The Trump administration could soon deploy radical changes to the US State Department, according to a draft decree obtained by CNBC which presents what it calls a “disciplined reorganization” of the country’s diplomatic service.
The order of 16 pages, which is not dated but seems to be prepared for the signing of President Donald Trump, would considerably upset the department if it is promulgated – closing the American embassies through southern Africa and eliminating offices that work on issues such as democracy and human rights, as well as international organizations like the United Nations.
The order also details a overhaul of the process of selection and training of American diplomats.
According to the ordinance, changes are intended to “rationalize mission delivery, project American force abroad, reduce waste, fraud, abuse and align the department with an American strategic doctrine reflecting the priorities of executive power”.
The draft decree proposes the elimination of all non -essential “embassies and consulates in sub -Saharan Africa” and the consolidation of regional offices worldwide.
The current regional offices, according to the prescription, would be consolidated under four “regional bodies”:
- Eurasie, including Europe, Russia and Central Asia;
- Middle East, including Arab nations, Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan;
- Latin America, including Central America, South America and the Caribbean; And
- Indo-Pacific, including East and Southeast Asia, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and Maldives.
The American diplomatic presence in Canada would be radically cut under order. In the future, the operations of the State Department in Canada “would fall into a considerably reduced delegated team as a office of North American affairs” within the office of the secretary of the secretary of the secretary Marco Rubio.
The White House did not immediately respond to the CNBC comments on the order project.
The New York Times reported the document for the first time. Rubio, in response to the article, wrote on X: “These are false news.”
The draft order also calls for the termination of offices and posts within the ministry focused on the climate, women’s questions, democracy, human rights, migration and criminal justice.
In addition to the consolidation of embassies and consulates, the order would make fundamental changes to hiring practices in the ministry.
The test of long -standing external service agents would be abandoned in favor of an evaluation based in part on the question of whether the candidates show “alignment with the vision of the president’s foreign policy”.
The draft order indicates that “complete structural reorganization and transition” should be completed by October 1.
He also indicates that all current agents of foreign services or public service staff who do not want to participate in the new regional organization structure or “serve the interests of the administration can choose to voluntarily separate from the department through a single buyout and transition program” until September 30.
