Leaked memo reveals plan for huge State Department overhaul: Africa, climate and women’s issues all primed for the chop

Secretary of State Marco Rubio claims the document is a ‘hoax’

A leaked draft of an executive order to reorganize the U.S. Department of State reveals plans to slash entire departments and bureaus dealing with Africa, human rights, women’s rights, international religious freedom and climate change while tightening political control over the foreign service and handing more authority to the White House and political appointees.

The State Department has denied the document’s authenticity, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio dismissing it as a “hoax” in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

The specifics of the draft document, which was obtained and reviewed by The Independent, track closely with Trump administration efforts to undercut the institutional knowledge and authority of nonpartisan civil servants in other parts of the executive branch as well as the administration’s push to change the conduct of American foreign relations to a more transactional model that prioritizes self-interest over traditional values-based diplomacy that works through multilateral alliances.

It lays out what it calls a “disciplined reorganization” of the department, which would eliminate a dedicated Bureau of African Affairs in favor of a White House-run “Special Envoy Office for African Affairs” that would focus on counterterrorism and obtaining access to “critical natural resources” and would conduct only “select bilateral diplomacy” on “particular temporary matters”, while shuttering most of the department’s embassies on the African continent.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks to reporters amid talks with Russia and Ukraine about a ceasefire agreement. A new report details sweeping changes he has planned at the State Department (AP)

It would also eliminate the department’s Office of Global Women’s Issues, the U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, the Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, and the Special Envoy for Afghan Women, Girls, and Human Rights, as well as closing down the department’s offices and bureaus responsible for public diplomacy and public affairs.

It would replace the Office of Foreign Assistance with a new “humanitarian affairs” bureau to carry out “limited functions” under the supervision of a “Government Efficiency Department”, requiring “explicit written approval” from the president for “all positions and duties” related to foreign aid.

If enacted, the plan would represent the most significant reorganization of the department since it was founded in 1789. It would cement a seismic realignment of America’s foreign policy apparatus from a professionalized foreign service dedicated to advancing democracy, human rights and other traditional American values to a more politically insular and tightly controlled diplomatic cadre, operating with less autonomy and more ideological scrutiny, under tighter control from the White House.

The move would also be a significant step towards the reimagining of the foreign aid ecosystem that State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce and others have been promising for months. The agency’s press secretary, in repeated instances at daily news briefings, has assured journalists that the U.S.’s commitment to foreign aid has not wavered, and is instead being transformed into a more efficient process.

By requiring the president to personally sign off on “all positions and duties” related to America’s foreign aid strategy, the reorganization will implicitly add at least one new layer of red tape to that process — a layer controlled by a commander-in-chief who has been publicly dismissive of the utility of soft power.

The drastic nature of the proposed reorganization of the State Department comes on the heels of reports that the Trump administration is considering slashing the department’s budget by half while shuttering nearly 30 diplomatic missions in places not considered a priority by the White House.

The department says it currently employs 11,000 civil servants and boasts a 13,000-member foreign service as well as 45,000 local employees who work at American diplomatic facilities around the world.

According to the draft reorganization plan, those 13,000 foreign service officers and 11,000 civil servants would be offered voluntary buyouts, while new prospective foreign service members would no longer be able to count on an objective examination for entry into the foreign service.

Instead, the department will begin using subjective criteria, including evaluations of “demonstrated charisma and regional knowledge” as well as “verbal authenticity and public speaking ability” and other criteria such as “alignment with the President’s foreign policy vision”, to determine who can become a career U.S. diplomat.

News of the draft memo comes as the shuttering of USAID programs is already having a drastic effect across the continent, including in the fight against HIV/Aids. The Trump executive order halting foreign aid programs earlier this year also froze funding for the Emergency Plan for Aids Relief program that is responsible for dispensing lifesaving medication to treat those suffering with the disease. State Department officials would not confirm whether the program funding would be completely reinstated at any point.

The Independent’s own calculations from data show that, if funding is not reinstated and nothing changes, Aids-related deaths will jump by 4 million by the end of the decade — reaching the devastating levels of the 1990s and early 2000s.

Chief International Correspondent Bel Trew contributed to this report