Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced he will close the State Department’s Counter Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI) hub, formerly known as the Global Engagement Center, a small office tasked with tracking and countering foreign “disinformation” efforts.
Rubio said the decision came in response to the office’s misuse of funds, claiming it “spent millions of dollars to actively silence and censor the voices of Americans they were supposed to be serving.”
The move will eliminate the department’s only internal office focused exclusively on combating disinformation campaigns by foreign adversaries, including Iran, China, and Russia.
According to former State Department employee Mike Benz, who spoke to Rubio about the development, all 30 full-time staffers were placed on leave, all 50 full-time positions were eliminated, and Congress was notified that the office and its $65 million in funding are being terminated.
The Biden administration had shifted GEC operations under the new title of the Counter Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference office. Today’s reduction in force prevents the office from being rebranded or repopulated to continue similar operations.
