US State Department submits reorganization plan to Congress

WASHINGTON

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Thursday that the State Department formally submitted a sweeping reorganization plan to Congress, as part of an effort to realign American diplomacy with President Donald Trump’s “America First” agenda.

“Since my first day as Secretary, I have said that this Department must move at the speed of relevancy,” Rubio wrote on X. “Today, we took the next step in that process by notifying Congress of how we plan to do that.”

“The reorganization plan will result in a more agile Department, better equipped to promote America’s interests and keep Americans safe across the world,” he added.

The overhaul, first announced in April, aims to streamline operations, cut costs and eliminate what Rubio called “decades of bloat and bureaucracy.”

According to a new organizational chart shared by the department, several key offices will be eliminated or downgraded, including the Bureau of Global Health Security and Diplomacy and the Office of Global Women’s Issues. The bureau responsible for human rights and democracy will be downgraded.

“This approach will empower the Department from the ground up,” Rubio said last month.