
The United States Department of State is expected to propose an unprecedented dismantling of the diplomatic scope of Washington, multiple media reported on Tuesday, April 15, closing programs and embassies worldwide to reduce the budget by almost 50%.
The proposals, contained in an internal departmental memorandum that is said to be in a serious discussion by senior officials, would eliminate almost all funds for international organizations, including the United Nations and NATO.
Financial support for the maintenance of international peace would be reduced, together with funds for educational and cultural exchanges such as the Fulbright program, one of the most prestigious American scholarships.
The Plan comes with President Donald Trump by pressing a broader assault on the assault on government spending and an extension of the main role of the United States in the international scenario.
The spokeswoman of the State Department, Tammy Bruce, minimized the reports, telling the journalists “there is no final plan, final budget, final dynamic.” “That depends on the White House and the president of the United States as they continue working on their budget plan and what they will submit to Congress,” Bruce said Tuesday.
He added that Secretary of State Marco Rubio had “repeated our complete commitment to NATO, as did the president of the United States.”
The American Foreign Service Association called the Proposition “reckless and dangerous” cuts, while former United States ambassador to Moscow Michael McFaul criticized a “giant gift for the Chinese Communist Party.”
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The memorandum says that the State Department will request a budget of $ 28.4 billion in fiscal year 2026, as of October 1 to $ 26 billion less than the 2025 figure, according to the New York Times.
Althehet has little to say about humanitarian aid, programs that address tropical diseases, providing vaccines to children in developing nations and the promotion of maternal and child health would go, The Times reported.
The remains of Usaid, the expanding development agency already paralyzed and serves Musk, is supposed to have been absorbed by the State Department, said the Washington Post.
Only Congress, that major republicans still need some democratic votes to approve most of the laws, can authorize such cuts. But the proposals are probably great in the negotiations of legislators on budget 2026.
The government departments faced a deadline for this week to send their plans for cuts to the White House, but the State Department has not yet made public ads.
It is not clear if Rubio has supported the memorandum of April 10, but would need to sign any cut before Congress can consult them.
The document assigns 10 embassies and 17 consulates for closing, including missions in Eritrea, Luxembourg, South Sudan and Malta, according to the news of Punchbowl News.
Five consulates for closing are in France, while two are in Germany, PunchBowl reported. The list also includes missions in Scotland and Italy.
In Canada, American consulates in Montreal and Halifax would be reduced to “provide the” last mile “diplomacy with minimal local support,” said the website, citing the document.
American missions to international organizations such as the UNE Economic Cooperation and Development Organization and Children’s Fund, UNICEF, would be nuanced with the positions of advanced diplomats in the city where they are located.
Meanwhile, Rubio wrote on Tuesday X Tuesday that the State Department had canceled another 139 subsidies worth $ 214 million for “wrong programs”, citing an anti -od discourse project in Britain as an example.
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