Trump plan would slash State Dept. funding by nearly half, memo says

The Trump administration proposed to cut the budget of the State Department and what remains of the U.S. Agency for International Development by almost half, according to an internal memo circulated last week, with funds for humanitarian assistance, global health and international organizations facing dramatic reductions.

The memo, which was reviewed by The Washington Post, says that cuts contained in an early proposal from the White House Office of Management and Budget for the next fiscal year would leave a total budget of $28.4 billion for all activities carried out by the State Department and USAID, a separate agency that the Trump administration has sought to dismantle. That represents a decline of $27 billion, or 48 percent, from funding levels approved by Congress for 2025.

Under the proposed budget described in the memo, which remains subject to deliberations within the administration and, crucially, on Capitol Hill, USAID is assumed to have become fully a part of the State Department. Humanitarian assistance would face cuts of 54 percent, while global health funding would fall by 55 percent, the memo says.

There would be particularly steep cuts to support for international organizations, with just under 90 percent of this funding eliminated in the proposal. Funding for the United Nations, NATO and 20 other organizations would be ended, the memo states, while targeted contributions to a handful of organizations, including the International Atomic Energy Agency and the International Civil Aviation Authority, would remain. The memo also describes a total cut in funding for international peacekeeping missions, citing “recent mission failures” without providing details.

It is unclear whether such steep cuts, as outlined in the memo, would secure approval in the Republican-controlled Congress. President Donald Trump’s aggressive bid to cut government spending and drastically reduce the federal workforce, including through the work of tech billionaire Elon Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service, which led the dismantling of USAID, has faced strident opposition in some GOP districts, though few Republican lawmakers have publicly challenged the president.

The proposed funding cuts coincide with Trump’s attempt to reorient the United States’ relationship with the world, with Washington abruptly pulling back from its history of membership in international organizations and use of humanitarian assistance to build and maintain alliances.

The State Department did not respond to a request for comment. The department, led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a former U.S. senator with a record of touting foreign engagement, is preparing its own downsizing plan that includes laying off tens of thousands of the department’s 80,000 employees and closing numerous U.S. consulates and facilities, said officials familiar with the matter. They spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss those plans.

It’s unclear where the State Department may look to shutter facilities overseas.

Any plans for drastic funding cuts and job eliminations stand to further dent morale at the State Department, where many rank-and-file workers expected that Trump’s return to office would bring a significant shake-up. “The question there is, from the low point of current morale, can they actually find a lower one?” said Ronald E. Neumann, a former career Foreign Service officer who served as ambassador to Algeria, Bahrain and Afghanistan.

In a statement issued after reviewing the memo, the American Foreign Service Association called on Congress to reject any budget that proposes such cuts, calling the proposal “reckless and dangerous” and suggesting that it “would empower adversaries like China and Russia who are eager to fill the void left by a retreating United States.”

The memo describes significant proposed changes for the State Department’s workforce, detailing a pay and hiring freeze, a reduction in benefits and travel for members of the Foreign Service, and the consolidation of positions. Some offices, such as the Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations, which aims to anticipate and prevent global conflict, would be closed. All educational and cultural programs administered by the State Department, including the Fulbright Program, which was established by Congress in 1946 and has led to educational exchanges involving more than 40 future heads of state or government, would be terminated.

“It is essentially the demolishing of our international influence instruments,” said Brett Bruen, a former State Department and National Security Council official who served as director of global engagement during the Obama administration.

The memo circulated within the State Department appears to have been written by top U.S. diplomats as a summary of top-line changes proposed by OMB before the White House sends Congress its 2026 budget request. Alexandra McCandless, a spokeswoman for OMB, said, “No final funding decisions have been made.”

The memo is signed by Douglas Pitkin, director of budget and planning at the State Department, and Peter Marocco, who has since left his role as director of foreign assistance. It’s dated April 10. According to the memo, Rubio has until Tuesday to issue a response to the OMB proposal, including any desired changes.

The final budget proposal is expected to be presented to Congress in late April. Some aspects could face pushback from lawmakers, and some critics maintain that the executive branch cannot shutter USAID, a government agency, without congressional approval.

“This is an unserious budget. I predict it will hit a wall of bipartisan opposition,” said Sen. Chris Van Hollen (Maryland), the top Democrat on the State Department and USAID subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.

Richard Gowen, U.N. director for the International Crisis Group, said that while funding cuts for international organizations had been expected, there was some hope among U.N. officials that it would be limited, as Trump had said that the United Nations needed to refocus on its original priority of peace and security.

“There will be huge resentment if the U.S. zeros out peacekeeping funds, especially from countries like India that have a proud history of blue helmet peace operations,” Gowen said.

The Trump administration’s budget proposal does retain funding for some programs popular within Congress, including $5.1 billion in foreign military financing grants for allies such as Israel and Egypt and $2.9 billion for the global health program known as PEPFAR, or the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, the memo says.

The document also proposes a new program called the America First Opportunities Fund, or A1OF, that would have $2.1 billion for “enduring and emerging Trump administration priorities.” Some of these funds could be used to support the United Nations or peacekeeping operations, according to the memo.

“It seems like a slush fund. The administration is trying to essentially have more discretionary funds available,” said Bruen, who noted that the document also seeks cuts to the State Department’s Inspector General Office, the agency’s internal watchdog.

“They are reducing the capacity for oversight at a time when they are saying efficacy is the priority,” he said.