6. Department of State · Notable
Develop a complete reorganization plan for the State Department
Printed page 193 6. Department of State
“The next Administration should develop a complete hypothetical reorganization of the department—one which would tighten accountability to political leadership, reduce overhead, eliminate redundancy, waste fewer taxpayer resources, and recommend additional personnel-related changes for improvement of function. … This reorganization effort would necessarily assess what office closures can be carried out with and without congressional approval.”
What has happened
- Done
State's report to Congress on the FY2025 personnel reduction records the assessment behind the plan and its execution: "an extensive multi-month organizational assessment examining structural inefficiencies, mission alignment, and operational effectiveness across more than 300 bureaus and offices", the elimination of duplicative offices with statutory functions realigned to other bureaus, the largest reductions in the bureaus reporting to the Under Secretary for Management, and consolidation of foreign assistance management. The report also answers the Quote's question about congressional approval, by distinguishing offices that could be eliminated from statutory functions that had to be preserved and moved.
- Done
The Secretary of State announced "a comprehensive reorganization plan" with a published new organizational chart: region-specific functions consolidated, redundant offices removed, and "non-statutory programs that are misaligned with America's core national interests" ended, to be implemented over the following months. That is the complete reorganization the Quote asks be developed, and it was developed by the executive alone.
Research log
What was searched, and what didn’t count as evidence
Research notes
Every source this Status rests on is allowlisted and was read in full; none of it was off the allowlist or unreadable.
The “needs an act of Congress” label was removed on review, 2026-09-01. The Quote asks “the next Administration” to develop a reorganization and to assess which office closures need congressional approval — an executive act whose subject matter is what Congress would have to be asked for later. The label records who the ask is addressed to, not that later contingency, and it had put a done item under “needs Congress” in Still to come. The Status is unchanged.
- Action
- other
- Object
- Reorganization of the State Department
- ID
- 522