[By Guancha Observer, Shao Yun] According to reports on September 20 by the US New York Times and Bloomberg, US President Trump plans to conduct a deep restructuring of the State Department before October 1st, including halting nearly all diplomatic operations in Africa, reducing the team in Canada, significantly cutting institutions responsible for climate change, refugees, human rights, etc., in order to reduce "waste, fraud, and abuse".
On the evening of September 20th, US Secretary of State Rubio refuted these reports on social media, calling them "fake news." However, American media pointed out that there are also voices within the State Department doubting that layoffs and restructuring remain imminent. The leaked, rather "radical" document is more likely a "smoke screen," aiming to make employees better accept subsequent, more realistic reform plans.
On April 10th, 2025, Washington, D.C., USA. Trump (fourth from left) hosts a cabinet meeting at the White House Cabinet Room. To the right of Trump is Rubio. Visual China.
It is known that the matter of the State Department's structural reform has been circulating in professional diplomatic circles for a long time. The 16-page draft of the White House administrative command disclosed by the New York Times and others on September 20th is just one of several internal documents recently circulating in the Trump administration. However, according to Bloomberg, if this draft is ultimately implemented, it will be one of the largest restructurings of the State Department since its establishment in 1789.
In detail, the Trump administration plans to cancel many "regional affairs bureaus" responsible for formulating and implementing US foreign policies, and reassign four "corps" (usually used as military terms) to handle related work:
The Eurasian Corps will handle affairs of Europe, Russia, and Central Asian countries; the Middle East Corps will handle matters of Arab countries, Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan; the Latin America Corps will handle affairs of Central America, South America, and the Caribbean; the Indo-Pacific Corps will handle issues of East Asia, Southeast Asia, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, and the Maldives.
The New York Times said that one of the most significant changes will be the cancellation of the Bureau of African Affairs, which was originally responsible for sub-Saharan African policy. In its place will be a much smaller Office of Special Envoy for African Affairs, reporting directly to the National Security Council of the White House. This office will focus on a few key issues, including "coordinating counter-terrorism actions."
According to the draft, all "non-essential" embassies and consulates in sub-Saharan Africa must be closed before October 1st. Future US diplomatic personnel will be dispatched to Africa in a "targeted, mission-driven" deployment. Additionally, the government plans to establish a new North America Affairs Office to handle diplomatic activities in Canada. This office will be led by Rubio, but its management team will be "significantly downsized," and the number of staff at the US Embassy in Ottawa will also be reduced.
The Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, and the Bureau of International Organizations will all be eliminated. The position of Deputy Secretary of State responsible for receiving reports from the first two bureaus, as well as the position of Special Envoy for Climate Issues, will be abolished. The office of the Deputy Secretary of State responsible for public diplomacy and public affairs will also be dissolved. The remaining personnel of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) will be merged into the humanitarian assistance bureau under USAID.
However, the draft requires the creation of a new position of Deputy Secretary of State responsible for "eliminating transnational threats" to oversee drug enforcement policies and related matters.
According to the draft, these measures aim to conduct a "disciplined reorganization" of the State Department, "streamline task delivery," and simultaneously reduce "waste, fraud, and abuse." For this purpose, the draft requires departments to utilize artificial intelligence (AI) more extensively to assist in drafting "policy formulation" and "action planning" documents, and to terminate the current "outdated and chaotic" rotation system of diplomats across different countries.
The draft establishes new standards for the selection of diplomatic personnel, including requiring their foreign policy vision to be "consistent with the president's," allowing them to choose which regional corps they wish to work in during the application process and remain in that region.
Bloomberg reported that the draft also proposes limiting the distribution range of Fulbright scholarships to only students pursuing master’s programs in national security affairs, prioritizing projects teaching "key languages," including Chinese, Russian, Persian, and Arabic. Additionally, the draft will terminate the scholarship program collaboration between the US Department of Education and Howard University, a historically black college.
Current and former US officials familiar with the plan stated that while signing the administrative order, the White House also plans to cut the number of career diplomats and civil servants working at the Washington headquarters. Officials said that the department will begin offering paid leave to a large number of employees and issuing layoff notices. Current diplomats who do not wish to adopt the new working model can apply for a severance package by September 30th.
Bloomberg commented that these proposals continue the Trump administration's attitude of negating America's role in the global multilateral order.
Currently, the White House has not yet responded to the above reports. However, Rubio forwarded the New York Times report on social platform X (formerly Twitter) on September 20th, saying: "This is fake news. The New York Times got fooled again."
Rubio's post on X screenshot.
Bloomberg cited an anonymous senior US official to disclose that the reform plan currently circulating within the State Department, which is expected to be released as early as next Tuesday (the 22nd), will actually be "much milder" than the leaked draft content. On social media, some State Department employees suspect that the leaked draft is merely a strategic distraction.
"I suspect this is a 'smoke screen' leaked to divert attention, aiming to make us feel 'grateful' for eventually rolling out a milder but still unpopular version. It will be immediately challenged in court and halted, and any subsequent implementation process will be dragged out until Trump is voted out of office." A user wrote.
The New York Times analyzed that some of the changes proposed in the draft, such as the large-scale closure of diplomatic missions and headquarters institutions, as well as the reorganization of the diplomatic system, will require notification to Congress and will undoubtedly face strong challenges from lawmakers. If government officials attempt to push forward most of the content in the draft, they are likely to face legal litigation.
According to the US Department of State website, the department currently employs approximately 13,000 diplomatic personnel, 11,000 civil servants, and 45,000 local employees hired globally at over 270 diplomatic missions. Earlier this week, some US media reported that the Trump administration is considering cutting nearly half of the State Department's budget for the next fiscal year and closing 10 embassies and 17 consulates abroad.
At the time, media cited internal memos from the US Department of State, reporting that the planned closures of embassies would primarily be located in Africa, while the planned closures of consulates would mainly be in Europe. After these embassies and consulates close, their functions will be taken over by neighboring embassies and consulates. The US also plans to significantly reduce its diplomatic budgets in places like Iraq and Somalia.
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Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7495413728482050595/
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