STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Marco Rubio, the secretary of state, wants to cut about 700 jobs at the State Department and close many offices within that department. One of his targets is a Bureau for promoting democracy. NPR's Michele Kelemen reports.
MICHELE KELEMEN, BYLINE: The proposed reorganization came with a message from Rubio and his spokesperson, Tammy Bruce.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
TAMMY BRUCE: The sprawling bureaucracy created a system more beholden to radical political ideology than advancing America's core national interests.
KELEMEN: Gone is the Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy and Human Rights, and some of the offices underneath it. In a new Substack announcing the plans, Rubio argues that one of the bureaus in that group became, in his words, a platform for left-wing activists in nations such as Poland, Hungary and Brazil. He says he's transferring the functions required by law to be under the new Coordinator for Foreign Assistance. The remnants of the U.S. Agency for International Development will be folded into the Department too, with more control by the regional bureaus. Rubio still hasn't announced how many U.S. embassies and consulates abroad will be shuttered as part of expected cutbacks. Spokesperson Bruce says this plan was just about reorganizing the State Department's headquarters.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
BRUCE: This is a reorganization plan. It is not something where people are being fired today. No one's going to be walking out of the building. It's not that kind of a dynamic. It is a roadmap. It's planned.
KELEMEN: But the State Department is planning to cut back its workforce by about 15%, and some 700 positions are being cut in this reorganization. The Republican Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Jim Risch, says change is not easy, but he supports the vision set out by Secretary Rubio. The ranking Democrat, Jeanne Shaheen, is skeptical, saying any changes to the State Department and USAID should be carefully weighed against the real cost to American security and leadership. When America retreats, Shaheen writes, China and Russia fill the void. That worries Gregory Meeks, too. He's the ranking Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and says in an audio statement that Rubio is cutting significant pillars of U.S. foreign policy.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
GREGORY MEEKS: These potentially sweeping changes have less to do with streamlining the State Department and more to do with eviscerating American soft power - including our values-driven defense of human rights and democracy globally.
KELEMEN: The Republican Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Brian Mast, disagrees, saying the reorganization will make the State Department, quote, "leaner and meaner" and ensure that every diplomat puts America first.
Michele Kelemen, NPR News, the State Department.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
