The Department of State has kicked off an operation that will aim to close several consulates around the world in the coming months, mainly in Western Europe, in order to reduce its global workforce.
The agency is also considering merging duties in its Washington headquarters; those involving experts who work on human rights, refugees, global criminal justice, women’s issues and working against human trafficking.
Last month, Reuters reported that U.S. missions around the world are being asked to reduce U.S. and local staff by at least 10 percent as Donald Trump and his right-hand man Elon Musk, kick off an unprecedented cost-cutting effort that is affecting the entire U.S. federal workforce.
As reported by the Guardian, the MAGA leader wants to ensure that his bureaucracy is fully aligned with the “America first” agenda.
Last month, Trump issued an executive order to revamp the U.S. Foreign Service to ensure “faithful and effective” implementation of his foreign policy agenda.
Critics of the administration argue that potential cuts to the U.S. diplomatic presence, combined with the dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development, which has provided billions of dollars in global aid over the years, risk weakening American leadership overseas, leaving a dangerous vacuum that could be filled by China and Russia.
Unconfirmed sources suggest that the State Department is reportedly considering closing, at least in a first phase, the consulates in Leipzig, Hamburg and Düsseldorf in Germany, Bordeaux and Strasbourg in France, Florence in Italy, and the one in Gaziantep, Turkey.
To date, the agency is involved in more than 270 diplomatic missions around the world, and can count on a total staff of about 70,000.
