Secretary Rubio defends State Department reorganization, says foreign assistance must be ‘tailored’ to U.S. national interest

At a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the State Department’s proposed reorganization and changes to foreign assistance are intended to align U.S. diplomacy and aid with “the national interest.”

Rubio said the goal of the restructuring is to “empower ideas and action at the embassy level and through our regional bureaus,” and to give regional teams access to the “full toolbox” of aid, diplomacy and economic tools so assistance can be tailored to U.S. security and economic goals.

The exchange came during the Subcommittee on National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs’ FY 2026 budget hearing, where members from both parties raised alarm about canceled programs, paused contracts and staff moves. Ranking Member Lois Frankel warned that abrupt terminations had left global programs and partners “in the dark”; Chairman Tom Cole and others backed Rubio’s aim to sharpen foreign assistance around U.S. strategic priorities.

Rubio said he and his team are moving to consolidate humanitarian, development, and refugee funds into fewer “buckets” and to place operational authority closer to embassies, arguing that many successful ideas and early warnings originate at the country level. “The most important thing I read every single day … is from the embassies and from the cables,” he told the panel. He said the reorganization is not primarily a cost-cutting measure but a structural change to improve delivery.

Lawmakers repeatedly pressed Rubio for specifics: how many USAID staff would be rehired into State; whether statutory programs would be preserved; and what guidance OMB will issue about roughly appropriated but unspent funds. Rubio said some former USAID employees are applying for posts at State, that personnel to assume new responsibilities were being sought in interviews, and that the administration expected to have personnel in place “hopefully by July 1.” He also said decisions on spending remaining FY2025 balances would follow Office of Management and Budget guidance.

Members raised process concerns. Ranking Member Frankel and other Democrats said the administration froze or canceled thousands of foreign assistance awards with little notice and without consultation with Congress, producing immediate humanitarian and operational disruption. Rubio said his team moved quickly because past Secretaries had long discussed integrating aid into State but those reforms had not occurred; he acknowledged the pace caused disruptions and said he welcomes congressional input on a proposed organizational structure and a forthcoming congressional notification.

The hearing ended with repeated bids by subcommittee members for fuller documentation — including a clear, line‑by‑line explanation of terminated and retained contracts and a timetable for staff transitions — and Rubio’s pledge to engage with committee staff. The subcommittee said it will press for detailed budget and program materials before passage of any appropriations.

Looking ahead, Rubio said the administration will seek to preserve what it judges to be meritorious programs while changing others to ensure they “further the national interest,” and that the State Department seeks to work with appropriators to make structural changes durable and transparent.