Rubio plans overhaul of 'bloated, bureaucratic' State Department
By Brett Rowland
The Center Square
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio plans to put his stamp on the U.S. State Department through an overhaul of the department responsible for the country's foreign relations.
"Over the past 15 years, the Department's footprint has had unprecedented growth and costs have soared. But far from seeing a return on investment, taxpayers have seen less effective and efficient diplomacy," Rubio said Tuesday. "The sprawling bureaucracy created a system more beholden to radical political ideology than advancing America's core national interests."
The reorganization would cut more than 700 positions. It would also eliminate 132 of 734 offices. Rubio pointed to some examples, including the Global Engagement Center that he closed last week.
"The office engaged with media outlets and platforms to censor speech it disagreed with, including that of the President of the United States, who its director in 2019 accused of employing 'the same techniques of disinformation as the Russians,'" Rubio said. "Despite Congress voting to shutter it, the GEC simply renamed itself and continued operating as if nothing had changed."
The GEC had a budget of about $61 million.
Rubio said the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor "became 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."
And Rubio singled out the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, which he said "funneled millions of taxpayer dollars to international organizations and NGOs that facilitated mass migration around the world, including the invasion on our southern border."
Tammy Bruce, spokesperson for the Department of State, said the reorganization wouldn't result in immediate layoffs.
"This is a reorganization plan" she said. "It is not something where people are being fired today, no one is going to be walking out the building, it's not that kind of dynamic. It's a road map. A plan. A Congressional notice has been sent."
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