The Hill published on 27 April 2025 an article titled "Rubio's State Department Scale-down: Efficiency or Global Retreat?" by Laura Kelly.
The Trump administration argues that reorganization of the State Department is intended to make it more efficient. Critics respond that it is kneecapping US influence in foreign policy.
Comment: There are almost certainly elements of efficiency included in Secretary of State Marco Rubio's plan to reorganize the State Department. But when combined with the Trump administration's dismantlement of the US Agency for International Development, Millennium Challenge Corporation, Voice of America and affiliated media outlets, and a host of lesser-known international affairs institutions, the result is mostly a global retreat in US influence in foreign affairs.
