The State Department has notified Congress of an updated reorganization plan for the agency, outlining deeper program cuts and an 18% reduction in U.S.-based staff, exceeding figures previously disclosed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
According to a notification letter obtained by The Associated Press, the planned changes reflect the Trump administration’s initiative to reshape American diplomacy and reduce the size of the federal government. A contributing factor to this restructuring is the need to integrate remaining functions of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), an agency that the Trump administration and the Department of Government Efficiency, led by Elon Musk, have been in the process of dismantling.
The proposal includes a more substantial decrease in domestic staff than the 15% initially suggested in April. Additionally, the department intends to eliminate certain divisions overseeing America’s two-decade involvement in Afghanistan, including an office dedicated to the resettlement of Afghan nationals who collaborated with the U.S. military. The letter to Congress states that the reorganization will affect over 300 bureaus and offices, eliminating those with unclear or overlapping responsibilities. Secretary Rubio believes these changes are necessary for “effective modern diplomacy” by “streamlining this bloated bureaucracy.” The document clarifies that the reorganization also aims to eliminate programs, particularly those concerning refugees and immigration, as well as the promotion of human rights and democracy, which the Trump administration views as ideologically biased and incompatible with its priorities.
The notification explicitly states that offices “prone to ideological capture and radicalism” will be eliminated, with their statutory functions reassigned within the department, or restructured to better align with the administration’s foreign policy priorities.
The reorganization plan details the dismantlement of USAID and the transfer of some of its operations to the State Department, particularly under a significantly restructured Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM). The PRM will now be responsible for U.S. international disaster relief efforts, a function previously handled by USAID.
Under the new structure, PRM’s focus will shift from facilitating migration into the United States to concentrating on migrants targeted for deportation and “supporting the administration’s efforts to return illegal aliens to their country of origin or legal status,” according to the notification. The bureau will also “actively facilitate the voluntary return of migrants to their country of origin or legal status.”
Furthermore, an office addressing human rights issues and refugees will be renamed and its focus redirected to emphasize border security concerns.
Bureaus slated for elimination include the Office of Global Women’s Issues and the State Department’s diversity and inclusion efforts, which have been discontinued across the government under President Trump. The letter explains that the women’s issues office is being eliminated to “ensure that promoting women’s rights and empowerment is a priority across the full scope of the Department’s diplomatic engagement.”
Plans to cut the department’s Afghan programs have drawn immediate criticism from veterans groups and advocates who have been working to resettle and integrate Afghans into life in the U.S. since the withdrawal from Afghanistan three and a half years ago. Shawn VanDiver, a Navy veteran and head of #AfghanEvac, described the move as “deliberate dismantling” rather than streamlining.
The Coordinator for Afghan Relocation Efforts (CARE), established in October 2021 to assist Afghans eligible for resettlement in the U.S., will have its work “realigned” to the Afghanistan Affairs Office, according to the State Department notification. CARE had been credited with improving visa and immigration processes for Afghans and Iraqis in similar resettlement programs, which many found overly bureaucratic and opaque. Concerns about CARE’s future have been present since President Donald Trump assumed office, despite then-President Joe Biden signing legislation in December authorizing the office for three years. VanDiver added that eliminating CARE without public explanation or transition planning represents “a profound betrayal of American values and promises.”
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