Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday unveiled a sweeping reorganization of the State Department, calling the government’s diplomatic agency “bloated, bureaucratic” and “beholden to radical political ideology.”
Mr. Rubio released the plan in the form of an organizational chart and a brief official statement, with few other details. The move is the latest by President Trump’s administration to downsize and reshape the government to a degree unseen in generations, which critics have called a shortsightedly blunt assault on the federal bureaucracy.
In the announcement, Mr. Rubio did not give more information on the ideology or ideas to which he objected, but the chart and a Substack post revealed some of his thinking. The most drastic change is the elimination of the office of the under secretary for civilian security, democracy and human rights, which is charged with advancing American values around the world.
Some elements of that office, including a bureau for democracy and human rights and one for refugees, would be cut and folded into an office for foreign assistance and humanitarian aid, according to the reorganization chart posted on the State Department website.
The department released an internal fact sheet that provided more details on Mr. Rubio’s plan, including reducing the agency’s total number of offices from 734 to 602, or by 17 percent. It also said that Mr. Rubio had instructed senior officials to deliver plans soon to reduce the number of U.S.-based employees by 15 percent.
The New York Times reported on Sunday on a draft document labeled an “executive order” that outlined plans for a drastic restructuring of the department, including cutting the entire office of the under secretary for civilian security, democracy and human rights and many other parts of the agency.
On a new State Department account on Substack on Tuesday, Mr. Rubio wrote that the bureau for democracy, human rights and labor had become a “platform for left-wing activists to wage vendettas” against conservative leaders — including those in Poland, Hungary and Brazil — and to try to promote an arms embargo against Israel.
Mr. Rubio accused the bureau for population, refugees and migration of sending millions of taxpayer dollars to nongovernment groups that had promoted mass migration, including “the invasion on our southern border.” The language echoed Mr. Trump’s, and Mr. Rubio did not provide evidence for any of his assertions.
As a Republican senator from Florida, Mr. Rubio had been an ardent champion of promoting traditional American values abroad and supported the State Department’s work to that end. But as secretary, he has hewed closely to Mr. Trump’s transactional approach to foreign policy.
Diplomats and civil service employees are bracing for internal announcements with more details of layoffs and other cuts as senior political appointees carry out the reorganization. Officials say the plan also involves closing some embassies and consulates.
U.S. officials have said the foreign assistance office would also house the remnants of the United States Agency for International Development, which was gutted in recent weeks by Mr. Rubio and other Trump administration officials, in coordination with the conservative billionaire Elon Musk.
In a statement, Mr. Rubio said the State Department’s size and costs had “soared” over the past 15 years and the new plan would sharpen its focus on “America’s core national interests.”
Mr. Rubio said he would combine overlapping offices and eliminate some programs that were not mandated by Congress. But he did not provide examples, and his statement used murky bureaucratic language: “Region-specific functions will be consolidated to increase functionality,” he said.
Nicholas Nehamas and Greg Jaffe contributed reporting.
Edward Wong reports on global affairs, U.S. foreign policy and the State Department.
Michael Crowley covers the State Department and U.S. foreign policy for The Times. He has reported from nearly three dozen countries and often travels with the secretary of state.
The post Rubio Outlines Drastic Changes at State Department appeared first on New York Times.
