Marco Rubio reveals plan to overhaul 'bloated' US State Department

Secretary of State's proposal includes department shutting more than 100 offices and cutting 'misaligned' programmes

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. EPA

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday announced plans to terminate diplomatic programmes and close more than 100 offices that do not align with the Trump administration's priorities.

His proposal takes aim at offices such as one that was established to pursue human rights and democratic causes around the world.

In a statement, Mr Rubio said the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labour had provided a fertile ground for activists to redefine “human rights and democracy”.

They made the office a “platform for left-wing activists to wage vendettas against anti-woke leaders in nations such as Poland, Hungary and Brazil, and to transform their hatred of Israel into concrete policies such as arms embargoes”, he said.

Mr Rubio, who is now also administrator for the gutted US Agency for International Development, called the State Department a “bloated, bureaucratic swamp” that is unable to perform its “essential diplomatic mission in this new era of great-power competition”.

The proposed overhaul comes after President Donald Trump in February ordered changes to the US Foreign Service to ensure it followed his overseas policy agenda.

Some of the bureaus expected to be cut under Mr Rubio's plan include the Office of Global Women's Issues and the State Department’s diversity and inclusion efforts, which have been eliminated government-wide under Mr Trump.

A senior State Department official said that under the plan, 734 offices would be reduced to 602. Jobs would ultimately be cut but no redundancies were announced on Tuesday.

“Personnel plans will follow and I think there will be certain reductions in forces, but those are in subsequent stages,” the official said.

Mr Rubio’s proposal is not as drastic as some diplomats feared. A memo that circulated in the US media last week outlined possible plans to cut the State Department budget by about half, a move that would prompt the closure of embassies around the world.

It was not immediately clear how many people would be laid off as a result of the revamp, but a report in online publication the Free Press, which Mr Rubio posted on X, said another 700 positions would be eliminated in the closed offices.

State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said the changes would make US diplomacy “more nimble” and that Tuesday's proposal does not address any possible closure of embassies or consulates.

The new administration has slashed jobs and funding across agencies, in drastic moves led by Mr Trump's top donor Elon Musk under the Department of Government Efficiency.

USAID has already been all but terminated and Mr Trump has moved quickly to shred other long-established, soft-power agencies including government-funded but objective media outlets such as Voice of America and the Middle East Broadcasting Networks.

The American Foreign Service Association has said cuts would lead to a “demoralised workforce and weakened US diplomacy”.

Jeanne Shaheen, ranking member of the Senate foreign relations committee, said any changes to the State Department and USAID must be "carefully weighed with the real costs to American security and leadership".

"When America retreats – as it has under President Trump – China and Russia fill the void," Ms Shaheen said in a statement.