House Foreign Affairs hearing opens reauthorization debate as witnesses warn of risks from abrupt State Department cuts

The House Foreign Affairs Committee convened a hearing on the need to reauthorize and reorganize the State Department, with committee leaders and three senior witnesses debating whether recent proposals to consolidate bureaus, reduce staff and absorb USAID functions would strengthen diplomacy or hollow out U.S. assistance and human-rights work.

Chairman Brian Mast opened the hearing by calling for a comprehensive reauthorization, saying, “The State Department has many broken parts,” and asserting that “more than 80% of the State Department is not authorized by Congress.” He listed a series of disputed spending examples — including small grants cited to illustrate his concern about public diplomacy definitions — and said the committee should clarify what American tax dollars should and should not fund abroad.

The hearing attracted bipartisan urgency. Ranking Member Gregory Meeks urged regular congressional authorization and criticized the current administration’s reorganization process for moving quickly without sustained consultation with Congress. “How can we engage in a serious bipartisan conversation about strengthening the State Department … when Secretary Rubio has not been called even once for a hearing before this…