State Department to eliminate 132 offices in major restructuring

Last Updated on 4 months by Ashley Michael

The Trump administration is implementing sweeping changes to the State Department that will eliminate 132 offices, a 17% reduction from the current 734 offices to just 602. According to a Free Press report citing internal documents, this represents the department’s most significant restructuring in decades. The cuts will affect approximately 700 positions in Washington-based offices focused on foreign policy issues deemed non-essential by the current administration.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the changes, stating, “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.” The reorganization includes transferring 137 offices to consolidate programs, with Rubio emphasizing that non-statutory programs not aligned with America’s core national interests would be eliminated.

Key aspects of the State Department restructuring include:

• Undersecretaries being instructed to reduce their U.S. personnel by 15% within 30 days
• The Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights is being renamed as the Under Secretary for Foreign Assistance and Human Rights
• The complete abolition of the Office of Global Criminal Justice
• Consolidation of region-specific functions to increase efficiency

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has been working closely with State Department leadership on these changes since the beginning of the second Trump administration. Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo supported the move, stating the department was “desperately in need of significant reorganization.”

Notably, the programs being cut do not require Congressional approval. A senior State Department official briefed approximately a dozen top officials on the plans Tuesday morning, with notification letters also sent to Congress.

Marslink News