Secretary of State Marco Rubio has submitted a sweeping proposal to Congress that would eliminate or consolidate more than 300 domestic offices within the U.S. State Department.
The plan marks the most significant restructuring of the department since the Cold War and is aimed at streamlining operations, cutting bureaucracy, and sharpening the department’s focus on U.S. interests abroad.
According to senior State Department officials, the overhaul would affect roughly 3,400 staff—about 15% to 20% of the department’s domestic workforce. A total of 311 offices would be merged or eliminated, though the plan also includes the creation of approximately nine new offices to better address emerging global threats.
The reorganization includes moves such as consolidating three separate sanctions offices into one streamlined unit. “We have too many godd— offices,” one senior official said, underscoring the drive to eliminate redundancy and improve efficiency.
