Amid State Department Cuts, a New Bureau Emerges

Secretary of State Marco Rubio unveiled a massive overhaul of the State Department on Tuesday, with plans to reduce staff in the US by 15% while closing and consolidating more than 100 bureaus worldwide. The reorganization plan, announced by Rubio on social media and detailed in documents obtained by the AP, is the latest effort by the White House to reimagine US foreign policy and scale back the size of the federal government.

• "We cannot win the battle for the 21st century with bloated bureaucracy that stifles innovation and misallocates scarce resources," Rubio wrote in a department-wide email.
• Plans include consolidating 734 bureaus and offices to 602 as well as transitioning 137 offices "to another location within the Department to increase efficiency," according to a fact sheet. But many questions about the logistics of such changes were yet to be answered.
• The Washington Post spots a rare expansion amid the cutbacks—creation of a new Bureau of Emerging Threats to focus on cybersecurity and artificial intelligence.

• The initial reorganization focus is on domestic offices rather than overseas consulates and embassies, notes CNN. But there will also be a "reimagined" office focused on foreign and humanitarian affairs to coordinate the remaining foreign assistance programs left at State after the recent dismantling of the US Agency for International Development.
• Some of the bureaus that are expected to be cut include the Office of Global Women's Issues and the department's diversity and inclusion efforts. State is also expected to eliminate some offices previously under the Undersecretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights, but the fact sheet says that much of their work will continue in other sections of the department.
• It is unclear if the reorganization would be implemented through an executive order or other means. The department has sent the reorganization plans to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

(More State Department stories.)