WASHINGTON — The Trump administration released its plans for reorganizing the State Department, marking the first step toward downsizing the federal agency that the Trump administration has accused of being bloated and inefficient.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio published the new reorganization chart on Tuesday, unveiling initial plans to cut more than 130 agency offices, including those focused on human rights as well as diversity and inclusion. The plans are preliminary and could still be changed before they are approved and signed by President Donald Trump.
“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 in a statement. “This approach will empower the Department from the ground up, from the bureaus to the embassies. Region-specific functions will be consolidated to increase functionality, redundant offices will be removed, and non-statutory programs that are misaligned with America’s core national interests will cease to exist.”
Among the bureaus the State Department plans to cut are the offices of Global Women’s Issues and Diversity and Inclusion, according to the chart — two areas that have been targeted in several agencies since the Trump administration took control in January. The restructuring would also eliminate the office of the director of the Foreign Service Institute, which provides language training and other educational resources for foreign service officers.
The State Department is also expected to eliminate offices related to Civilian Security, Democracy and Human Rights, according to Politico, although the outlet noted much of that work could be continued in other areas of the department.
Some new offices will be created under the reorganization chart, including an assistant secretary for emerging threats, which would report to the undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security.
Still, the reorganization plans don’t go as far as previous reports suggested.
The New York Times reported on a draft executive order over the weekend that showed an overhaul of reorganization plans to “streamline mission delivery” while cutting “waste, fraud and abuse,” according to the outlet. In doing so, the executive order sought to slash Africa operations and some bureaus focused on democracy and refugee issues.
The newest chart appears to keep those African affairs intact, although it’s unknown if a separate executive order would be issued in accordance with Rubio’s reorganization plan.
Rubio responded to The New York Times reporting on Sunday, calling the plans “fake news.”
The changes announced on Tuesday will be implemented gradually over the next several months, according to the department.