” Rubio said in a release. 

“The reorganization plan will result in a more agile Department, better equipped to promote America’s interests and keep Americans safe across the world.”

The submission of particulars to Congress comes after Rubio announced sweeping changes last month. Fox News reported the reshuffling will cut or consolidate more than 300 domestic offices, or around 3,400 personnel. 

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, warned in a response that President Trump and Rubio “are proposing significant cuts to an already strained and limited U.S. diplomatic corps” as Russia and China “open new embassies and recruit aggressively to increase their diplomatic presence.”

“When America retreats—as it has under President Trump—China and Russia fill the void. We welcome reforms where needed, but they must be done with a scalpel, not a chain saw,” Shaheen and Meeks said.

“Taken together, these moves significantly undercut America’s role in the world and open the door for adversaries to threaten our safety and prosperity. And we cannot ignore that the gutting of foreign assistance earlier this year occurred without Congress, with utter disregard and in violation of federal law and the constitution,” they said, adding that lawmakers will be “scrutinizing” the proposal. 

The proposed organizational chart reflects the Trump administration’s gutting of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), of which Rubio was made acting administrator as changes were implemented, as well as plans to eliminate the State Department’s bureau focused on democracy and human rights, replacing it with an Office of the Coordinator for Foreign Assistance and Humanitarian Affairs.

Several bureaus from the Biden-era setup are also trimmed from the new chart, including the Office of Global Women’s Issues and the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, changes in line with the administration’s broader crackdown on diversity and inclusion efforts. 

At the same time, the chart shows new positions, such as an assistant secretary for emerging threats beneath the under secretary for arms control and international security. 

“In its current form, the Department is bloated, bureaucratic, and unable to perform its essential diplomatic mission in this new era of great power competition,” Rubio said last month. 

The State Department reorganization appears as part of the Trump administration’s sweeping shake-ups within the federal government. 

Elon Musk, the tech billionaire tasked with leading the cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency initiative, announced this week that his tenure as a special government employee is wrapping up after months of controversial slashes to the federal workforce. 

Updated on May 30 at 11:22 a.m. EDT