WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥 The State Department on Thursday notified Congress of an updated reorganization of the massive agency, proposing cuts to programs beyond what had previously been revealed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and a steeper 18% reduction of staff in the U.S.
The planned changes, detailed in a notification letter obtained by The Associated Press, reflect the Trump administration's push to and of the federal government. The restructuring has been driven in part by the need to find a new home for the remaining functions of the , an agency that Trump administration officials and billionaire ally Department of Government Efficiency have .
The proposal includes an even higher reduction of domestic staff than the 15% initially floated in April. The department is also planning to eliminate some divisions tasked with oversight of America's two-decade involvement in Afghanistan, including an office focused on resettling Afghan nationals who worked alongside the U.S. military.
The letter sent to Congress by the State Department notes that the reorganization will affect more than 300 bureaus and offices, saying it's eliminating divisions it describes as doing unclear or overlapping work and that Rubio believes 鈥渆ffective modern diplomacy requires streamlining this bloated bureaucracy.鈥
The document is clear that the reorganization is also intended to eliminate programs 鈥 particularly those related to refugees and immigration, as well as human rights and democracy promotion 鈥 that the Trump administration believes have become ideologically driven in a way that is incompatible with its priorities and policies.
鈥淭hese offices, which have proven themselves prone to ideological capture and radicalism, will be either eliminated, with their statutory functions realigned elsewhere in the department, or restructured to better reflect their appropriate scope and the administration鈥檚 foreign policy priorities,鈥 the notification says.
One example is the renaming and shifting of the focus of an office tasked with human rights issues and refugees to reflect an emphasis on border security issues.
the bureaus set to be cut include the Office of Global Women鈥檚 Issues and the State Department鈥檚 diversity and inclusion efforts, which have been . The letter says the women's issues office is being eliminated to 鈥渆nsure that promoting women鈥檚 rights and empowerment is a priority across the full scope of the Department鈥檚 diplomatic engagement.鈥
Efforts to cut the department's Afghan programs received immediate backlash from veterans groups and advocates who have spent the last three and a half years since the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan working to resettle and integrate Afghans into life in the U.S.
鈥淭his is not streamlining,鈥 said Shawn VanDiver, a Navy veteran and head of #AfghanEvac. 鈥淭his is deliberate dismantling.鈥
CARE, which stands for the Coordinator for Afghan Relocation Efforts, was created in October 2021 in the aftermath of the withdrawal. The office was designed to help Afghans, like interpreters who aided the U.S. military, who were eligible for resettlement in the U.S. due to their work helping America during the war.
The State Department notification says its work will be 鈥渞ealigned鈥 to the Afghanistan Affairs Office.
Over time, CARE was credited with streamlining visa and immigration processes that many people helping Afghans and Iraqis, who benefited from similar resettlement programs, said were overly bureaucratic, opaque and left at-risk Afghans waiting for far too long on programs specifically intended to help them.
In December, then-President Joe Biden signed the 春色直播 Defense Authorization Act, which included a provision authorizing the CARE office for three years, but ever since President Donald Trump took office, concerns have loomed over the office鈥檚 future.
鈥淓liminating it 鈥 without public explanation, transition planning, or reaffirmation of mission 鈥 is a profound betrayal of American values and promises,鈥 VanDiver added.
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Amiri reported from New York.
